Wilexis Acevedo was for a long time one of Venezuela’s most wanted criminals and the leader of the mega-gang bearing his name, which controlled the José Félix Ribas neighborhood – the largest in the ...

Children play in a public park in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/) ...

enriching a moneyed elite even as the poor cling to life in hillside shanty towns like the Petare slum above Caracas, home to half a million people. Despite gaping inequality, however, Venezuela ...

In Petare, a district of eastern Caracas where colectivo members roam free, 32-year-old Josumary Gomez told AFP their presence dissuaded her from protesting. "They have taken several people.