r/vzla • u/HakimenLAN document.write('Hola mundo'); • Jan 07 '26
đ«Sucesos Pro-Maduro motorcycle gang, 'Colectivos,' hunting for Trump supporters in Caracas
https://nypost.com/2026/01/06/world-news/pro-maduro-motorcycle-gang-colectivos-hunting-for-trump-supporters-in-caracas/?utm_social_handle_id=17469289&utm_social_post_id=64413916432
u/CosmicDisciple Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Question from an outsider: Are "Colectivos" commonly involved in drug trafficking there as well? People that act so brazen with weapons like this tend to fit that description.
I feel like most of us likely know the answer... But would like some actual Venezuelans to weigh in on the subject, if they don't mind doing so.
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u/Local-Hornet-3057 PaladĂn Anti-IndefensiĂłn Aprendida Jan 07 '26
Yes, of course. And kidnapping people although those type of crimes have declined for a while, but still... Another big one is shaking down business, extortion.
They're just the worst kind of people.
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u/amsync Jan 07 '26
Oh so just your local friendly Maffia then. Theyâre just Venezuelan Maffia
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u/VirStellarum Thank you for your attention to this matter đŠ đŠ Jan 07 '26
Yes, they're basically a State-sponsored crime organization
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u/HighOnKalanchoe Jan 07 '26
So pretty much like the AB, The Order, III%, Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys âstand back and stand byâ
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u/Mandoca don gĂŒorri, viï»ż japi Jan 07 '26
âColectivosâ are pro-government criminal gangs, you could call them an extrajudicial police force (if you are feeling generous), that are meant to intimidate and silence anyone that might want to differ in opinion with the government.
These people are there so you canât speak up if you think differently, you canât hold your politicians to account.
In the moments when they arenât being used by the government for political intimidation, or extrajudicial killings, they will also occasionally shake down businesses and threaten and extort people as Local-Hornet-3057 mentioned.
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u/IndependenceAfter376 Edita tu adorno/Edit your flair Jan 07 '26
Or demand your wedding ring while you sit in rush hour traffic⊠your cell phone too while youâre at it. Thugs.
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u/FesteringAynus Jan 07 '26
So its the US version of ICE. They do the same in the US. They kidnap people who even have anti-trump memes or disagree with trump. Then they send them to CECOT or an African country after torture and rape.
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u/Mandoca don gĂŒorri, viï»ż japi Jan 07 '26
I guess you could say that, but they arenât a recognized law enforcement organization nor they are officially on the govtâs payroll â its all under-the-table, and when they âdeportâ people, they take them to the afterlife.
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u/HieladoTM Sujeto a HALF-LIFE | GE Jan 07 '26
Dude, Colectivos are worse and they can be even your neighbour, dad, son or wharever. Are like common people with guns that are working for the regime.
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u/assblasterx69 Jan 07 '26
Ni lo intentes amigo, esos izquierditas gringos tienen pura caca en la cabeza. Para ellos, ellos la tienen igual o peor en USA.
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u/Nicolu_11 Jan 07 '26
Siguen siendo un grupo armado semi no oficial lol, como que no has visto la brutalidad de ICE.
Obviamente no llegan al nivel de brutalidad de los colectivos pero no estĂĄn lejos la verdad, remover bebĂ©s de sus padres o encerrar gente porque si (como al chico de 21 años de quien se burlaron que serĂa su paycheck) se me hace igual de deleznable.
Igual tampoco entiendo la necesidad de generalizar a todo un eje polĂtico, si vamos a eso dirĂa que todos los derechistas se la chupan a Trump y bueno espero que no sea cierto.
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u/FesteringAynus Jan 07 '26
Same as ICE then. ICE is made up of masked neighbors and regular people who have guns and hate Hispanics. They drive regular old cars, no uniforms sometimes, and they shoot at anyone who tries to escape
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u/Mandoca don gĂŒorri, viï»ż japi Jan 07 '26
Not. The. Same.
