St. Louis TikToker faces exile from Venezuela for her videos

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LAKE SAINT LOUIS — Karmin Reyes, 26, came to the U.S. from Venezuela in 2018 to play soccer for Lindenwood University. She never imagined she would become a TikTok sensation, fearful of ever returning to her native country.

In Caracas, she had been studying politics and became involved with opposition parties organizing against the autocratic government. The Venezuelan government cracks down on dissidents.

Karmin Reyes, of Lake Saint Louis, has built a following of millions on TikTok who watch her videos about world and national politics.

Aisha Sultan “Most of my friends were sent to jail,” she said. “My mom got pretty worried.”

She agreed it was best for her daughter to study in the U.S.

Reyes was amazed by the difference in opportunities and education when she arrived at Lindenwood. She graduated in 2022 with a degree in political science and international relations. The United States granted her Temporary Protective Status, which allows her to work here legally through 2029.

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Reyes, who now lives in Lake Saint Louis, began working as a bank teller in St. Charles. At first, she was surprised by some of the questions local residents asked her. For example, when learning she was from Venezuela, they frequently asked where in Mexico it is. (It’s a country in South America.)

@karminreyes_ Cuanto ha recaudado Ya Casi Venezuela?

♬ original sound - karmin

She had a desire to share information about her country and her political views. In 2020, with little else to do during the pandemic, she began posting videos with her commentary on TikTok, @KarimReyes.

A video she made about the U.S. presidential election went viral and attracted thousands of followers. The video was about President Donald Trump’s supporters saying they would not accept the election results if he did not win. As an immigrant, she wants to educate others about immigration policy.

Her videos are in Spanish, but the app allows an auto-translation through the captions. About a year ago, she had amassed more than a million followers. The monetization program offered by the site for content creators allowed her to quit her job at the bank and focus on making TikTok videos full time. She now has 1.7 million followers.

The videos also caught the attention of the Venezuelan government officials. Her family, all of whom live in Venezuela, reached out to her last month when Diosdado Cabello — the minister for interior, justice and peace — talked about her videos on a national television program. In his show, he highlighted her video about Erik Prince’s donation page to raise money so he could intervene in Venezuela’s political crisis.

“My mom got really scared, but she’s also used to it,” Reyes said. She said the minister mocked her views and threatened her if she ever tried to return: “You know what’s going to happen.”

She is concerned about her family’s safety back home. But she also feels a responsibility in her new role.

“I feel it’s hilarious that they are so threatened by influencers because we are spreading information,” she said. It’s one of the few things the government cannot control, she said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro banned the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, for 10 days in August. Venezuela’s current economic and humanitarian crisis stems from decades of domestic and international political problems.

Marcus Goldberg, a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas-Austin, whose research focuses on Venezuela, said repression against those opposed to Maduro’s government has intensified. Protestors have been jailed, tortured and even killed. Activists reporting from the ground within the country face incredible risks, he said.

@karminreyes_ Asi quedo el Tropicana Field despues del Huracan Milton… 💔

♬ original sound - karmin

Media censorship has also heightened. Journalists are poorly paid and persecuted.

“That’s why there’s a proliferation on websites with people reporting on social media,” Goldberg said. “Those have become the main sources of news for a lot of Venezeulans.”

Reyes looks on X for information and stories that might interest her followers. Then, she Googles the issue and reads some of the media articles about it. From there, she creates a video between three to five minutes long to share with her audience. She aims to post at least five to seven times a day.

Most of Reyes’ recent videos are related to current events or entertainment news unrelated to Venezuela. Recently, she talked about the new Tesla taxis, Diddy’s sex trafficking scandal and the hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida. The few that are related to her home country are more neutral, in which she simply shares clips of news updates. She shared information about the U.N.’s session about political and humanitarian issues in Venezuela and the investigation into its election.

Last month, the Venezuelan government reported her account to TikTok as spreading misinformation and had it suspended. She woke up to find all her videos about Venezuela had been deleted.

“I was at first, angry,” she said. “Then, I got really worried because it’s my job and that’s my earnings.” She started a new account and implored her followers to ask TikTok to restore her old account.

She got her account back on Sept. 28.

The looming threat has not deterred her from encouraging others to get more educated and involved in the political process here. As a non-citizen with TPS she cannot vote here, and she knows she cannot return to Venezuela to vote.

“When you cannot vote, you feel something is taken away from you, so you want other people to do it,” she said. She’s acutely aware that the outcome of this election will affect her future directly. GOP candidate Donald Trump has vowed to end TPS status for millions of immigrants.

“We are scared of that because I cannot go back to my country,” Reyes said.

While her future hangs in the balance, she keeps posting videos.

Thirteen U.S. states and Washington, D.C. are suing TikTok, claiming it harms children's mental health. The lawsuits accuse the app of being intentionally addictive, leading to anxiety, depression, and dangerous behavior. New York Attorney General Letitia James pointed out incidents where young people were injured or died copying stunts from the platform.

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