The Aragua Train Does Not Operate Under Venezuelan Orders: U.S. Intelligence Assesment
U.S. President Donald Trump. X/ @PopCrave
March 21, 2025 Hour: 2:56 pm
In February, intelligence agencies stated that Venezuela not only does not support the Aragua Train but has actually fought it.
On Thursday, Charlie Savage and Julian Barnes published an article in The New York Times titled “Intelligence Assessment Said to Contradict Trump on Venezuelan Gang”, which reveals that a U.S. intelligence evaluation contradicts Donald Trump’s claims regarding the operations of the Aragua Train.
RELATED:
CODEPINK Condemns U.S.-Funded Incarceration of Venezuelans
Last week, the Republican politician ordered the expulsion of Venezuelan migrants, arguing that they were linked to this criminal organization, which had allegedly infiltrated the United States under orders from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. However, U.S. intelligence agents not only failed to find any evidence supporting Trump’s unfounded claims but also considered them baseless.
“President Trump’s assertion that a gang is committing crimes in the United States at the direction of Venezuela’s government was critical to his invocation of a wartime law last week to summarily deport people whom officials suspected of belonging to that group,” Savage and Barnes wrote.
“But American intelligence agencies circulated findings last month that stand starkly at odds with Mr. Trump’s claims… The document, dated Feb. 26, summarized the shared judgment of the nation’s spy agencies that the gang was not controlled by the Venezuelan government,” they added.
“The intelligence community assessment concluded that the gang, Tren de Aragua, is not directed by Venezuela’s government or committing crimes in the U.S. on its orders, according to the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations… Most of the intelligence community, including the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, agreed with that assessment,” Savage and Barnes noted.
Despite this, the false narrative regarding the Venezuela-Aragua Train links has allowed the White House to invoke the powers of the Alien Enemies Act and act in violation of the rulings of the U.S. judiciary itself. Ignoring the reports from his own intelligence agencies, Trump continues to perpetuate the belief that Venezuelan migration is part of an aggression strategy stemming from the Bolivarian Revolution.
However, the facts tell a different story: the February intelligence assessment “concluded that the gang is not acting at the direction of the Maduro administration and that the two are instead hostile to each other, citing incidents in which Venezuelan security forces exchanged gunfire with gang members,” Savage and Barnes pointed out.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: NYT
