Venezuelan government hunts down dissidents in post-strike crackdown

Published January 7, 2026 3:19pm ET



The Venezuelan government published a “state of external commotion” decree on Monday that it has used to crack down on dissent following the United States’s capture of the country’s former dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The decree, signed by Maduro after initial U.S. airstrikes on Caracas but before his seizure, legally grants the authorities extensive powers to arrest supporters of the U.S. attack.

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