Following the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces late last week, Maduro’s deputies are stifling political dissent among Venezuelans — by force, if necessary.

According to Breitbart News, Venezuelan police forces have been augmented by armed socialist regime gangs in harassing and arresting Venezuelans celebrating Maduro’s capture. The regime reportedly declared a “State of Emergency” shortly after Maduro’s capture, which included ordering the arrest of “any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic.”

Since the “State of Emergency” decree was issued on January 3, as many as 20 individuals have been arrested, according to The New York Times. Police and the regime-aligned gangs known as Colectivos have set up arbitrary checkpoints, boarded buses, and searched cell phones for evidence that citizens have celebrated Maduro’s capture. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who is wanted in the U.S. on narco-terrorism charges, has reportedly been orchestrating the raids by the Colectivos, even sending the armed thugs into citizens’ homes.

Former military official and Venezuelan political exile José Antonio Colina told Breitbart News that “everyone celebrated in the streets of Madrid, Doral, Colombia” when Maduro was captured, but “no one came out in Venezuela for fear of being victimized by the regime’s repressive apparatus.” He emphasized, “It is clear that anyone caught celebrating will be thrown in jail.” Colina also warned that Cabello would willingly target his own population in order to maintain control. “The fact that Diosdado is at the head of the repressive apparatus is extremely worrying, as he directs the strategies of the Venezuelan tyranny,” Colina said. “It is no secret that he had already mentioned that if there was an intervention, they would go against the population.”

Despite the Venezuelan regime’s oppressive tactics, President Donald Trump has pledged that the U.S. will manage the country politically until a peaceful transition of power to a lawful authority can be managed. When asked in a New York Times interview whether that process could take up to six months or even up to a year, the president replied, “I would say much longer.” He also told reporters that he intends to “rebuild” the Latin American nation’s oil production capabilities and facilities “in a very profitable way.” The president explained, “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”

Appearing on “Washington Watch” Wednesday night, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said that the Trump administration’s plans for Venezuela mean that the country’s future is “bright.” He explained, “These are freedom-loving people, for the most part, that live in Venezuela. They’re very grateful for the [U.S. military’s] action. They are rich in resources. They once enjoyed capitalism and freedom and democracy.” The senator posited, “I think, in fact — I’m more optimistic than a lot of the analysts — I think that they’ll recover rather quickly once they get a stable government that’s duly elected and has the confidence of the Venezuelan people.” Maduro’s capture and what could be the eventual collapse of his regime will also have a positive effect on the rest of Latin America, Cramer suggested. “I think it makes the entire neighborhood much, much safer.”

China has long relied on Venezuela for oil, but since the U.S. has seized control of Venezuela’s oil production, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has turned to Iran and Russia for crude, according to industry analysts. The CCP’s Foreign Ministry was quick to condemn the American raid, classifying Maduro’s capture as a “blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president” and called on the U.S. to “abide by international law” and “stop violating other countries’ sovereignty and security.”

Democrats in the U.S. were just as quick to lambast the Trump administration’s actions, characterizing the raid as both a violation of international law and a violation of U.S. constitutional norms. Cramer dismissed the concerns of Democrats as inaccurate. “The previous administration, the Maduro administration, is still in charge, in the sense that it’s his vice president who’s the interim president for now,” the senator pointed out.

“Now, there [have] to be some changes … going forward, but the institutions are still under the same leadership,” Cramer added. “That is an indication, if you will, that this was not a regime change military action, but rather this was the execution of a legal arrest warrant based on indictments here in the United States I think people should think about those facts and have a clear understanding that this was not necessarily a military operation that required [congressional] permission, if you will, or a declaration of war.”