Venezuelan officials facilitated illegal immigration of TdA members to destabilize governments

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released a report detailing that Venezuelan regime officials facilitated the illegal immigration of members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) "to further the Maduro regime's goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public security."

"FBI analysts believe that some Venezuelan government officials are facilitating the migration of Tren de Aragua members from Venezuela to the U.S., using them as agents in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and even within the U.S. itself to further the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety,” according to DHS and FBI reports through February 2024, the ODNI document states.

The report also indicated that between 2021 and 2024 there was an increase in encounters with Venezuelans on the U.S.-Mexico border, where some TdA members could have been among those apprehended, as they often move alongside Venezuelan immigrant communities and profit from human smuggling.

In addition, the text revealed that the regime headed by Nicolas Maduro tolerates the presence of the Tren de Aragua in Venezuela and some officials of the dictatorship may cooperate with the criminal group for economic gains.

"Instances of regime officials' cooperation with various armed and criminal groups, such as Colombia's National Liberation Army or Los Colectivos, have been ad-hoc and reportedly driven by the regime's desire for help controlling territory or deterring a perceived threat of invasion, or for individual financial gain," the document highlighted.

The office specified that the dictatorship has also benefited from the migratory crisis—with eight million Venezuelans in the world—to reduce internal political pressure by allowing the departure of dissidents, alleviating economic tensions with remittances and the generation of logistical and political difficulties to adversary governments, especially the U.S..

"The gang expanded under the protection of Maduro’s inner circle"

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) maintained in it´s latest report that the socialist regime in Venezuela continues to use the Tren de Aragua for transnational repression, kidnappings and assassinations.

"As if ordering and executing the torture and killing of Venezuelans through the Venezuelan armed forces and police inside Venezuela weren’t enough, Maduro is now resorting to this notorious international gang, recently designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., to execute its transnational crimes" alleged Javier El-Hage, HRF's Legal and Policy Director.

HRF further stated that for years, the Maduro regime has protected and facilitated the operation of the TdA. "Born within Venezuela’s prison system, the gang expanded under the protection of Maduro’s inner circle," the organization emphasized.

"The Maduro regime is exporting terror by partnering with violent criminal networks," added Roberto Gonzalez, HRF's Director of Advocacy.

In that sense, HRF called for greater international coordination to protect Venezuelan dissidents in exile and to sanction the Maduro regime "for engaging in transnational organized crime."