Colectivos were initially funded by the Bolivarian government, but became less dependent on the government, by funding themselves through crimes such as drug trafficking and extortion. Gunson states that some funding for colectivos comes from demanding payment for protection and requiring members to pay fees. According to "The New York Times", colectivos "control vast territory across Venezuela, financed in some cases by extortion, black-market food and parts of the drug trade as the government turns a blind eye in exchange for loyalty". "The Washington Post" says some colectivos "have been put in charge of the distribution of government food packages in poor areas—giving them control over hungry neighborhoods. In 2018, InSight Crime reported that the colectivos have diverse income sources—both legal and illegal. Some run legal, profitable businesses, but also receive government funds, largely through the profitable venture of distributing food through government concessions. One Tupamaro leader told InSight Crime that trafficking food and medicine is as profitable as drug-running, while less risky. InSight Crime also learned that colectivos are running "clandestine casinos". Some colectivos, such 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". "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. 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.