The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitary forces are trying to track down American citizens, one week after the South American country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, was arrested.
In a Security alert The State Department, which sent it on Saturday, said there were reports of the presence of armed members of pro-regime militias, known as CollectiveSetting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence that their occupants are American citizens or supporters of the country.
“US citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by land,” the alert added, urging citizens to leave immediately after some international flights from Venezuela resumed.
Speaking to the New York Times last week, Donald Trump said he would like to visit Venezuela in the future after claiming the US was “running” the South American country after its leaders were ousted in a deadly overnight attack on Caracas. The US President told reporters: “I believe that at some point the situation will be safe.”
But the State Department alert revealed how volatile the situation was after the raid carried out by special forces last weekend, during which dozens of people were killed.
While many Venezuelan opponents of the Maduro regime celebrated his arrest by the United States, government supporters took to the streets to denounce his deportation as an act of imperialist aggression.
In response to the security warning, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Foreign Ministry’s warning “is based on fabricated narratives aimed at creating the perception of a danger that does not exist.”
The ministry said: “Venezuela is experiencing absolute calm, peace and stability. All populated centers, communication routes, checkpoints and security services are operating normally, and all of the Republic’s weapons are under the control of the Bolivarian government, the only guarantor of the legitimate monopoly of force and the tranquility of the Venezuelan people.”
Reporters and activists in Caracas have seen rifle-toting members of the collectives roaming Venezuela’s capital on motorcycles and setting up checkpoints throughout the city. The roads linking Caracas to its western borders are monitored by dozens of military and police checkpoints.
State Department officials visited Caracas on Friday as part of what are believed to be preparations for the reopening of the US Embassy there. Maduro’s successor, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez, called for improving relations with Washington despite the kidnapping of her ally.
Separately, ousted Venezuelan President Maduro claimed to be “doing well” in a US prison while he and his wife Celia Flores await trial, the former leader’s son said in a video on Saturday.
Maduro’s son, Rep. Nicolas Maduro Guerra, quoted him as saying: “We are in good shape. We are fighters.” Maduro Guerra spoke in a video clip published by the ruling United Socialist Party.