war. All colectivos are up in arms." Noting that the Venezuelan Housing Mission buildings are in the hills of Caracas, El Ché assured that "the people would come down from the hills" if needed. Colectivos protested against the incidents and demanded the dismissal of then Ministry of Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace, Miguel Rodríguez Torres. Weeks later, on 24 October, Rodríguez Torres was replaced by Carmen Meléndez, with one of the reasons allegedly being the pressure colectivos placed on the government. Maduro also called on Freddy Bernal, a government leader with close ties to colectivos, to "reform" the police after the incident. Following the dismissal of Rodríguez Torres, the 5 de Marzo colectivo also called for the dismissal of Diosdado Cabello. Attack on the University of Los Andes Armed groups reported to be colectivos attacked the University of Los Andes in the city of Mérida in March 2015 to intimidate the protesters, shooting guns at students and faculty, holding the students hostage and stealing belongings of students. 2017 protests During the 2017 Venezuelan protests against Maduro, The New York Times stated that colectivos "appear to be playing a key role in repressing dissent"; they fight alongside officials and "engage in fiercer and often deadly intimidation". Bloomberg News said Maduro "unleashed the gangs on a large scale" during the protests. Days before the Mother of All Marches, Diosdado Cabello, a high-level PSUV official loyal to the Bolivarian government, stated that 60,000 motorized colectivos and the Bolivarian Militia would be spread throughout Caracas on 19 April to deter the opposition's march, calling the protest terrorism. During that march, Carlos Moreno, a 17-year-old boy, and 23-year-old Paola Ramírez, were killed by members of colectivos. Colectivos also attacked Venezuela's opposition-majority National Assembly in 2017. Taking over the building where the legislature meets, they beat deputies and protesters with clubs and batons, splitting open the head of one deputy. As the 2017 protests intensified, during the 11 May United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Worldwide Threats Hearing (SH-216), Senator Marco Rubio discussed with Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo the role and actions of colectivos in Venezuela. Rubio asked if there was a "real threat" of colectivos selling advanced weaponry to the FARC, drug cartels or terrorists on the black market, to which Director Pompeo replied, "it is a real threat ... Maduro gets more desperate by the hour, the