| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Leaked Report Warns Venezuela Sending Intel Operatives, Released Prisoners to ‘Neutralize' Targets in U.S. |
| 2024-11-08 |
| [Breitbart] In a report reviewed exclusively by Breitbart Texas, human intelligence developed by frontline Border Patrol intelligence officers reveals the possibility of a formal covert operation being conducted by the Maduro regime. The operation is designed to infiltrate the United States using released inmates and pairing them with Venezuelan intelligence operatives to “neutralize” human targets within the United States. The report’s narrative, generated by the Rio Grande Valley Sector Intelligence Unit (SIU), indicates that released inmates from Venezuelan prisons have been directed to travel to the United States alongside Venezuelan intelligence officers to track down former Venezuelan military members, politicians, and law enforcement officials within the United States and “neutralize” them. According to the report, the motive is to prevent the release of classified information that Venezuelan officials may possess. Breitbart Texas received the report obtained from a source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who was not authorized to speak to the media. The report, known as a Field Intelligence Report (FIR), is generally developed and disseminated by the agency’s Intelligence Units. The reports are generated when information is received from various sources that criminal activity is occurring, likely to occur, or needs further investigation. Among the sources of information relied upon to complete the reports are interviews with criminal suspects or other persons of interest. The report released to Breitbart Texas involves information provided by a Venezuelan source with details regarding the Maduro operation. The FIR is preliminary and has not been thoroughly investigated, according to the source. “This is not the first report we have developed related to Venezuelan prison releases from sources we have interviewed,” the source explained. “This is alarming, considering we have a new administration entering office in January.” The source says the Venezuelan government has every reason to believe the nearly 600,000 Venezuelans that have crossed into the United States under the Biden-Harris administration may soon be back in front of CBP and ICE officials if a mass deportation program comes to fruition. “The report’s timing raises more questions as the Maduro regime may fear some Venezuelans may trade information to avoid removal,” the source emphasized. “It certainly merits more investigation,” The issue of the Maduro government releasing inmates and sending them to the United States has been a topic touched upon by President-Elect Donald Trump for which he has been criticized. The information relied upon by President Trump was based on a September 2022 exclusive report by Breitbart Texas. At the time, Breitbart Texas received an intelligence report produced by the Border Patrol that warned agents to be on the lookout for released Venezuelan prison inmates entering the United States. The report indicated Venezuela’s Maduro government had purposely freed the inmates, including some convicted of murder, rape, and extortion. That report made no mention of government intelligence or counter-intelligence agents being deployed. The likelihood that the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Venezuela’s equivalent to the CIA, may be involved in a plot to silence or protect matters of interest to the Maduro regime is bolstered by the dictator’s previous use of the organization to quell dissent within the country. According to a United Nations report in 2022, SEBIN operatives were used to commit crimes against its citizens to repress dissent. “Our investigations and analysis show that the Venezuelan State relies on the intelligence services and its agents to repress dissent in the country. In doing so, grave crimes and human rights violations are being committed, including acts of torture and sexual violence. These practices must stop immediately, and the individuals responsible must be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the law,” said Marta Valiñas, Chair of the United Nations Fact Finding Commission on the issue. Related: Rio Grande Valley Sector: 2023-10-17 4th Iranian 'special interest alien' apprehended this month in Texas, US customs confirms Rio Grande Valley Sector: 2023-10-05 DHS Sec. Mayorkas declares 'acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers' to prevent illegal border crossings Rio Grande Valley Sector: 2023-08-14 Mexican Cartel Weapons Found on Border Along Texas Bank of Rio Grande |
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| Southeast Asia | |
| Four Americans arrested in Laos | |
| 2005-06-06 | |
| Four US nationals have been arrested in Laos for "liaising illegally" with ethnic Hmong people, a foreign ministry official said on Monday. The four were detained on Saturday and are now being questioned in Vientiane, said spokesman Yong Chanhthalansy. They were in Laos to try and ensure the safety of relatives of Hmong rebels surrendering to the Lao authorities. On Saturday, 170 women, children and old men surrendered after living in the jungle since the Vietnam War. According to the Nation newspaper in Thailand, the four detainees were Sia Cher Vang and Nhia Vang Yang - two Hmong Americans - as well as Californians Ed and Georgie Szendrey. All four are members of the Fact Finding Commission (FFC), a US-based organisation which has kept in touch with Hmong rebels still hiding in Laos. The Laos government spokesman told Reuters news agency that the four "were making trouble with the local authorities and local people, who reported that they were very unhappy". "So they have been placed under arrest and are now being interrogated in Vientiane," he said.
Ed Szendrey was in Laos to meet the first group of relatives to surrender. He said they were received warmly by local villagers in Xiang Khuang province. "The surrender went smoothly and food was provided by villagers at the request of the local government authorities," Mr Szendrey was quoted by the FFC as saying, before his arrest on Saturday. But Mr Yong disputed his account, saying the Americans' presence was interfering with a government programme to relocate jungle communities to improve their living conditions. Some members of the Hmong ethnic minority were recruited by the CIA to fight on behalf of the pro-American side during the Vietnam War. But when the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the country in 1975, the Hmong found themselves virtually abandoned by Washington. Many have since adapted to life in Communist Laos, while others have fled to Thailand and the US. But thousands of stayed in the Lao jungle, where they have faced growing hardship and continuing clashes with troops. | |
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