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From a Lavish Prison, Tren de Aragua Ran a Transnational Gang. Now, it's a Favorite Trump Target
Houston Chronicle ^ | Regina Garcia Cano

Posted on 04/08/2025 11:01:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Tocorón once had it all. A nightclub, swimming pools, tigers, a lavish suite and plenty of food. This was not a Las Vegas-style resort, but it felt like it for some of the thousands who until recently lived in luxury in this sprawling prison in northern Venezuela. Here, between parties, concerts and weeks-long visits from wives and children, is the birthplace of the Tren de Aragua, a dangerous gang that has gained global notoriety after U.S. President Donald Trump put it at the center of his anti-immigrant narrative.

But kidnappings, extortion and other crimes were planned, ordered or committed from this prison long before Trump’s rhetoric.

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2013; aliens; aragua; countryclubprison; democrats; landshark; media; organizedcrime; reginagarciacano; tda; terrorism; trendearagua; trendyarugula; trump; venezuela
Well, if Trump is targeting them, they must be the good guys, right?
1 posted on 04/08/2025 11:01:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Do you think it will get to the point where Democrats are actually supporting Tren de Aragua? That would be a tremendous “own goal,” as they say in that part of the world.


2 posted on 04/08/2025 11:02:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Democrats are already supporting them.


3 posted on 04/08/2025 11:05:28 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Trump has all the right enemies, DeSantis has all the wrong friends.)
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To: SoConPubbie

Democrats are terrorists.


4 posted on 04/08/2025 11:09:56 PM PDT by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: SoConPubbie
I mean coming out and talking them up publicly. Saying something like "it's just a club, Trump is destroying something innocent."



"I'm just a dolphin, ma'am"

5 posted on 04/08/2025 11:19:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: SoConPubbie
Democrats are already supporting them.

More precisely, the people who finance Tren de Aragua are bribing the rats, too.

6 posted on 04/08/2025 11:27:07 PM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
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To: All

Living the good life—— Tocorón was a prison not a Las Vegas-style resort-—— but it felt like it for Tren de Aragua, a dangerous gang that gained global notoriety, who until recently lived in the lap of luxury in this sprawling prison in northern Venezuela.

A nightclub, swimming pools, tigers, a lavish suite, plenty of food, and between parties, concerts and weeks-long visits from wives and children, kidnappings, extortion and other crimes were planned, ordered or committed from this prison.

Tren de Aragua, a dangerous gang that has gained global notoriety after
President Donald Trump put it at the center of his anti-immigrant narrative.


7 posted on 04/08/2025 11:30:43 PM PDT by Liz (This then is how we should pray...."Our Father, who art in heaven......" )
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To: nickcarraway

“ Do you think it will get to the point where Democrats are actually supporting Tren de Aragua?”

I was kinda thinking the Houston Chronicle here was doing just that.


8 posted on 04/09/2025 12:34:08 AM PDT by stanne (Because they were mesmerized by Obama, the man for whom this was named, whose name they left out of )
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To: stanne

The Houston Comical


9 posted on 04/09/2025 12:41:48 AM PDT by 38special (I should've said something earlier )
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To: nickcarraway

Support? They ARE TDA


10 posted on 04/09/2025 1:54:07 AM PDT by Gaffer (i)
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To: Liz
More like a gang headquarters masquerading as a prison.
11 posted on 04/09/2025 2:19:00 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (TV )
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To: rdcbn1

Its a private club.


12 posted on 04/09/2025 2:35:49 AM PDT by Liz (This then is how we should pray...."Our Father, who art in heaven......" )
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To: nickcarraway

Rhetoric has a negative connotation in American politics. Trump’s promise to eliminate the gang is not just a rhetoric, especially since the author already established that they were hardcore criminals before Trump era.


13 posted on 04/09/2025 3:07:57 AM PDT by paudio (MATH: 45<47)
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To: 38special

“The Houston Comical”

As bad as the Austin Un-American Spaceman


14 posted on 04/09/2025 3:28:50 AM PDT by Fai Mao ( All Democrats need to go to prison.)
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To: nickcarraway

The author implies TdA got its start in 2013 at the prison, but it was started years before then, by former civilian government officials, military generals, etc.


15 posted on 04/09/2025 11:24:56 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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