A former Venezuelan military officer claims the Maduro regime is using the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) as a tool for spreading violence and instability in the U.S., Fox News is reporting.
Tren de Aragua originated in a Venezuelan prison and has expanded to over 30 major U.S. cities, engaging in crimes like violent takeovers and high-profile murders.
José Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army, described the gang to Fox News as a state-sponsored entity created by Nicolás Maduro’s government and directed by Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency, DGCIM, for asymmetrical warfare.
He argues that the regime uses TdA to destabilize countries, promoting socialist-friendly governments in Latin America and now targeting the U.S.
“Just imagine, there are more or less 8 million Venezuelan migrants. It’s a huge number,” he told Fox News. “If you look at that, it’s like a wall where it’s spreading all over the states. And when you take into consideration the bussing of the migrants from Texas to other states, they are spreading like a disease, like a virus, all over the country.”
The gang’s entry into the U.S. was highlighted by a violent apartment takeover in Colorado, followed by ongoing crimes nationwide. Arocha warns that TdA operates not as a typical gang but as a trained and politically driven organization exporting chaos and criminality. He also accuses the Maduro government of exploiting the migrant crisis to infiltrate and spread TdA’s influence throughout the U.S., aided by oil sanctions lifted under the Biden administration.
Arocha believes the U.S. must prioritize dismantling TdA, but closing the southern border alone will not eliminate the gang. He stresses that the root cause is the Maduro regime’s behavior, which uses TdA to harm the U.S. while benefiting from oil revenues.
To stop TdA, Arocha insists that Maduro’s ability to access resources and maintain power must be curtailed. He called on President-elect Donald Trump to focus on containing Maduro and eradicating TdA as top priorities upon taking office.
“You have to combat the cause of TdA. The cause of the TdA is the behavior of the Maduro regime that is trying to hurt the American people by using this asymmetrical tool,” Arocha insisted.
