As we noted in Dec. 2024, in “Tren de Aragua a Weapon of Venezuelan Government,” the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is not just an ordinary street gang. There is ample evidence that it is supported, at least in part, by the communist, anti-American government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. A new report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) finds that “some Venezuelan government officials ‘facilitated’ the illegal migration of members” into the United States, with the purpose of advancing “the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety.”
Among the thousands of Venezuelan migrants welcomed into the US by the Biden administrration, more than 600 Venezuelan migrants have been identified as having “likely ties to TdA.”
The ODNI report reveals that that certain members of the Maduro regime, including Diosdado Cabello, Minister of the Interior, and former Venezuelan Minister of Penitentiaries Iris Varela, “have cooperated with TDA by providing financial or materiel support.”
The relationship appears not to be one where such leaders manage the TdA as an asset, but rather one where the two mutually benefit from a loose relationship of “peaceful co-existence.” The Maduro regime tolerates the TdA at home, while individuals within that government benefit from the gang’s illegal activities abroad, especially in the United States. In addition, the report says:
The Maduro regime may have also welcomed the logistical, financial, and political headaches that unregulated migration has caused for the US Government, its perceived principal adversary, even if not a principal intent.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week:
Whether TdA exclusively murders, smuggles drugs, and traffics illegal immigrants over our borders on the orders of Venezuelan leaders, or freelances for self-enrichment is beside the point. It has killed on behalf of a hostile foreign government, that government has fostered its growth, and that government has encouraged it to invade the United States to advance its interests.
For more, see the NY Post.