Colectivos patrol Caracas, checking phones as regime seeks control after US raid

Venezuelan authorities have deployed armed paramilitary groups known as colectivos across Caracas to patrol streets, operate checkpoints and check people’s phones in a crackdown to consolidate authority after the US attack on Caracas. Colectivos criss‑crossed the capital on motorbikes with assault rifles, stopping and searching cars and demanding access to phones to check contacts, messages and social media posts, the report said.

Residents described a climate of fear: Mirelvis Escalona, 40, said, "There’s fear. There are armed civilians here. You never know what might happen, they might attack people." Shops and bakeries reopened in parts of the city, but the mood remained febrile while interim president Delcy Rodríguez sought to project calm after being sworn in.

An emergency decree ordered police to seek and detain "everyone involved in the promotion or support for the armed attack by the United States". On Monday at least 14 journalists and media employees, including 13 from international organisations, were detained; all but one were later released.

Footage posted on social media showed colectivos blocking highways, roving pro‑opposition neighbourhoods and questioning residents, prompting warnings to leave phones at home or scrub them of political content. The interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, posted a photo of himself with police who cradled weapons and chanted "always loyal, never traitors".

Key Topics

Politics, Colectivos, Caracas, Nicolas Maduro, Delcy Rodriguez, Diosdado Cabello