As Venezuela’s political crisis reaches breaking point, Venezuelan opposition lawmakers say that if socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro remains in power, violence by the Torren de Aragua gang will increase and threaten the United States. It warns that this will lead to serious consequences.
Maduro won a third term on Friday, despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and many in the international community that he lost the 2024 presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. was sworn in for a six-year term.
However, opposition leader María Colina Machado’s call for Venezuelans to take to the streets to demand that González be installed as Venezuela’s legitimate president has sparked renewed interest in a showdown with Maduro’s government. The stage was set.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Machado’s supporters, who were briefly abducted by authorities and released after Thursday’s rally, said that if Mr. Maduro is not stopped, millions of Venezuelan migrants will leave the country. He warned that he would be forced to flee to the United States.
Ex-military warns that Torren de Aragua is an ideological terrorist masquerading as a street gang
“If Mr. Maduro stays, three, four, five million Venezuelans are going to cross the border, so be prepared,” she said.
Meanwhile, Machado told Fox News Digital: “I want you to know how important it is to the safety of the American people.”
“We are also desperately trying to solve the immigration problem in our region,” she said. “We want billions of dollars of voluntary repatriation for Venezuelans, and that will happen when they feel they have a future in their country.”
Meanwhile, former Venezuelan military official Jose Gustavo Arocha, who fled persecution by Maduro’s regime, told Fox News Digital that gang violence in the United States by the pro-Maduro crime group Torren de Aragua will continue to grow if he remains president. He said it would only get worse.
Torren de Aragua (also known by the acronym “TdA”) means “Train from Aragua” in Spanish. This is a brutal international gang that preys on Venezuelan immigrants and Americans alike, and has unleashed a spate of violence in recent months, including kidnappings, torture, robberies, and taking over entire apartment buildings.
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Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and opposition leader María Colina Machado hold up a photo during an election rally in Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela, July 23, 2024. (Raul Albordea/AFP) , via Getty Images)
Arocha, now a senior fellow at the US-based Center for Safe and Free Societies, told Fox News Digital: “If President Maduro remains in power, he will probably continue to use Torren de Aragua for his purposes.” “We will use it as a means of coercion and asymmetric tactics to achieve our goals.” his purpose. ”
“Migrants armed with elements of Torren de Aragua will serve as leverage to seek economic sanctions relief and gain legitimacy from the United States,” he said. “Repression, economic collapse, and chaos in Venezuela will continue to be the cornerstone of Maduro’s state policy. As a result, deported migrants are likely to return. In recent years they have taken secret routes along the south. This is because we have established logistics routes that can be passed through the border. “
Alberto Rey, a security and risk strategist who helps Machado manage security, told Fox News Digital that the situation in Venezuela is “very explosive.” “In the United States, more Maduro means more Torren de Aragua,” he said.
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These images from a CBP intelligence bulletin show Torren de Aragua (TdA) tattoos and identifiers. Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected TdA members. (ice)
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Ray pointed out that many Venezuelan immigrants are honest and hard-working people, but said President Maduro is using immigrants as a “weapon” to sow chaos and discord in the United States. He said it was “inevitable” that TdA’s presence in the United States would increase. Continue.
“These are just a few of the Venezuelans who have been introduced into the immigration process that the regime has designed…But it is not necessary to introduce an organized criminal process within the United States, to destabilize, to create chaos, and to need so many people. Not that we will,” Ray said. “What will happen if President Maduro remains in power is that more illegal and armed migrants will continue to flow out of Venezuela, and as a result, Torren de Aragua and other gangs will continue to attack the U.S. There will be an increased possibility that they will move to and work in areas that include
Meanwhile, Rey said that if President Maduro is stopped, “Venezuelans will return to Venezuela because many Venezuelans did not want to leave.”
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President Nicolás Maduro speaks at a press conference after testifying in the election room of the Supreme Court headquarters in Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, August 2, 2024 (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
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Wray said the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration have been very cooperative, but urged the United States to take a strong stance against Maduro, not just for the sake of Venezuelans, but for the sake of Americans. He called on the U.S. government to clarify what is happening in Venezuela and strictly enforce existing sanctions against Maduro and some members of his government.
“The next 72 hours will be critical,” he said.
“Mr. Maduro has no supporters outside of some factions within the military, but he hopes those factions will support him and allow him to become president,” Ray said. explained, adding: “There are not two sides here. There is a huge Venezuelan side.” And they are trying to restore democracy, and there are small groups in power who are fighting desperately to protect their privileges and stay in power. ”
Peter Pinedo is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
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