Armed Civilian Bands In Venezuela Prop Up Unpopular President

When Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela in 1999, he promised a new era of equality and social progress for the country's impoverished working class. Fast forward 18 years, and Chavez’s "Bolivarian Revolution" has lead the country into ruin.

While oil prices were high, the government provided extensive subsidies on many items, however, since the price per barrel crashed, the country has seen its economy collapse. Facing rampant hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and one of the world’s highest rates of armed criminal violence, Venezuela is far from a worker’s paradise.

Chavez might have died before his system completely collapsed, but his successor Nicolas Maduro seems intent to continue it in the face of mounting political opposition. Rioting has spread across the country in recent weeks, following mass demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people. With this situation critical, Maduro has employed an all too familiar tool to restore order.

Pro-government militias known as "colectivos" have been armed by the government and tasked with aiding crackdowns. Often employing criminal elements, these colectivos have been linked to extra-judicial killings and extreme violence. With the death toll standing at over 20 in the latest unrest alone, Patricia Torres and Nicholas Casey’s article for The New York Times shows just how dark the situation currently is in Venezuela.

As well, their article raises an even more alarming possibility - that these fiercely ideological colectivos may even continue their violence long after the Maduro government has been removed from power.