Venezuela: Armed Gangs Target Trump Supporters After Alleged Kidnapping

A gang of armed Maduro supporters have taken to the streets of Caracas in Venezuela to allegedly intimidate and detain people supporting US President Donald Trump

A gun-wielding paramilitary group has patrolled Venezuela’s capital hunting for people who support Donald Trump and the US operation that detained Nicolas Maduro.

These Maduro-supporting gangs have been pictured rolling through the streets of Caracas, armed with AK-47 rifles, on motorbikes while looking for any evidence that people support Trump. This has reportedly included searching through phones and cars for information from normal people backing the US intervention in the South American nation.

This terrifying sight comes after the Venezuelan government put in a 90-day state of emergency to arrest anyone found “involved in the promotion or support for the armed attack by the United States”.

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Members of the gun-wielding group, called The Colectivos, have been seen posing for pictures with Maduro’s Interior, Justice and Peace Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The minister – who has a $50million bounty on his head in the US like Maduro did – still claims Maduro is the lawful leader of the oil-rich nation, despite the US intervention.

Cabello, in a statement amid the political chaos that has gripped his nation, said: “Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations.”

A video on social media has shown Cabello with the motorcycle gang members as they, in Spanish, said: “Always loyal, never traitors.” Other videos appeared to show this group saying they would not allow US “pigs” to take over Venezuela and it’s natural resources.

One anonymous anti-Maduro Venezuelan told The Telegraph the group and the government emergency order left her scared. She reportedly feared having her phone searched and being sent to prison for opposing the detained leader.

This paramilitary group has reportedly already arrested 14 journalists and held them for hours before letting them go. The feared military don Cabello has also been allegedly heard upping the pressure on the military.

In a voice message, supposedly sent to military personnel, he said: “These rats attacked, and they are going to regret it for the rest of their lives. Let’s reorganise now, assess where the attacks were, the damage we have, and keep moving forward – always forward, always united. Let’s push ahead.”

This political turmoil comes just days after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilla Flores, 69, were captured by an elite squadron of the US military in an overnight raid on January 3.

Maduro, who has been labelled as a dictator, is being held at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City – other famous detainees held at this site include Luigi Mangione, rapper Sean Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Venezuelan leader appeared in a courtroom on Monday for his arraignment hearing, where he shouted that he was “a president and prisoner of war”.