Venezuela’s Carabobo state police on Wednesday announced the arrest of two unidentified young men for allegedly supporting the “U.S. attack on Venezuela.”
The two men, the police detailed, are being accused of “incitement to hatred and treason.”
In a statement published through Instagram, the Carabobo Police claimed that the two men were allegedly arrested while on a motorcycle for “inciting hatred, treason, and promoting and supporting the United States’ attack on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
The police justified the arrest based the contents of a decree allegedly “signed” by deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026 — the same day U.S. forces conducted a law enforcement action in Caracas that resulted in Maduro’s capture.
Article 5 of the decree calls upon law enforcement officials to immediately undertake the search and capture of “any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic.”
“The Carabobo State Police calls for calm, mutual respect, and resistance to provocations and hate speech. Report any suspicious situations through the Peace Quadrants or our official channels,” the police statement read before concluding with, “For peace, for you, for Carabobo.”
The police accompanied the statement with pictures of the two arrested men, whose identities were not disclosed by the officers.
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The Venezuelan outlet El Pitazo reported that relatives of the two men refuted the police’s claims and denied that they had been arrested while riding a motorcycle. The relatives further claimed that the police arrested one of the men first and searched through the contents of his phone, finding a conversation with a friend about the ongoing situation in the country. The police reportedly forced the man to take them to his friend’s house before taking both to a police station.
“They are young, hardworking guys. This is unfair,” a relative of one of the men reportedly said on social media according to El Pitazo.
At press time, the incident marks the latest publicly instance reported by Venezuelan outlets of individuals being arrested by law enforcement for celebrating Maduro’s downfall. Several reports published in the days following Maduro’s capture indicate that, in addition to law enforcement officials, members of the Colectivos armed socialist gangs have stablished checkpoints across Venezuela’s to check people’s phones for any content critical of the socialist regime or supportive of the United States’ capture of Maduro.
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José Antonio Colina, president of the non-government organization Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (VEPPEX), explained to Breitbart News this week that following Maduro’s capture on Saturday, members of the Colectivos were immediately deployed to the streets, going to the homes of citizens to intimidating and checking their phones for any content critical of the regime.
Colina stressed to Breitbart News that “In this case, the repressive apparatus of persecution is carried out by groups under the control of Diosdado Cabello,” Venezuela’s current Interior Minister, and a long-suspected drug lord.
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