Venezuelan government launches wave of repression after US seizure of Nicolás Maduro
Armed militias patrol the streets and journalists arrested as crackdown on dissent widens
Venezuela’s government has launched a crackdown in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro, arresting journalists and deploying paramilitary forces to suppress any show of support for the authoritarian leader’s removal.
The wave of repression comes as Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy and the country’s new leader, moved to consolidate her hold over the oil-rich nation in the wake of the surprise US commando operation, which snatched Maduro from a military base to face trial.
Gun-toting paramilitaries known as colectivos have been deployed to the streets of Caracas under a state of emergency announced on Monday, which forbade Venezuelans from showing support for the US raid. Media unions said 14 journalists and media workers — 11 from foreign outlets — had been detained for hours before being released.
Most of the arrests of journalists took place around the National Assembly building as Rodríguez — whom US President Donald Trump said would lead a government open to Washington’s interests — was formally sworn in as acting president, according to the National Syndicate for Press Workers in Venezuela.
Since US commandos seized Maduro and his politician wife Cilia Flores on Saturday, the remainder of his regime has sought to stifle public celebration.
A state of emergency decree, dated January 3 but published in the official gazette on Monday, directed authorities to “immediately undertake the search for and arrest . . . of any person involved in the promotion of or support for the armed attack by the US against the territory of the republic”.
A human-rights activist in Caracas said repression had significantly escalated on Monday, with authorities “going through people’s phones to see if they had anything that could be construed as support for the actions of the US” and that colectivos have been “mobilised”, with checkpoints erected around the capital.
The colectivos are largely under the control of interior minister Diosdado Cabello, a member of the regime’s hardline faction who also oversees the police.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado described the crackdown as “really alarming” in an interview with Fox News on Monday night, saying it needed to be followed carefully by the US government and that the country’s transition to democracy needed to move forward.
“Delcy Rodríguez . . . is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco-trafficking,” Machado said. “She is the main ally . . . of Russia, China and Iran so this is an individual that could [not] be trusted by international investors and she is rejected . . . by the Venezuelan people.”
Journalists were initially allowed to enter the National Assembly building on Monday before Rodríguez’s swearing-in, though they were prohibited from taking photographs or broadcasting live. Later, they were barred from entering.
Rodríguez was sworn in by her brother Jorge, who as the president of the National Assembly is also next in the line of succession, according to Venezuela’s constitution. Among the first to congratulate Delcy Rodríguez on her inauguration were the ambassadors of Russia, China and Iran, according to video posted on social media.
Colombian television network Caracol said one of its reporters, Carlos Barragán, and his team had been “detained by officials from Venezuela’s general directorate of military counter-intelligence and were held for questioning for nearly two hours”.
The identity and whereabouts of several other detained journalists are unknown. Their families are afraid of making their names public for fear of reprisal.
Maduro’s regime was characterised by intense repression before his downfall, with authorities often violently putting down protests while opposition figures have been harassed, arrested or forced into exile. According to Foro Penal, a local rights watchdog, the country has 863 political prisoners.
The streets of eastern Caracas — an opposition stronghold — remained largely deserted in the days following Maduro’s capture, under the watch of armed colectivos.
“We can’t celebrate anything,” said a woman walking through the Chacao neighbourhood on Sunday evening, who declined to give her name. “If we celebrate, the colectivos could kill us.”
One colectivo named Ricardo told the Financial Times that Maduro’s extraction was believed to be the result of a traitor in his ranks, despite the fierce gun battle which preceded his capture in which dozens of his bodyguards were killed.
“We remain active with our rifles and will respond if necessary,” he said.
In an indication of how tense the situation remained in Caracas after the US strike, shots were heard near the presidential palace on Monday evening. A Venezuelan government spokesperson said it was “due to drones flying over the area without permission and the police firing warning shots. There was no confrontation, and the entire country is completely calm.”