US urges Americans to leave Venezuela as colectivos reportedly search for them

# US urges Americans to leave Venezuela as colectivos reportedly search for them

IO Digest Desk

The US State Department has urged Americans to leave Venezuela immediately, warning that armed pro-regime colectivos may be setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for US citizens.

A security alert issued on 10 January 2026 said there were reports of armed members of colectivos trying to identify Americans or supporters of the opposition. The State Department told citizens in Venezuela to remain vigilant, exercise caution on roads and depart as soon as possible now that some international flights had resumed.

The warning came one week after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, a dramatic event that has left the country in a volatile and contested state. The Guardian reported that Donald Trump claimed the United States was effectively running Venezuela after the assault that removed Maduro’s leadership, while supporters of the deposed government denounced the operation as imperialist aggression. The new warning suggests the security environment has not stabilised despite the political upheaval.

The Venezuelan foreign ministry rejected the alert, saying it was based on fabricated accounts designed to create a false sense of risk. It said Venezuela remained in “absolute calm, peace, and stability” and insisted that communication routes, checkpoints and security devices were functioning normally. The ministry also said state weapons remained under government control.

Reporting from Caracas, however, suggested a different picture. Journalists and activists said they had seen rifle-carrying colectivo members moving through the capital on motorbikes and setting up checkpoints around the city. The roads between Caracas and the western border were described as being controlled by dozens of military and police checkpoints.

The alert also appears to be tied to possible diplomatic reopening. State Department officials visited Caracas on Friday as part of what were believed to be preparations for reopening the US embassy. That would be a major shift after years of strained relations, but the new travel warning shows how unstable the environment remains.

The message to Americans was blunt because the threat described was immediate rather than hypothetical. The State Department said some flights were available again, making departure possible, but the broader political and security situation was still too dangerous for routine movement by road.

The episode captures a familiar pattern in fast-moving regime-change scenarios: official claims of calm are often accompanied by visible armed presence and a scramble to define who controls the streets. In this case, the US warning is the clearest signal yet that Washington does not view the situation in Venezuela as secure enough for its citizens to stay.

For now, the practical advice is unchanged: leave immediately if you can, and avoid road travel if you cannot. The political situation may still be in flux, but the travel warning suggests the risk to foreign nationals is already concrete.