US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries

Source: The Guardian

US urges its citizens to flee Venezuela amid reports of paramilitaries

State department says armed ‘colectivos’ appear to be setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for Americans

Tom Phillips
Sat 10 Jan 2026 23.53 GMT
Last modified on Sat 10 Jan 2026 23.55 GMT

The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence that the occupants were US citizens or supporters of the country.

“US citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by road,” the alert added, urging citizens to depart immediately now that some international flights from Venezuela have restarted.

Speaking to the New York Times last week, Donald Trump said he would like to visit Venezuela in the future after having claimed the US was “running” the South American country after removing its leaders with a deadly night-time assault on Caracas. “I think at some point it’ll be safe,” the US president told reporters.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/10/us-citizens-venezuela-paramilitaries