Venezuela has been in a tailspin since former President Hugo Chavez died in March 2013. But in addition to the country's visible economic and political deterioration, another crisis is emerging, perhaps less conspicuous but no less damaging: the rising tension between Venezuelan security forces and the pro-government patronage groups known as colectivos.
Colloquially known as "the guardians of Chavez's revolution," colectivos are armed groups linked to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) through patronage. They classify themselves as anti-imperialists and anti-capitalists. Though they profess their loyalty to Chavez, the colectivos started well before his presidency — emerging between the 1960s and 1980s as underground left-wing groups that were marginalized by Venezuela's two-party political system.
Despite being highly disorganized, the colectivos have managed to take advantage of the ruling party's fragmentation and its weakened grip on power, bringing anarchy to the streets of Caracas. If the Venezuelan government does not move quickly to disarm the groups, it will risk losing more control of the neighborhoods in which they operate. Given enough time, the colectivos could even evolve into organized crime groups — a threat that would prove even more difficult to eradicate.
Accordingly, relations between the government of President Nicolas Maduro and the colectivos have soured. Many colectivos criticize the ruling Chavista elite as corrupt and lacking true revolutionary spirit. Several paramilitary colectivos have announced that they will fight for the ideals of Chavismo — even if it means going against Maduro. Maduro's response, Operation Liberation and Protection of the People, aimed to disarm the paramilitary colectivos and sparked an unofficial war with the colectivos, resulting in the deaths of 350 public officials in 2015. In January, government forces reciprocated by killing more than 200 alleged members of organized crime groups.
The colectivos will face their own constraints in the battle against Venezuela's security forces. Still, they will have a chance to make gains in other ways. As the Venezuelan economy continues to fall apart, the colectivos will likely seize the opportunity to launch contraband operations, stealing trucks carrying food and basic products with the intent of reselling the stolen goods at much higher prices. And the Maduro government, already embroiled in a lengthy political spat with the opposition, will likely be too preoccupied to stop them.
