José Arocha, a former Venezuelan officer, has revealed how the U.S. intelligence community riskily underestimated the Tren de Aragua gang’s ties to Maduro’s socialist government. According to his shocking testimony, intelligence officials from the Biden administration purposefully misled Americans about Venezuela’s weaponization of criminal organizations against the United States, a development that President Trump has been warning about for years.
Deep State Officials Fired After Contradicting Trump
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently fired two top officials from the National Intelligence Council for their role in producing a report that contradicted President Trump’s assertions about Venezuelan gang members. The officials dismissed were NIC acting director Mike Collins and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, following what Gabbard’s office described as part of cleaning up “weaponization and politicization” within the intelligence community.
Former CIA Ops Officer here.
Please don’t buy this bullsh*t about “The Intel Says Trump Is Wrong about Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Gang!”
Read the assessment for yourself. (https://t.co/fKxRsSvSPP)
Let’s go through it together to understand the game Democrats and the Deep State… pic.twitter.com/UuJ7AVGET8
— BDW (@BryanDeanWright) May 6, 2025
The controversial intelligence report, which has now been declassified, claimed it was unlikely that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was overseeing or aiding the criminal activities of Tren de Aragua in the United States. This directly contradicted President Trump’s justification for using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan gang members, whom he maintained were part of an “invasion” coordinated by Maduro’s socialist regime.
Venezuelan Military Expert Exposes Intelligence Failures
José Arocha, a former Venezuelan military lieutenant colonel with insider knowledge, has strongly criticized the U.S. intelligence report for missing crucial connections between Tren de Aragua and the Maduro regime. Arocha describes Tren de Aragua not merely as a criminal organization but as a tool for “asymmetrical warfare” deployed by Venezuela’s socialist government to create discord and instability throughout the Western Hemisphere, including within the United States.
🔥🧵/1 TREN DE ARAGUA’S TIES TO THE MADURO REGIME
An FBI Intelligence Assessment titled “Venezuelan Government Officials Use Tren de Aragua to Undermine Public Safety” has been unsealed.
The New York Times reports this memo pits the FBI “against other intelligence agencies in a… pic.twitter.com/vx5Qnj3XVO
— Kimberly “Kim” Wexler MA JD (@KimWexlerMAJD) May 29, 2025
Arocha’s testimony contradicts the intelligence assessment that claimed no solid connection exists between Maduro’s government and the criminal gang’s operations. He argues U.S. intelligence analysts completely overlooked the warfare dimension and failed to recognize how Venezuelan prisons like Tocorón function as luxurious headquarters for organized crime rather than actual correctional facilities.
The former Venezuelan officer revealed that the widely publicized 2023 raid on Tocorón prison was staged by the Maduro regime, allowing key Tren de Aragua leaders to escape and continue their operations. This sophisticated deception operation demonstrates the deep level of coordination between the gang and Venezuela’s government, which the U.S. intelligence report failed to identify.
Proxy Warfare Against American Security
Arocha’s revelations paint a disturbing picture of Venezuela serving as a proxy for America’s adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran. The former officer cited former Maduro Vice President Tareck El Aissami’s alleged connections to terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah as evidence of the regime’s coordination with entities hostile to American interests.
“DNI Gabbard is purging intelligence officials over a report that the Trump administration finds politically inconvenient. Whatever the administration is trying to protect … it’s not our national security.” – Mark Warner
Arocha has urged the United States to adopt a comprehensive approach against Tren de Aragua by collaborating with Latin American countries that have extensive experience dealing with the gang. The former officer’s testimony validates President Trump’s longstanding concerns about Venezuela’s role in facilitating criminal migration to destabilize American communities and undermine national security.
The firings at the National Intelligence Council signal a significant shift toward intelligence assessments that acknowledge the very real threats posed by foreign regimes using organized crime as weapons against American communities. Gabbard’s actions represent the Trump administration’s commitment to eliminating politically motivated analysis that downplays threats to the American homeland.
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