Joseph Humire speaks at the hearing on enhancing federal, state, and local coordination in the fight against criminal illegal aliens, held on March 11, 2025. Photograph: House Oversight Committee YouTube, shared by The Guardian.
Guacamaya, August 14, 2025 — An investigation by InSight Crime, a research organization focused on organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, revealed that a Trump-era appointee led a group that disseminated false information about the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua.
Joseph Humire, who served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs, directed the Center for a Secure Free Society for over a decade. This think tank created a “Monitoring Activity” platform that listed alleged crimes and arrests linked to Tren de Aragua in the U.S.
InSight Crime found that the monitor cited fictitious sources and “facts that appear to have been entirely fabricated” to exaggerate the gang’s presence and criminal activity in the U.S. At least five false reports were identified, contributing to misinformation about the gang’s actual threat level.
Disinformation Pattern Supporting Anti-Migrant Agenda
One report dated March 10, 2025—just one day before Humire testified before Congress—claimed that a supposed gang member named Marcus Antonio Vargas-López was arrested in San Antonio for armed robbery. The cited article from the San Antonio Express-News led to a blank page, and no other outlet reported the incident. San Antonio police confirmed they had no record of the individual.
A similar case emerged on March 18, involving the alleged arrest of Daniel Oswaldo Peña-Gómez by Austin police, who later stated they had no record of the event. Three other fabricated incidents followed the same pattern: all located in Texas, all citing nonexistent news articles, and all published around Humire’s congressional testimony.
InSight Crime reviewed over 90 cases and found many were based on partisan sources or unverified social media accounts. Leonardo Coutinho, the current executive director of the Center, said the organization would work to correct the issue but offered no further explanation. Neither Humire nor the Department of Defense responded to requests for comment.
Between Reality and Exaggeration: Political Narrative vs. Persecution
The disinformation campaign coincided with aggressive actions such as raids, arrests, and mass deportations without proper legal safeguards. In March 2025, Venezuelan migrants were detained and deported en masse, many accused without evidence of belonging to Tren de Aragua. The U.S. government invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to send these individuals to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Former official Juan González noted that while intelligence agencies confirm the gang’s danger, “some public narratives exaggerate its reach and use it for political purposes.” González, who served as Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs under President Biden, told Guacamaya:
“Tren de Aragua is real: it began as a mega-gang in Tocorón prison, Venezuela, and now operates in several countries, engaging in extortion, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other violent crimes. It has expanded to Colombia, Peru, Chile, and others. In the U.S., there are arrests and trials, but no evidence of large-scale coordinated operations.”
The Risk of Stigmatizing Venezuelan Migrants
Venezuelan authorities argue that the Trump administration used the Tren de Aragua narrative to criminalize Venezuelan migration. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello denounced the discourse as ignoring the fact that most migrants have no ties to the gang.
González added that intelligence and investigative media agree Tren de Aragua is an autonomous criminal group. While there is “corruption and collusion” among some local authorities, there is no evidence that Maduro controls its operations.
“There is no credible proof that Nicolás Maduro directs Tren de Aragua,” González emphasized.
Human rights advocates have warned that indiscriminate use of the gang’s name stigmatizes Venezuelan migrants. InSight Crime urges caution against dangerous generalizations that risk lives and hinder effective public policy.
