(CNN) -
American politics has taken on a feeling of déjà-vu for Venezuelan-Americans, many of whom say the 2020 race is reminiscent of decades-long political fractures experienced by millions of Venezuelans.
Since former President Hugo Chávez took office in 1998, Venezuelans have been divided between those who supported him, the Chavistas, and those who opposed him, the anti-Chavistas.
Families were torn apart by political violence.
Parents would stop talking to their children because they voted for Chávez or against him.
With the U.S. elections approaching, there are similar bitter divisions among Americans who favor and oppose President Donald Trump, say some Venezuelan-Americans.
"It's surreal," Mery Montenegro, 37, who left Caracas in 2015 and now works in advertising in Washington, told CNN.
"It's like reliving everything you left for, everything you lived at home."
Joaquín Pérez and his son Alberto, both naturalized US citizens, are divided over the 2020 elections. Joaquín will vote for Biden, while Alberto will vote for Trump.
In Venezuela, both opposed Chávez.
But while they agree that Trump has many traits in common with the late Venezuelan socialist and populist leader, they have come to opposite conclusions about what that means.
Although they are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, Trump, like Chávez, is a charismatic leader who claims to defend the interests of the people against corrupt elites.
Both men entered politics from the outside, Trump as a businessman and Chávez as a soldier.
The two promising changes and reforms to a stale political scene.
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"Trump is the same as Chávez, the same as Fidel [Castro]," said Joaquín.
"You constantly listen to yourself all day and ask yourself 'What is he going to say today?'
Joaquín and Alberto Pérez in 2014 in Florida, at Alberto's wedding rehearsal.
Alberto agrees that there are similarities, but says that is not important.
“The resemblance of Trump to Chávez is evident, it gives me chills.
But you must understand that what destroyed Venezuela was not Chávez's charisma but his criminal and socialist policy, "he told CNN.
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What are you going to say today?
Joaquín Pérez was born in Cuba and left for Venezuela in the 1960s after the communist takeover of power.
He married and had seven children in Venezuela.
All but one now live abroad.
After a political career and serving in the cabinet in Venezuela in the 1970s and 1980s, Pérez emigrated again to Miami when Chávez took power.
Now in his eighties, he says he feels he is living under a leader with authoritarian tendencies for the third time.
Like Pérez, the majority of Venezuelan-American voters live in Florida, a critical state and one of the reasons both candidates are paying close attention to the community.
Pérez feels very involved in the 2020 campaign not only because of the choice he faces as a US citizen, but also because of the consequences this election has for US policy towards Venezuela.
In the last seven years, Venezuela has suffered one of the hardest economic collapses outside of a war zone in recent history.
While the government of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro blames US sanctions for the crisis, years of internal mismanagement and chronic corruption have also squandered the country's immense oil wealth.
Today, 96% of Venezuelans live in poverty, according to independent research from three major Caracas universities.
Protests against Maduro, Chávez's chosen successor, have often been met with force.
The United Nations has documented alleged extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations by government forces.
The Trump administration has taken a tough stance against Maduro, imposing sanctions on top government officials, including Maduro himself, and applying a de facto embargo against the Venezuelan oil sector with the aim of toppling him.
In January 2019, the White House recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela, a move followed by more than 50 countries around the world.
However, this pressure campaign has so far failed to bring any change in Caracas.
Pérez believes that Trump never prioritized freedom in Venezuela.
“Trump created the expectation that he could overthrow Maduro, but he knew he couldn't.
It was a political movement that finally turned out well, because many people supported it here in Miami, not so much for Venezuela.
Joaquin hopes that a Biden presidency will follow in the footsteps of Barack Obama and enter into talks with Cuba and Venezuela to promote democracy, in opposition to Trump's confrontational approach.
So far, Biden's most concrete proposal to the Venezuelan community has been his promise to create a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) framework for Venezuelan migrants, which would protect them from deportation.
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"I bet on 'America First' by choosing to come here"
In February, Guaidó, president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, was invited as the guest of honor to Trump's 2020 State of the Union address in Washington.
"Please take away this message that all Americans are united with Venezuelans in their just fight for freedom," Trump told the opposition leader from his podium.
In what now appears to have been the pinnacle of Trump's openness to Venezuela and Venezuelan-Americans.
Unlike his father, Joaquín's son Alberto, 41, believes that Trump's approach to putting pressure on the Venezuelan government and his acceptance of Guaidó was genuine.
And he considers that the economic pressure of the Trump administration on the country is necessary.
He blames Guaidó for not making the most of the White House's support: The opposition lost its chance to seize power by not formally requesting a US military intervention, Alberto says.
And while the next president's approach to Caracas ranks high on the priority list of Miami voters like Joaquin, it's less important to Alberto, who teaches music in a rural community in Georgia's Appalachians and is drawn to Trump's economic message.
"Trump is an American brand.
His arrogance, his confidence, they are completely American.
It is as American as apple pie.
When he says 'America first' it's something that makes me feel included.
I bet on 'America first' by choosing to come here after leaving Venezuela, "says Alberto.
Although he does not believe that a Biden presidency would turn the United States into "a Venezuela on steroids" as Trump has threatened, Alberto is suspicious of what he sees as Biden's proposals to the American left.
Although the Democratic candidate says he is not a socialist, Alberto says: “Fidel [Castro] never said he was a socialist, until he was.
Chávez said many times that he was not a socialist, until he was ”.
Joaquín's other children living in the United States have not taken a firm stance in the elections and politics rarely appears in family conversations.
In the end, both father and son believe that their affection for each other is stronger than their conflicting views.
But, online, the debate within the Venezuelan-American community is fierce.
Montenegro said she had to leave a Facebook group for Venezuelans in Washington because the discussions between the members were endless.
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And while Venezuelan Americans view the US elections as a momentous event for Venezuela's future, their votes in South Florida are highly coveted by both candidates.
In particular, when Joe Biden spoke in Miami on October 5, the person in charge of introducing the presidential candidate was not a Cuban American, by far the most politically vocal ethnic group in South Florida.
Instead, it was the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants, who will cast her first vote next month.
Journalist Nicole Kolster contributed to this report.
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