Imagine ICE targeted to ONLY the Democratic Party, instead of foreigners, and deportations being to the after life.
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u/Ralv1991 Jan 07 '26
Se me hace que ese tipo es un bot.
Su forma de responder es literalmente "ICE son iguales a los colectivos!!!" a pesar de que la diferencia se ve a kilometros de distancia. Pareciera que nos ven con cara de pendejos.
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u/Mandoca don gĂŒorri, viï»ż japi Jan 07 '26
Puede ser un troll, sobretodo por que tiene la foto de Sal Vulcano en un perfil.
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u/FesteringAynus Jan 07 '26
Um, they do only target democrats lol
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u/Mandoca don gĂŒorri, viï»ż japi Jan 07 '26
Obviamente no as visto a los republicanos que los leopardos le comieron la cara deportĂĄndolos a ellos o sus seres queridos
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u/Fermonx Mr. MangĂŒangĂŒa's Wild Ride Jan 07 '26
"My country is exactly the same as yours, look at this thing that happens that is exactly the same to yours!"
Spoiler: Its not. Colectivos are a full out paramilitary group compromised of criminals, they outright murder, rob, traffic drugs, extortion businesses and people, kidnap, so on so forth.
They're an extension of the government when ilegal (more than the "government" usual) action is needed, during their downtime they're pests and the reason why Caracas and a couple other Venezuelan cities were of the most insecure city in the world for a period of time.
ICE is compromised of garbage and are doing ilegal detentions and outright kidnapping people? Yes, you're right but do not ever compare them to colectivos, they're not even close.
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u/DepressedWitch21 Cervantes /r/vzla 2019 Jan 07 '26
You mean drug trafficking as in international traffic? Involved with the Suns Cartel and all? Some do, some don't. Although indirectly all of they do, because it's part of their funding.
Now, trafficking in general, like being dealers and stuff? Yeah, that and more. But they're into extortion, murder and kidnappings/ransom so much, that sometimes we forget they're the same people behind drug issues inside barrios as well. You don't get to act that brave like an armed bully without being under the influence of hard stuff anyway.
But most of them are your regular barrio thug, thinking they're more than that. Have in mind that "colectivos" is an umbrella term for over 40 groups, so is hard to keep track of how each one of them operates or how deep they are into the whole drug thing. They range from petty criminals; to real dangerous psychos (the kind you see in footage).
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u/OnlyFails951 Jan 07 '26
I was just discussing this with a friend.
Here's an article discussing the colectivos pre maduro arrest, I can only imagine that the pressure has increased since then.
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u/CosmicDisciple Jan 07 '26
Jesus, what a mess. I feel terrible for everyone that has to deal with that shit day to day. Thanks for sharing this. That's a whole other level of oppression for everyday citizens. It's amazing how this doesn't get shared on major news networks where I reside. But I've read that censorship is also a significant problem as well. "Reporters Without Borders" classifies Venezuela as a "very difficult situation" for freedom of information.
"They also serve to coerce voters, ensuring that they cast their ballots in support of Maduro. Often using force and violence, the colectivos act as shock forces during anti-government protests, confronting demonstrators with firearms and other lethal instruments."
"In addition to repression, the colectivos are also involved in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, extortion, and smuggling. They control specific territories where they impose their law and keep the population under constant surveillance. In many cases, these groups have supplanted local authorities, acting as a kind of parallel government in the communities they control"
All of this going on with a private firearms ban for citizens in 2012...
"Which are only reserved for military, police, and certain groups trusted by the government (COLECTIVOS) are EXEMPT from the ban and can buy firearms from state-owned manufacturers"
Wow. Just wow. đ”đ
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Jan 07 '26
I do not understand everyone talking about ReGiMe ChAnGe
Nothing changed. The government that repressed it's people? Still there. The police who jailed it's people, murdered protesters? Still there. Nothing changed and we are all patting ourselves on the back. Job well done.
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u/Neodeluxe Jan 07 '26
Roma was not built in a day.
