The American embassy in Bogotá, Colombia – the closest operating near Venezuela – warned this weekend of reports of roving socialist gangs known as “colectivos” hunting American citizens or those deemed to be “supportive” of the United States.
Through the embassy, the State Department urged any American citizen in Venezuela to “leave the country immediately,” as the United States currently does not have the capacity to guarantee the security of Americans in the country in light of the arrest of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro.
President Donald Trump announced the capture of Maduro and his wife, “first combatant” Cilia Flores, from the Miraflores palace in Caracas on January 3, via a U.S. military operation. The brief operation was in support of American law enforcement, which had been offering a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro and Flores’s arrests. The couple face a litany of criminal charges, most of them tied to narco-terrorism, and are expected to stand trial in New York.
Following Maduro’s ouster, his “vice president” and top henchwoman Delsy Rodríguez assumed the leadership of the illegitimate Maduro regime. Rodríguez has expressed a desire for “diplomacy” with the United States, while Trump has described her as “cooperative,” but experts believe she is not in control of the entirety of the socialist apparatus and other prominent chavista leaders have expressed much more hostile sentiments. Prominently, “interior minister” and wanted alleged drug lord Diosdado Cabello has taken to the streets of Caracas throughout the past week threatening civilians to remain silent about their liberation from Maduro or face the full force of his repressive street gangs.
The U.S. embassy in Bogotá did not mention Cabello by name, but did warn of the threat of colectivos, motorcycle paramilitary terrorists who have for over a decade imposed Maduro’s will on the perpetually protesting masses. The colectivos, the American government warned, are reportedly seeking out Americans, presumably to hurt, capture, or kill them.
“There are reports of groups of armed militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of U.S. citizenship or support for the United States,” the embassy alerted on Saturday. “U.S. citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by road.”
The warning noted that Washington had already designated Venezuela a “do not travel” country for American citizens before Maduro’s ouster and that it remains extremely dangerous, as the United States does not have a functioning embassy there. Some reports suggest that Delcy Rodríguez is considering the possibility of allowing the Trump administration to reopen the embassy, but that has yet to happen at press time.
“All U.S. citizens in Venezuela are advised to leave Venezuela as soon as they feel it is safe to do so,” the embassy asserted. “U.S. citizens who choose not to depart should prepare contingency plans for emergency situations, as the U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Venezuela.”
The chavista foreign ministry issued a statement on Sunday replying to the warning, claiming that no threat exists to Americans in the country and that the country is in a state of “absolute calm.” Ominously, the statement emphasized that, since late dictator Hugo Chávez mandated firearm confiscations during his term, the Maduro regime holds a monopoly on force in the country.
“The security alert about our country emitted by the State Department of the United States is based on non-existent reports directed at creating a perception of risk that does not exist,” the statement, published on social media by Foreign Minister Yván Gil, read. “Venezuela is in a state of absolute calm, peace, and stability.”
“All the population centers, communication pathways, control points, and security sectors are functioning normally,” it continued, “and the entirety of the arms of the Republic are under the control of the Bolivarian Government, the only guarantor of the legitimate monopoly of [the use of] force and tranquility of the Venezuelan people.”
The claims of “absolute calm” in Venezuela have been actively undermined throughout the past week by the regime itself announcing the arrests of individuals celebrating Maduro’s arrest and menacing social media posts by Cabello, the interior minister, appearing on the streets of the capital armed and surrounded by thugs. On Tuesday, police in Mérida state published photos of two men, their backs to the camera, who were allegedly arrested for celebrating freedom.
The socialist regime claims that Maduro, in the moment immediately preceding his capture, activated a state of emergency that allows for the arrest of those supporting the United States. Speaking to Breitbart News on Tuesday, José Antonio Colina, president of the non-government organization Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (VEPPEX), explained that reports on the ground indicate aggressive persecution by the colectivos to prevent widespread calls for the end of socialism.
Colina explained that his sources on the ground had witnessed door-to-door colectivo raids in which they stole people’s mobile phones at random and browsed through communications, looking for any indication of opposition to the regime or support for Maduro’s arrest. In some parts of the country, the colectivos have reportedly set up checkpoints to stop cars and pedestrians and rummage through their phones.
“In this case, the repressive apparatus of persecution is carried out by groups under the control of Diosdado Cabello,” Colina observed.
“Morale high, absolute unity, and unbreakable loyalty to the fatherland,” Cabello wrote on social media this week, sharing photos of his armed commando units.
The Instagram account of his television show, Con el mazo dando (“Hitting with the Mallet”), shared photos of Cabello allegedly taken around midnight on Thursday in which he appeared with the National Bolivarian Armed Forces in operations to allegedly “avoid that acts of violence be committed by sectors interested in destabilizing the peace in the country.”
In a televised appearance on Thursday, Cabello repeated the reminder that, due to socialist firearms seizures, the regime “has a monopoly on weapons.”
“Possession of weapons has allowed us to maintain control, so that no group or individual can claim responsibility for acts of violence other than those committed in the early hours of January 3 by the government of the United States,” he claimed.
Con el mazo dando shared a statement from the Interior Ministry on Sunday announcing that Cabello had orderd the “immediate activation and strengthening of proximity patrols in education sectors,” allegedly to protect schools.
“The Bolivarian government, guarantor of peace and national stability, categorically rejects any intent to generate anxiety among the population through algorithms and disinformation mechanisms,” the Interior Ministry stated, suggesting a wave of censorship. “Our commitment is firm and absolute: to preserve the peace and confidence of our people in the mark of the Bolivarian Revolution.”