It is an election year in Venezuela, and President Nicolás Maduro is determined to cling to power. His criminal alliances will be crucial for the survival of his regime.The Maduro regime is built on a hybrid system of governance, an alliance between the government and organized crime networks, a symbiotic relationship where non-state armed groups (NSAGs) provide senior Chavistas with access to criminal rents and repress activity in their areas of influence. In return, the state tolerates, and in some cases actively protects, their activities. The year 2024 is likely to see the further consolidation of this system. by Venezuela Investigative Unit. Full Text -> InSightCrime

 After the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2013, his successor and vice president, Nicolás Maduro, faced a perfect storm of multiple crises. The legitimacy of Maduro as the new leader was challenged, as the economy was on the brink of collapse, leading to increased poverty, social unrest, and insecurity. Lacking popular charisma and support within the chavista political movement and the Venezuelan army, Maduro responded by converging the Venezuelan state with armed groups and organized crime, resulting in the emergence of a hybrid criminal state. Today, corrupt state actors and criminal groups collaborate, blurring the line between governance and criminality. Full article -> InsightCrime

The Nicolás Maduro regime has been exploiting the growth of armed groups in Venezuela, encouraging the strengthening of some illegal groups considered useful for social control and repression.“The Maduro regime realized that it is not capable of exercising control with its own forces. It is trying to have territorial control by different means […], but it does not have the strength, it does not have sufficient military capability or discipline to carry it out […],” Roberto Briceño León, director of the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV), a nongovernmental organization that monitors insecurity in Venezuela, told Diálogo. “He prefers to establish some temporary agreements with these groups and lets them exist because they are useful for him.” Fuul Text -> DIÁLOGO

Traducción de cortesía ->

El régimen de Nicolás Maduro ha venido explotando el crecimiento de los grupos armados en Venezuela, fomentando el fortalecimiento de algunos grupos ilegales considerados útiles para el control social y la represión.“El régimen de Maduro se dio cuenta de que no es capaz de ejercer el control con sus propias fuerzas. Está tratando de tener el control territorial por diferentes medios […], pero no tiene la fuerza, no tiene la capacidad militar ni la disciplina suficientes para llevarlo a cabo […]”, Roberto Briceño León, director del Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia. (OVV), una organización no gubernamental que monitorea la inseguridad en Venezuela, dijo a Diálogo. “Prefiere establecer algunos acuerdos temporales con estos grupos y los deja existir porque le son útiles”.

Traducción al español -> Google Translación

An alliance between Colombian criminal groups and the Venezuelan military is turning Venezuela into an emerging cocaine producer. The country is no longer just a transit point for the drug, InSight Crime, an organization that studies organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, said in its May 2022 report The Cocaine Revolution in Venezuela. Coca cultivation and processing enclaves have been detected in the states of Amazonas, Apure, and Zulia. Full Text -> Diálogo

Traducción de cortesía -> Una alianza entre grupos criminales colombianos y el ejército venezolano está convirtiendo a Venezuela en un productor emergente de cocaína. El país ya no es solo un punto de tránsito de la droga, señaló InSight Crime, una organización que estudia el crimen organizado en América Latina y el Caribe, en su informe de mayo de 2022 La revolución de la cocaína en Venezuela. Se han detectado enclaves de cultivo y procesamiento de coca en los estados de Amazonas, Apure y Zulia

Residents of Petare endure daily urban warfare and their fear of crime is way deeper than their fear of COVID-19. A couple of organizations, though, are doing their best to rekindle the community’s dreams. By Patricia Pérez-Muskus & Guillermo Sardi. Full Text -> CaracasChronicles

The Venezuelan government and security forces have spent the last few months building up a criminal known as Santanita and his gang as one of their major targets, while other dangerous groups continue to act with near impunity. This paradox is the product of a security structure designed for the mutual benefit of the government and specific criminal allies. Full Text -> InSightCrime

Nicolás Maduro’s global web of illicit activities provides a lifeline of support to his regime and impedes a restoration of democratic stability in Venezuela. By Diego Area and Domingo Sadurní. Full Text-> Atlantic Council

Power in Venezuela is slipping away from state institutions and concentrating in the hands of criminals, guerrillas and other non-state actors. Any new negotiations between government and opposition must consider how to defang these armed irregulars, who might otherwise scuttle an eventual settlement. By by International Crisis Group. Full text -> Havana Times / Full Report