Venezuela's socialist economy is suffering triple-digit inflation, severe shortages and a third year of recession, but gangs like this have found strength and profit in the chaos. They are teaming up with former rivals and buying heavier weapons to control ever-larger territory in the capital and beyond, the criminals, the government and criminologists say. "The majority of the other slums are our friends. It's not only us anymore, now we do business with each other," said the leader, sat at a desk with his face hidden by a black ski mask. He would only give his name as Anderson. He said rampant inflation is forcing the gang to be even more active as it seeks to cover sky-rocketing costs for weapons, drugs and even food. "We used to do one job a month. Right now we are doing them every week," Anderson said, before a phone pinged with news of a drugs delivery. Venezuela's economy suffered 181 percent inflation and shrank nearly 6 percent last year, and is expected to perform worse in 2016. Basic products are scarce and food riots regular. Yet gangs like this are thriving.
File photo of police patrolling the slum district of Petare in Caracas, Venezuela
Unlike a growing array of other armed groups in Venezuela - which include pro-government gangs and some small rural guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary forces - the street gangs are largely apolitical. But as their reach grows, they are another destabilizing factor for President Nicolas Maduro, who is already struggling to govern a nation that is running short of food and medicines despite vast oil reserves and has one of the world's highest murder rates. He has responded with aggressive raids by soldiers and police, a policy supported by many people sick of criminals but which rights groups say leads to executions and arbitrary arrests. Some criminologists warn the raids encourage gangs to seek out ever heavier weaponry in defense. While some gangs are teaming up, there are still turf battles and internal disputes, and Venezuela is seeing more of the spectacular violence associated with Mexico's more powerful drug cartels. Police showed Reuters images of bodies left mutilated, hanging from bridges, or beheaded.
File photo of a Venezuelan soldier standing in front of a mural depicting Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro during a patrol at the slum of Petare in Caracas, Venezuela
As he spoke, Anderson's henchman prowled around him, waving sniper rifles and pistols, changing ammunition clips and peering through a narrow window onto the rooftops and steep alleyways below, as reggae music drifted up. They have good reason to be on guard. Two weeks ago, in the nearby El Valle neighborhood, two factions of one gang fought for hours, leaving six leaders dead. The victorious faction released a cell-phone video showing a man pumping dozens of bullets into a victim's head. Anderson's gang stalks victims for days before snatching them, and tries to get $5,000-$10,000 ransom paid in euros or dollars within 24 hours. He said his gang killed about 10 of its several dozen kidnapping victims last year, usually because families did not pay on time.
File photo of Venezuelan soldiers walking past the ruins of houses, which were demolished by government officials during a special security operation called 'Operation to Free the People' (OLP) in Valencia, Venezuela
In the first six months of 2016, the number of kidnappings reported to just one of several national security forces soared by 170 percent to 326 compared to the same period last year. The total number of kidnappings is believed to be many times higher than that, since most victims never go to the police. In this highly polarized country, one of the few things both the government and its opponents agree on is that organized crime is a serious and growing problem. Even from prison, gang leaders are able to coordinate nationally with street thugs like Anderson, who started his life of crime at 13 and spent 10 years locked up for murder.
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