Maduro Regime Reportedly Gathering Information On Former Police And Military Officers Deported From U.S. To Venezuela

Venezuelan exile leaders in Miami are claiming that the Maduro regime is gathering information about former police and military officers deported from the U.S. to the South American country, according to a new report.

The Miami Herald noted that exiles claim to have seen a memo issued by Caracas' Ministry of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace, which instructs officers to send teams to the homes of the former officers and collect personal information. The document includes a list of names of people to surveil.

Speaking to the outlet, Lt. Jose Antonio Colina, president of the Organization of Venezuelans Politically Persecuted in Exile, said the document is "extremely serious," adding it puts deportees in immediate danger.

"They would be taken by the tyranny, they could be subjected to intense interrogations, they could be illegally detained and also subjected to torture and degrading treatment," he claimed. He went on to say that any returnee could "become the victim of an illegitimate detention."

Different reports have noted that the maduro regime ramper up repression after the U.S. began its military campaign in the region.

CNN noted in late November that, according to human rights group Provea, 54 people were detained in October, the highest number since tensions with the Trump administration began in the region. Many of them have ties with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado.

Provea coordinator Marino Alvarado told the outlet that the detentions are a "policy designed to instill fear among Venezuelans." "Now the goal isn't to fill prisons; it's to neutralize organizing power by removing voices that can mobilize people," he added.

CNN also noted that reports of torture, isolation and inhumane conditions in detention centers are widespread.

Surveillance is also increasing. A report from Reuters noted that intelligence officers are keeping tabs on family members of people killed at sea by U.S. strikes against alleged drug vessels.

Citing people affected, Reuters noted that Bolivarian National Intelligence Service agents told them not to post about their loved ones' deaths on social media. The bodies have not been retrieved and families have not been able to hold funerals for them.

They added that they are not aware about any investigations related to the killings. Washington has not released details about the people targeted either.

Residents of the town of Guiria said the number of security personnel from different agencies has increased since mid-September, when strikes against the vessels increased.

"They pass through the same areas many times, at all hours. Before, they weren't so persistent, now they're everywhere all the time," a community leader told the outlet.