The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitary groups are attempting to identify and track US nationals, one week after the capture of the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
In a security alert issued on Saturday, the US state department said it had received reports that members of pro-government militias, known as colectivos, had set up roadblocks and were searching vehicles for signs that occupants were US citizens or supporters.
The alert advised US nationals in Venezuela to remain vigilant and exercise extreme caution when travelling by road. It urged them to depart the country as soon as possible, noting that some international flights have resumed.
The warning comes despite remarks by President Donald Trump, who told the New York Times last week that he hoped to visit Venezuela in the future. Trump claimed the United States was now “running” the country after removing its leadership in a deadly overnight assault on Caracas. “I think at some point it’ll be safe,” he said.
However, the state department’s alert underlined the continued instability following last weekend’s special forces raid, during which dozens of people were reported killed.
While many opponents of Maduro’s former government have welcomed his capture, supporters have taken to the streets to condemn his rendition to the United States, describing it as an act of imperialist aggression.
Venezuela’s foreign ministry rejected the US warning, calling it “based on fabricated accounts aimed at creating a perception of risk that does not exist”.
In a statement, the ministry said the country was in “absolute calm, peace, and stability”, adding that all population centres, transport routes, checkpoints and security operations were functioning normally. It said all weapons remained under the control of the Bolivarian government, which it described as the sole guarantor of public order.
Despite these claims, journalists and activists in Caracas have reported seeing rifle-carrying members of the colectivos moving around the capital on motorbikes and operating checkpoints in several areas. Major roads linking Caracas to the western border are reportedly guarded by numerous military and police checkpoints.
US state department officials visited Caracas on Friday in what is believed to be part of preparations to reopen the US embassy. Maduro’s successor, the acting president Delcy Rodríguez, has called for improved relations with Washington, despite describing her ally’s capture as an abduction.
Separately, Maduro’s son said the former president was being held in a US jail and awaiting trial alongside his wife, Cilia Flores. In a video released on Saturday by the ruling PSUV party, the lawmaker Nicolás Maduro Guerra said his father claimed to be “doing well”.
“We are doing well. We are fighters,” he quoted his father as saying.