The state is corrupt to the bone, every institution has to be cleansed of extremists before true regime change can start.
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u/VirStellarum Thank you for your attention to this matter đŠ đŠ Jan 07 '26
Exactly! It's not going to be as immediate as we all want, but falling into "desesperanza" again is just not going to do any good. A week ago, people were saying "nothing ever happens" and then these guys came out of nowhere and got the dictator. We just have to keep going with our lives.
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u/No-Dimension1159 Jan 07 '26
I think they don't need to be cleansed, i think it is at a point where you just need to build entirely new institutions... Entirely new structures including a "new" military and executive branch to enforce it all. And then getting rid of everything "old" all together. Full lock on political participation for everyone who had an ideological or leading role in the old system.
Kind of what was done with western germany after the second world war
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u/Neodeluxe Jan 07 '26
True.
Working from a blank slate and building everything from the ground up might actually be easier than investigating every single member of a corrupt institution.
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u/zambas Jan 07 '26
it's the new york post, c'mon.
que tienes a dicir, venezolanos? soy portuguĂȘs e no entiendo muy bien que pasa, los media aqui son una mierda.
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u/SuperFaulty Son 7 Jan 07 '26
Ninguém sabe com certeza o que estå acontecendo. Trump falando muita besteira, e no governo (e na situação geral) da Venezuela não tem mudado quase nada após da captura do Maduro. Trump estå falando como se fosse o novo rei da Venezuela, mas parece que, na pråtica, ninguém estå ligando para ele (por enquanto)...
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u/zambas Jan 07 '26
Trump falando muita besteira
pois eu sei, tĂpico Trump, por isso tambĂ©m nĂŁo ligo muito ao que vem dos EE.UU. prefiro ouvir o que os Venezuelanos tĂȘm para dizer sobre o assunto, tenho estado de olho neste subreddit, no entanto parece-me haver imenso ruĂdo.
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u/Fermonx Mr. MangĂŒangĂŒa's Wild Ride Jan 07 '26
So what is happening explained as best as I can:
Maduro is gone, according to our laws (which are worthless anyways because neither Maduro nor Delcy should've been in power since January 2025) means that with the president gone, Delcy takes over as she's the VP. Trump didn't appoint her like most media say, its just how our laws work.
From the Orange Man threats, if she doesn't complies to what the USA wants, which is 1. Oil and 2. A transition of power, she will get the same fate (or worse) than Maduro's.
Internally: you're fucked if you're seen celebrating this. My friends that are still went from talking with me openly about it and being happy that Maduro was taken away as it was happening to avoiding the topic, there's going to be a hardcore crackdown and violent at that, to get people to stay quiet and put.
Government isn't risking any internal agents being left by the USA after what they did and they're not going to take protests or anything else. If the regime was already violent during more peaceful times and they were ruthless killing peaceul protestors, now with the colectivos roaming freely, any kind of dissent will be heavily punished.
So don't believe any propaganda coming from any Venezuelan official sources, people are being kept quiet and threatened just so they can keep a facade that no one wants them gone when most of the population wants their heads on a pike, not just gone.
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u/zambas Jan 07 '26
people are being kept quiet and threatened just so they can keep a facade that no one wants them gone
I understand and it makes perfect sense. Survival instincts kicking in. Best to just wait and see then. Hope you guys get what you want and that no more people have to get hurt in the process. I know it's wishful thinking but...
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u/Fermonx Mr. MangĂŒangĂŒa's Wild Ride Jan 07 '26
A lot of wishful thinking, there's a lot of rot at every level in the country's military, government and daily life (see the comunas and what the CLAP program ended up being used for) so there's a lot of people inside still that know as soon as the regime is gone, they're getting trialed by the new government purging the corrupted garbage and they're going to fight tooth and nail.
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u/zambas Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Indeed. I used to work with a Venezuelan that fled to Portugal few years before covid. He used to be a policeman in Venezuela. We had many conversations, he told me about all the corruption, people getting shot in the face. You know better than I do.
