UN Fact-Finding Mission says Venezuela's Interior Ministry has been the main entity managing armed 'mixed collectives'; Runrunes reports it names Diosdado Cabello among those who backed them
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Runrunes reports that the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, in a report published 16 September 2026 based on 62 interviews, says the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace has been the main government entity managing "mixed collectives", armed groups combining civilians and state security personnel, which it says were born from the People's Liberation Operations. Runrunes reads the report as saying Diosdado Cabello and former minister Carmen Melendez organized and financed these groups during their time at the ministry, with Nestor Reverol a key figure in their formation and ministers resorting to them from 2015. A check of the mission's accompanying conference room paper found it says Cabello and Bernal publicly backed the colectivos and that ministers helped structure them; it does not say in those terms that Cabello organized and financed them. Runrunes's account contains no response from those named.
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