Roger Thayer Stone Center For Latin American Studies

Tulane University

From Tulane News and Chicago Tribune: Tulane professor David Smilde explains the role of 'colectivos' in Venezuela

March 18th, 2019

This story originally appeared in Tulane News and the Chicago Tribune entitled Maduro’s muscle: Motorcycle gangs known as ‘colectivos’ are the enforcers for Venezuela’s authoritarian leader on March 14, 2019.

A recent news item from the Chicago Tribune featured Tulane University sociologist and Venezuela expert David Smilde. In the article, Smilde says the ‘colectivos’ fulfill the classic work of paramilitaries. While masked, they carry out violent security tasks that security agents in uniform would be held accountable for.

Read the entire story in the original article here.

Venezuela + People
Arachu Castro
Senior Associate Research Fellow - Samuel Z. Stone Chair of Public Health in Latin America