A former military officer warns that the members of the Tren de Aragua are ideological terrorists who disguise themselves as a street gang.

A high-ranking Venezuelan military officer who was once in charge is warning that the migrant gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) is being used by the Venezuelan government to cause unrest in the United States.

A criminal and terrorist organization known as Tren de Aragua, which was formed a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison, has already established a presence in over 30 major U.S. cities.

A former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army, José Gustavo Arocha, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that the socialist leader Nicolás Maduro is responsible for much of TdA's growth and expansion, initially in Latin America and now in the U.S.

In 2015, Arocha escaped from Venezuela to the United States after being imprisoned by the Maduro regime for eight months. Since then, he stated that the situation has deteriorated with Maduro consolidating his power over the region. This year, Maduro maintained control of the country by winning a contentious election that many believed was fraudulent.

"The Tren de Aragua, or TdA, is a state-sponsored organization under the Maduro regime in Venezuela. Its true leader resides in Caracas, and the TdA is used as a blackmail tool by the regime for any given situation."

The Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, or DGCIM, has been using TdA as a tool for asymmetrical warfare, allowing itself to maintain "plausible deniability" under the Maduro dictatorship.

The Tren de Aragua gang gained notoriety in the U.S. when its members took control of an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, through violent means. Since then, the gang has been linked to a series of violent attacks and gang-related crimes, including the murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia.

The Venezuelan government and DGCIM have trained and empowered TdA to promote a particular criminal ideology, as some media reports have suggested. The group's name, "train from Aragua," indicates their intention to spread their ideology throughout the Western Hemisphere.

The Venezuelan government has used TdA to cause crippling crime waves in neighboring countries, which helped pave the way for socialist-friendly governments in Colombia, Peru, and Chile.

"They aim to create chaos in countries to reshape borders and instill a sense of instability and criminality," he stated. "This culture is being exported from Venezuela, initially to Latin America and now to the U.S."

The Venezuelan government has seized the opportunity presented by the historic migrant crisis under the Biden administration to establish a foothold in the U.S. The administration's decision to temporarily lift key oil sanctions against Maduro has only worsened the situation.

"The number of Venezuelan migrants is estimated to be between 8 million and less. This is a significant amount, as he pointed out. If you consider the spread of these migrants across the states, it resembles a wall that is expanding. Additionally, when you factor in the transportation of migrants from Texas to other states, their movement can be likened to the spread of a disease or virus throughout the country."

Arocha advised Trump to prioritize the destruction of Tren de Aragua on his first day in office, stating that it is essential to close the southern border, but Tren de Aragua will return if the U.S. does not contain Maduro.

"Imagine if you sent all of Tren de Aragua to Venezuela or any other country, it would return. However, this won't solve the disease. The root cause of TdA is the behavior of the Maduro regime, which is attempting to harm American people through the use of an asymmetrical tool."

"Arocha stated that the rule is not to allow Maduro to continue in Venezuela. Instead, if Maduro is given access to oil revenues and resources, then TdA must be established in the United States."