“People died”: Rich vacationers are “trapped” in St. Barths after Venezuelan airspace shuts down and the internet is unmoved
Rich vacationers on a Caribbean island complained on TikTok that they were “stranded” by the U.S. invasion of Venezuela this weekend. The Trump administration’s incursion into Caracas to abduct President Nicolás Maduro and his wife closed airspace over the nearby island of Saint Barthélemy, known colloquially as St. Barths.
The amount of sympathy among the average TikToker for these rich people mirrors that for the suffering of Venezuelans by President Donald Trump.
Stranded in paradise
Early on Saturday, the U.S. bombed and invaded the city of Caracas, Venezuela and kidnapped Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Many Democrats condemned the act as illegal, saying that Trump failed to obtain congressional authorization for an act of war.
Those further to the left rejected this as the top reason for outrage, instead pointing to the civilian casualties and the fact that Trump seems hardly interested in covering up his interest in Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.
Meanwhile, it took the rich only hours to start posting on TikTok about how the invasion stranded them at their luxury resorts on St. Barths.
"POV air space is closed and we're stuck in ST BARTHS," wrote @parkaveprincesss2.
@parkaveprincesss2 Manifested not leaving a little to hard and now we’re stuck in st BARTHS ugh what a drag #stbarths #stuckinstbarths #airspacealert #airspaceclosed ♬ original sound - fin
"POV: Trump extended your St Barths vacation by a week," said @avner_jude.
These POV posts in particular seem to be tongue-in-cheek, suggesting they're actually happy about the military action by the U.S. that killed at least 40 people. However, at least some of these wealthy travelers were seriously complaining.
"Trying to Extract Billionaires From St. Barths After All Flights Are Grounded Following Trump Capturing the Venezuelan President," wrote @travelwithlivii in her caption.
@travelwithlivii ♬ original sound - travelwithlivii
In the video, the travel agent paces in her suite whining to some poor airline worker who definitely can't do anything about closed airspace.
"I understand where you're coming from," she claimed in the phone, "but I have terrified clients, I have kids that need to be back in school by Monday, so we need a solution."
"Oh no, terrified billionaires?"
A lot of commenters either played along with or seemed to miss the joke. Multiple TikTokers posted something along the lines of "my steak is too juicy my lobster is too buttery" to mock the rich, while others, especially on the travel agent's video, reveled in the discomfort of billionaires.
"All those billionaires getting told no just warms my heart," said @redwhiteblue.andtattooed.
"Oh no the people who are profiting off his presidency are somewhat negatively affected by his insane policies," joked @dzmcgee.
On one of the clearly facetious videos, @hypochondrimaxxx2.0 summed up the real problem in just two words: "People died."
Meanwhile, the actual complaints inspired popular TikToker @mrwilliamsprek to make a whole video roasting the rich.
@mrwilliamsprek I hope these billionaires will be okay. ???? #vacation #parentsoftiktok #momtok #billionaires ♬ original sound - Tell Williams
"Oh no, terrified billionaires?" he cracked.
"You know what's truly terrifying? Just a few months ago, millions of Americans couldn't afford food because their food stamps were taken away."
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