Armed motorbike gangs loyal to Nicolás Maduro are reportedly patrolling the streets of Venezuela's capital, Caracas, hunting for supporters of the United States' operation that led to the capture of the country's leader.
State of Emergency and Street Patrols
This alarming development follows the Venezuelan government's imposition of a 90-day state of emergency, authorising the arrest of anyone found to be involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States. In response, paramilitary groups known as 'The Colectivos' have taken to the streets on motorcycles, armed with rifles, to intimidate and detain alleged backers of US President Donald Trump.
Eyewitness reports and images show these gangs stopping citizens, searching through their mobile phones and vehicles for any evidence of support for the US intervention. The action has created a climate of fear, with one anonymous anti-Maduro Venezuelan telling The Telegraph she feared being imprisoned simply for opposing the detained leader.
Regime Loyalists Defiant Despite Capture
Despite the dramatic capture of President Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, by an elite US military squadron in an overnight raid on January 3, key regime figures remain defiant. Maduro's Interior, Justice and Peace Minister, Diosdado Cabello, who like Maduro has a $50 million US bounty on his head, has been pictured with the Colectivos.
In a statement, Cabello insisted, "Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros." Videos on social media show Cabello with gang members chanting "Always loyal, never traitors" and vowing not to allow US "pigs" to take over Venezuela's natural resources.
Journalists Detained and Military Pressured
The paramilitary crackdown has already seen tangible consequences. Reports indicate the group has arrested 14 journalists, holding them for hours before release. Furthermore, Cabello is allegedly pressuring the military to regroup. In a voice message purportedly sent to personnel, he declared, "These rats attacked, and they are going to regret it for the rest of their lives."
Meanwhile, Maduro, now held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City, appeared in a Manhattan federal court for his arraignment hearing on Monday. He shouted that he was "a president and prisoner of war," underscoring the deep political turmoil engulfing the oil-rich nation following the unprecedented US military action.
