The Venezuelan regime has launched a fierce crackdown on civil society in response to Donald Trump‘s extraordinary abduction of dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez has ordered her feared secret police to ‘search and capture’ any so-called collaborators following Saturday’s special forces raid.
Plain-clothed gunmen were seen patrolling the streets of the capital, Caracas, as she used Constitutional rights usually reserved for natural disasters to round up opponents.
Sources in the tightly guarded autocracy told the Mail there are fears for journalists who have gone missing with two major American news agencies reportedly banned from leaving the country.
A chilling ‘Gaceta Official’ Article Five notice was issued in the name of President Maduro on Saturday declaring a ‘state of external disturbance’.
However the full force of the extraordinary powers only started to be felt after the Gaceta was published on Monday evening.
It stated that ‘the actions deployed by the Government of the United States against Venezuelan territory make it necessary and urgent to adopt extraordinary security and defence measures to repel the aggression’.
The Gaceta ordered: ‘National, state, and municipal police bodies shall immediately undertake the search and capture throughout the national territory of any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack of the United States of America against the Republic, in order to place them at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the criminal justice system, with full observance of due process and the right to defence.’
On Monday night at least eight journalists had been rounded up and arrested of whom just three were released.
Plain-clothed gunmen were seen patrolling the streets of the capital, Caracas, calling for the release of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro
Delcy Rodriguez has ordered her feared secret police to ‘search and capture’ any so-called collaborators. Pictured: A gunman in Caracas
Other reporters in the country reported regime cronies intimidating them with fears growing for colleagues who suddenly disappeared while filing dispatches on the ground.
A local journalist in the capital, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mail: ‘This is the regime telling us nothing has changed.
‘These people have no limits. They will do what they have to do – they will do anything to stay in power and keep authority on their side.
‘This is a campaign of harassment against the press in Venezuela.’
Another reporter told us: ‘I heard my friend was with a group of journalists when the government came. He went missing. We are trying to find out what has happened to him.
‘Everything is very fast moving.’
Haunting photographs show plain-clothed gunmen in balaclavas stopping cars and questioning drivers on the streets of Caracas.
Men dressed all in black with body armour and large assault rifles maraud the streets in groups.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are seen arriving on a helipad in Manhattan in handcuffs for an arraignment in the Souther District of New York on January 5, 2026
A supporter of ousted Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro carries his portrait during a rally outside the National Assembly in Caracas
A motorcyclist carries a portrait of Maduro after he was captured following US air strikes
The Galicia also calls on the ‘militarisation’ of public infrastructure, notably including ‘the oil industry’.
It comes after Mr Trump declared that the United States would be ‘running’ Venezuela and retaining control of its vast oil reserves.
He has claimed Ms Rodriguez is doing as instructed by Washington but the crackdown will lead to pressure on the US President to step in and protect the public.
Last night journalists operating in Venezuela were frantically warning colleagues to delete all chats referring to Maduro and his capture.
An instruction seen by the Mail reminded reporters to remove any photographs downloaded automatically from messaging accounts.
It warned that regime secret police ‘walk like crazy in Caracas, Valencia and Maracay.’
The decree places the ‘entire national territory’ under a constitutional emergency regime with full army mobilisation and key civilian infrastructure placed under military control.
Acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodruguez has ordered a crackdown on civil society in Venezuela
Crowds gathered in Caracas with flags to call for the release of President Maduro
Donald Trump is preparing to install US officials to oversee the interim leadership in Venezuela after the capture and extradition of Nicolas Maduro over the weekend
Civilian personnel in vital sectors ‘shall temporarily be subject to military regulations’ while authorities can ‘restrict the free movement of persons of vehicles’ throughout the country.
Public meetings and demonstrations are banned and entry into national territory is tightly restricted.
The regime can ‘requisition’ any private property ‘necessary for national defence’ while all existing laws ‘incompatible’ with the decree ‘are temporarily suspended’.
The emergency powers will be enforced for 90 days – after which they can be renewed for a further three months.
It calls for ‘firm patriotic fervor’ and urges ‘civil military police unity’ in the face of ‘armed attacked’ by the US.
