Nicolás Maduro’s regime, far from showing signs of openness or humanitarian gestures, has intensified its repression against political, social, and professional sectors in Venezuela. Despite the popular outcry demanding the release of political prisoners on the occasion of the canonization of José Gregorio Hernández and Mother María de San José Rendiles, the illegitimate government has responded with more persecution and new arbitrary arrests.
According to the independent media outlet Efecto Cocuyo, just in the month of October, there have been 32 new politically motivated detentions—an alarming figure that reflects the regime’s increasingly repressive policies. Instead of heeding calls for reconciliation and respect for human rights, the State’s repressive apparatus continues to deploy its power against citizens whose only “crime” has been exercising their fundamental rights.
One of the most notable cases occurred in Lara state, where a mother and her two children, with the last name Castellanos, were detained without a court order or any clear explanation from the security forces. The arrest was denounced by human rights activists, who pointed out that this is a systematic practice of the regime to instill fear and punish any form of dissent.
Another emblematic case is that of Yorbin García, a social leader and member of the opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo, detained under irregular conditions. Repression has also reached the professional sphere: two lawyers and a doctor in Mérida state were arrested, the latter violently kidnapped from his own medical office in an operation reminiscent of the most authoritarian regimes in the region.
Meanwhile, as cases of persecution multiply, the regime is refining its mechanisms of social control. This time, through the relaunch of the VenApp application—officially presented as a platform for citizens to submit requests and complaints, but which in practice promotes the denunciation of people expressing criticism of the government. According to Maduro himself, the app is a mechanism “…for the people to report safely, 24 hours a day, everything they see, everything they hear, to continue winning peace…”
Human rights organizations and digital privacy experts have warned that VenApp violates fundamental principles of Venezuelan constitutional law and international commitments signed by the State, including:
- Article 60 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which guarantees the right to privacy, honor, private life, and confidentiality of communications.
- Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by Venezuela, which protects the right to freedom of expression, including the right not to be persecuted for political opinions.
- Article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José), which establishes protection of honor and dignity and prohibits arbitrary interference in private life.
The principle of presumption of innocence and due process, enshrined in Article 49 of the Constitution, is undermined when a simple anonymous report through a digital application can trigger surveillance, harassment, or detention.
Furthermore, the use of state-controlled digital platforms to monitor and repress critical thought contradicts standards set by organizations such as the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression, all of which have warned against the misuse of surveillance technologies to silence dissenting voices.
These actions come at a time when the international spotlight is on Venezuela—not only because of its political and humanitarian crisis but also due to the symbolic impact of the recent canonizations. The figure of José Gregorio Hernández, a symbol of compassion and faith, stands in stark contrast to the repressive policies of a regime that insists on criminalizing dissent.
This represents yet another extension of the Maduro government’s assault on the citizenry, which intensified following the July 2024 electoral fraud, when Maduro disregarded the popular will. Therefore, we reiterate the call to the international community to remain vigilant in the face of these human rights violations. Repression cannot be normalized or disguised with hollow rhetoric. The release of political prisoners, the end of persecution, and respect for human dignity remain urgent and inescapable obligations of the Venezuelan State.