Venezuela’s socialist regime is actively arresting Venezuelans who celebrate the downfall socialist dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/b>
\nThe Venezuelan socialist regime, still reeling from the United States\u2019 capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, is actively arresting Venezuelans who celebrate the downfall of the now-deposed dictator, the regime confirmed on Tuesday.
Shortly after U.S. forces conducted a law enforcement action in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the Venezuelan socialist regime, presently led by \u201cacting President\u201d Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, issued a decree imposing a \u201cState of Emergency\u201d throughout Venezuela.
Article Five of the decree states that national, state, and municipal police forces shall immediately undertake the search and capture of \u201cany person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic.\u201d
The decree was allegedly \u201csigned\u201d by Maduro on Saturday, January 3, 2026 \u2014 the same day he was captured by U.S. forces. At press time, the Venezuelan regime has not publicly explained how Maduro was able to \u201csign\u201d the January 3 decree when he was captured by U.S. forces on the early morning hours of that day.
Since then, Venezuelan outlets and exiled activists have denounced that regime law enforcement officials and the Colectivos, armed socialist gangs that directly serve the regime, are actively intimidating and persecuting civilians and journalists throughout Venezuela \u2014 with several reports of individuals being detained across Venezuela for celebrating Maduro\u2019s downfall.
In Merida, the local state police announced through Instagram this week that two unidentified men, aged 64 and 65, were arrested by the police at the municipality of Guaraque for having celebrated what the police described as the \u201ckidnapping\u201d of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. At press time, it remains unclear if the two elderly men were ultimately released. According to Venezuelan outlets, this case is the first publicly registered instance of Venezuelans being arrested for celebrating the downfall of Maduro.
The Venezuelan outlet Efecto Cocuyo reported on Tuesday that the non-government organization Human Kaleidoscope documented the arrest of at least six individuals for having celebrated Maduro\u2019s capture, of which two were still reportedly under arrest.
Two of the arrests took place as checkpoints in Caracas, while the rest of the detentions documented by Human Kaleidoscope reportedly occurred in the states of Merida, Vargas, Miranda, and Bol\u00edvar. The detentions are reportedly being carried out by armed civilians who are not identified as members of any state security force.
\u201cWe are very concerned, especially about illegal searches at checkpoints, and most of these reports involve people who are not identified as police officers, but rather as armed civilians,\u201d Gabriela Buada, Human Kaleidoscope\u2019s general coordinator, told Efecto Cocuyo.
\u201cIt is not known who the orders may come from, what kind of situation is happening; this attempt at normality deepens uncertainty and generates a lot of fear and may be a cause for concern in terms of the worsening of human rights violations,\u201d she continued.
Buada explained to Efecto Cocuyo that there is no specific pattern for the arbitrary detentions, and that the Colectivos are searching through the photos, stickers, and chats on messaging platforms to determine if the individual is \u201cpromoting the invasion\u201d of Venezuela or not.
\u201cEverything seems to indicate that it is a pattern of intimidation,\u201d he said.
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Colina, president of the non-government organization Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (VEPPEX), explained to Breitbart News that the colectivos are being coordinated by Interior Minister and long-suspected drug lord Diosdado Cabello \u2014 who recently published videos on social media threatening Venezuelans under the slogan: \u201cto doubt is to betray.\u201d
Cabello, widely considered to be the most powerful strongman of the Venezuelan socialist regime, is in charge of the regime\u2019s brutally repressive apparatus and is actively wanted by U.S. authorities on multiple narco-terrorism charges.
Colina warned that immediately upon news of Maduro\u2019s capture, the Colectivos were deployed to the streets of Venezuela and into the homes of citizens to intimidate them, checking the contents of people\u2019s cell phones for any material critical of Maduro or supportive of the United States\u2019 actions against the deposed dictator.
\u201cThe fact that Diosdado is at the head of the repressive apparatus is extremely worrying, as he directs the strategies of the Venezuelan tyranny,\u201d Colina told Breitbart News. \u201cIt is no secret that he had already mentioned that if there was an intervention, they would go against the population.\u201d
\u201cIn this case, the repressive apparatus of persecution is carried out by groups under the control of Diosdado Cabello,\u201d Colina further explained.
In addition to the case of the two detained men in Guaraque, Colina denounced to Breitbart News that his organization is aware of other individuals detained in Merida and in Venezuela\u2019s Isla Margarita for celebrating Maduro\u2019s capture.
The Spanish newspaper El Periodico reported on Tuesday that Venezuelans are trying to stay at home as long as possible for fear of the mobilization of the Colectivos. El Periodico spoke with a man identified with the pseudonym \u201cArturo H\u201d who explained to the newspaper on condition of anonymity that the Colectivos \u201chave taken the place of the police, who disappeared during the bombing, to deter the population from going out to celebrate or demonstrate against Chavismo, firing shots and circulating in motorcades with their faces hidden.\u201d
Another unnamed Venezuelan explained to El Periodico that, on Saturday, the Colectivos have driven heavily armed convoys throughout the city, but noted that \u201cthere were no reports of violence or demonstrations in support of what happened.\u201d
Similarly, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that in Caracas\u2019 Boyac\u00e1 avenue, located near the Avila National Park, Colectivos members, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, were stopping drivers and demanding to search their phones and cars.
\u201cThe future is uncertain, the Colectivos have weapons, the Colombian guerrilla is already here in Venezuela, so we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, time will tell,\u201d Oswaldo, a 69-year-old Venezuelan shop owner, told The Telegraph.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.<\/p>\n