as the Tupamaros, have formal links with the Venezuelan government and politics, with over 7,000 individuals on the Caracas payroll since 2008. Stratfor says that Diosdado Cabello, Freddy Bernal and Eliezer Otaiza, have been implicated in directing colectivos or helping fund them. Colectivos also receive funds from government funding for community projects. Velasco states that colectivos "receive government funding through both formal and informal channels, including slush funds the government doles out to different sectors" and also have "personal ties between members and government officials to access resources". Weapons El Pais stated that the Venezuelan government directly arms colectivos with weapons. Velasco believes that the same formal and informal methods of receiving funds is used for weapons. These methods include being armed and trained in formal government militias or working as security and bodyguards. Despite the Venezuelan government's statements saying that only official authorities can carry weapons for the defense of Venezuela, colectivos are armed with automatic rifles such as AK-47s, submachine guns, fragmentation grenades, and tear gas. Social effects In a March 2014 interview, Reinaldo Iturriza, the Minister of Communes in Venezuela, condemned what he perceived as a campaign to demonize the 'colectivos' by attributing recent violence to them and defining them as armed paramilitary groups. He insisted that "the collectives are not synonymous with guns and violence, but with popular participation, organization, and mobilization, [...] with working together with the Bolivarian government to solve specific problems in the communities." Crime Colectivos sometimes provide protection from crime in some neighborhoods they are committed to, though some neighborhoods report that colectivos attack neighbors themselves. As colectivos attempted to gain independence from the government, they began "controlling organized crime like drug trafficking in Caracas barrios. Some colectivos patrol the 23 de Enero barrio on motorcycles, masked and armed, supposedly to protect the neighborhood from criminals such as drug dealers. According to ABC News, "it is widely believed that colectivos kill drug traffickers who do not obey their orders". According to the International Crisis Group, colectivos may be involved in drug trafficking, arms dealing, and car theft. Phil Gunson, a freelance reporter for foreign media, states that, "It's no secret that many colectivos engage in criminal activities." Gunson reported that colectivos combat criminal gangs in neighborhoods and take over the previous gang's business in crime and also take over buildings already owned by individuals and collect rent from the owners. Colectivos are