Maduro’s Masked Thugs Unleash Terror Along the Venezuelan Border
- Colectivos tear through towns on motorcycles, firing wildly
- Their reappearance means the autocrat won’t leave quietly
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The masked motorcyclists roared into the border town, shooting pistols in the air. They sent terrified demonstrators racing to cower in doorways or tremble in the homes of strangers. They formed roadblocks to shake down dissidents, and late into the night they prowled debris-strewn streets in deafening patrols.
In San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, colectivos -- gangs loyal to autocratic President Nicolas Maduro -- led the charge against those who challenged the regime this past weekend. They terrorized thousands who tried to usher humanitarian aid into the hungry nation from Colombia, brutalizing them within a block of an international bridge where food and medicine were waiting.