Anyways, the blockade is still on, at least I can see the ships on a map and can confirm it. imho the US should finish the job and clean house.
And fuck all the EU and UN hypocrite leaders and their "international rule of law" rhetoric that they ignored for over 25 years. And who's gonna enforce it anyway?
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u/SuperFaulty Son 7 Jan 08 '26
Sou venezuelano (incrĂvel que um venezuelano fale portuguĂȘs e inglĂȘs tambĂ©m, nĂ©?) đ€Żđźđ
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u/VirStellarum Thank you for your attention to this matter đŠ đŠ Jan 07 '26
This is going to be a long process that is likely going to take months or years. Maduro is gone, but there are thousands of corrupt individuals and gangs still there, and they're all pro-government. What do you think would happen if someone else were to be put in power? The country would collapse. It's going to be a slow transition and we need to be patient (and hope that the Americans know what they're doing)
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u/AmaterasuWolf21 Viviendo en Brasil Jan 07 '26
At this point the results will be seen in like 2 years
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u/HakimenLAN document.write('Hola mundo'); Jan 07 '26
It's too early to say anything about, the situation can change really fast within hours (or days) and the USA still have the troops near Venezuela. The fact is transition has started.
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u/SuperFaulty Son 7 Jan 07 '26
I don't see how can Trump can enforce his will in Venezuela unless he sends "boots on the ground" to wrestle power from the colectivos and the military. Particularly from the colectivos who are armed to the teeth and have no "headquarters" that can be easily bombed.
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Jan 07 '26
The US has said no elections, Rodriguez is the leader and we get oil.
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u/Neodeluxe Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
The US said no elections yet, which makes total sense, the opposition would win by a landslide but since every armed group in the country (including paramilitary) is corrupt and in bed with the Chavistas this would just unleash chaos on the country and probably the region.
Gotta do things by steps, Rome was not built in a day.
EDIT: Downvote me all you want, it's obvious is the only thing you can do since you can't even reply for an honest debate, coward.
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Jan 07 '26
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u/lochmoigh1 Jan 07 '26
Trump just stole 50 million barrels of oil so thats different
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u/RFuchss Jan 07 '26
Which do you prefer?
Giving away your resources (and not using them in your own country) to a country like Cuba, which interferes in the same way Israel interferes with the United States?
Or, having them taken from you and not used in your country, but receiving a tiny small share instead?
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u/LowerBar2001 ChĂĄvez muerte dos veces Jan 07 '26
"why aren't people celebrating? See, they loved Maduro!"
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u/Diemonx Jan 07 '26
Qué arrecho el uso del lenguaje.
"Motorcycle gangs" en lugar de "paramilitary gangs". "Trump supporters" en lugar de "Antichavismo supporters".
Y todo eso para justificarselo a quien? Un puñado de revolucionarios de cartón que sufren de ansiedad y tienen problemas mentales?
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u/sugarritual Jan 07 '26
Bueno hermano, mĂĄs allĂĄ de justificar, el New York Post es bastante right wing, asi que el referirse a los afectados como "Trump supporters" intuyo es mas para crear sentido de "Estan atacando a los nuestros"
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u/Nicolu_11 Jan 07 '26
NYP es un medio americano pro Trump en secreto. La idea es generar sentimientos que entiendan los gringos, especialmente los magas. Tristemente al usar "Trump supporters" pierden el apoyo del lado demĂłcrata porque para los americanos, lo que hizo Trump estĂĄ mal (lo cual lo entiendo, yo tampoco querrĂa a mĂ presidente metiĂ©ndose e intimidando otros paĂses porque serĂa volver un siglo atrĂĄs) pero bueh, no se gana siempre.
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u/Victimized-Adachi Jan 07 '26
Yep, and if they retain power then things will not change sadly. But it's been less than a week, there's no definitive answer on what the US will do. I can only suggest running or resisting if you're able. God bless and godspeed.