PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) indicates that Venezuelan officials may be aiding Tren de Aragua gang members’ entry into the United States, endangering national security.
👥 Who’s Involved: Venezuelan government officials, Tren de Aragua gang, FBI, Trump administration officials, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
📍 Where & When: United States, potential for Venezuelan state-sanctioned violence over the next six to 18 months. Chile, Ecuador, and Peru are also affected.
💬 Key Quote: “These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community,” said a Trump administration official regarding the threat posed by these gang members.
⚠️ Impact: Heightened potential for threats, kidnappings, and violence against Americans, as well as Venezuelan expatriates critical of President Nicolás Maduro.
IN FULL:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes that some officials within the Venezuelan government may be facilitating the entry of members from the Tren de Aragua, a gang classified as a foreign terrorist organization, into the United States. This presents a threat to public safety and national security, especially against Venezuelan nationals located in the U.S. who are critical of President Nicolás Maduro.
The FBI assesses that, within the next six to 18 months, these gang members could be used as proxies to execute threats, abductions, and potential killings targeting Venezuelan dissidents residing in the United States. This potential influx and use of gang members coincide with Venezuela’s similar destabilization tactics in other countries in the region, including Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.
“These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community,” a Trump administration source commented. “They reflect the sentiments of numerous other intelligence assessments across multiple agencies. Nicholas Maduro is a Marxist dictator who hijacked a once-prosperous Venezuela and brought in nothing but total economic collapse and gang takeover. He crumbled Caracas, now overrun with drugs and violence, and wants to do the same across the United States by sending his most violent and dangerous criminals into our communities.”
On April 18, a classified National Intelligence Council report, which supposedly found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, was leaked, but the FBI warning suggests this is inaccurate.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard condemned the leak and warned that the leakers and their media allies had “twisted and manipulated” the report “to convey the exact opposite finding.” She vowed that officials weaponizing classified intelligence “to undermine the President’s agenda” will face “the full force of the law.”