Tren de Aragua: The Extinct Venezuelan Gang Turned Into an International Narrative Powerful Weapon
Photo shows the entrance of the Tocorón prison after an operative who broke up the band «El Tren de Aragua». Mar 25, 2025 Photo: EFE
March 25, 2025 Hour: 4:05 pm
The U.S. labeled Tren de Aragua a ‘transnational criminal organization’—but evidence suggests it’s a political tool to justify sanctions & mass deportations. Full analysis.
Related:
President Maduro Says the FBI and the DEA Were Promoters of the Tren de Aragua Gang
U.S. Labels Tren de Aragua a “Transnational Criminal Organization”
Until its designation as a “transnational criminal organization” by the U.S. in 2024, the trajectory of the already dismantled group was narrated by a network of U.S.-based think tanks, media outlets, and funds that constructed a discourse against the Bolivarian Revolution. This narrative now serves to justify sanctions, carry out mass deportations, and reinforce the false idea of Venezuela as a failed state.
In July 2024, when the U.S. Department of the Treasury added Tren de Aragua to its list of transnational criminal organizations, it equated the Venezuelan prison gang—already disbanded—with cartels like Sinaloa or Jalisco Nueva Generación, which operate in over a hundred countries and have more than 45,000 members, associates, and facilitators.
The U.S. office described this defunct Venezuelan gang as the leader of an international network. However, these claims had less to do with the group’s actual criminal activity and more with a sophisticated narrative-building machine funded from Washington and amplified by international media.
The Rise and Fall of Tren de Aragua
Tren de Aragua emerged in the 2010s as a criminal structure within Tocorón prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state, later expanding its operations. Labeled a multi-crime gang, it engaged in extortion, internal prison control, and some drug trafficking.
Faced with the gang’s existence and expansion, Venezuelan authorities launched investigations in 2019. The state’s crackdown occurred in two phases: first, locating and dismantling its leadership, resulting in 28 arrests and warrants for 46 others; and second, following the Tocorón prison takeover in Operation Cacique Guaicaipuro, targeting its financial network, with similar operations in Yaracuy, Trujillo, and Tocuyito prisons.
Raids, seizures of vehicles and properties, and 16 arrests (14 under prosecution) marked the final phase. In total, 44 members were detained, with 102 arrest warrants issued.
Yet, by then, the international narrative had already transformed Tren de Aragua into a supposed transnational group with operational cells worldwide, allegedly running a human trafficking network from Chile to the U.S., thus posing a “threat” to the North American superpower.
These claims, however, lack real evidence—they are mere speculations turned into “facts” through a web of funding and media development tied to the State Department.
The Manufactured Narrative: Who’s Behind It?
Documents and funding trails reveal how think tanks, NGOs, and media aligned with U.S. foreign policy spun the tale of an organization controlling migration routes from Chile to the U.S.
The Role of U.S.-Funded Journalism
The U.S. Congress-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) allocated $2.3 million between 2020-2024 to projects on “organized crime in Venezuela,” per public reports. Beneficiaries included Monitor de Víctimas, a media alliance (El Pitazo, RunRun.es, Tal Cual) that drove early Tren de Aragua coverage.
Within this ecosystem, certain journalists became key sources. Ronna Rísquez, author of Tren de Aragua (2023), a Columbia University-trained opposition figure awarded by the USAID-linked Gabo Foundation, saw her research cited by the U.S. Treasury to justify sanctions. Though she admits no evidence links the group to U.S. operations, her work remains a media reference. Similarly, Venezuelan journalists in Miami, César Batiz and Joseph Poliszuk, saw their NED-funded reports amplified by CNN Español and El Nuevo Herald.
Meanwhile, USAID-funded InSight Crime published at least 17 articles in 2023 tying the gang to Nicolás Maduro’s government—without conclusive proof. This version was even debunked by U.S. intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA), which agreed Tren de Aragua operated independently. Only the FBI partially dissented, relying on disputed intelligence.
Open Society Foundations supported workshops in Colombia and Peru promoting the idea of Tren de Aragua’s “regional expansion.”
This machine follows a clear pattern: think tanks produce alarmist reports (“Tren de Aragua is the new MS-13”), NGO-funded local media spread them and win awards, international outlets republish unchecked, and U.S. officials use them to justify policies.
From Media Hype to Political Action
For example, after InSight Crime claimed in October 2023 that Tren de Aragua “controlled migrant trafficking at the U.S. southern border,” Republican senators cited it to demand more sanctions. The link between media production and political action is direct.
Venezuela’s president denounced this operation, alleging that defunct gangs like Tren de Aragua were created and deployed by the FBI and DEA from Colombia to carry out terrorist activities in Venezuela.
The Real Impact: Migrants as Collateral Damage
Today, the “Tren de Aragua” narrative fuels the detention and deportation—to high-security prisons suspected of being torture centers—of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.
While the U.S. deported 1,200 people in 2024 for alleged “organized crime ties,” mass deportations to Guantánamo and El Salvador’s CECOT have occurred without due process, mostly targeting Venezuelans with no criminal records.
Meanwhile, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador passed stricter migration laws citing the “Tren de Aragua threat.” National media blame the defunct group for rising crime—spurred by neoliberal inequality—further stigmatizing Venezuelans and enabling discrimination.
Conclusion: A Weaponized Story with Real Victims
The lingering question: Why treat an extinct gang as a global criminal empire? The answer seems less about regional security and more about justifying sanctions, interventions, and perpetuating Venezuela’s false “failed state” image.
The real winners? Think tanks securing funds, media chasing clicks, and politicians (Republican and Democrat) fueling anti-migrant rhetoric. The losers? Venezuelan migrants—victimized first by sanctions, then by a narrative that criminalizes them.
Autor: MLM
Fuente: Agencias - teleSUR - Nicolás Maduro - Misión Verdad - OFAC
