Opponents and human rights groups are alert to the situation
Faced with the prospect of an armed conflict with the United States, the Venezuelan government appears to be encouraging citizens to spy on each other, using a revamped mobile application to report suspicious people or activities.
The software, called VenApp, was originally launched by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2022 as a hybrid application, integrating a messaging service with a helpline for people to report problems with utility services, such as power outages and water interruptions.
Now, it is being used as a tool for Venezuelans to inform the government of anything it may consider seditious or disloyal, raising alarm among Maduro’s opponents and human rights groups about a possible increase in political detentions.
“This initiative represents a serious concern for privacy, freedom of expression and security, as it promotes a system of social surveillance and the militarization of public order,” online activist group Venezuela Sin Filtro wrote in a statement.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Information did not respond to a request for comment on criticism of the application.
Fearing that pressure from the United States, including US President Donald Trump’s recent authorization of CIA operations in Venezuela, could provoke an upheaval in his country, Maduro last month invited the Armed Forces to oversee the creation of “a new application, so that people can safely report everything they hear, everything they read.”
In just one week, the update was made.
To increase government anxiety that the United States may be attempting “regime change” in the South American nation, the U.S. military is sending warships, fighter jets and up to 10,000 troops to the southern Caribbean Sea, allegedly to combat drug traffickers.
The operations, which the Trump administration says killed more than 60 alleged “narco-terrorists,” have been criticized by the United Nations and some U.S. lawmakers, as well as several governments in the region, which are concerned about the abuse of presidential powers by carrying out what they say are extrajudicial killings without revealing any evidence of guilt.
Maduro has ruled Venezuela with an iron fist since 2013 and has held on to power despite an apparently decisive defeat in the 2024 presidential election. The country’s electoral authority, packed with Maduro supporters, proclaimed him the winner amid allegations of voter fraud, which the government has denied.
When widespread street protests erupted after the elections, Maduro invited citizens to use VenApp to report opposition activities. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International intervened. Amnesty warned that the app could be used “not only to limit people’s rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, but also to potentially contribute to illegal arrests, detentions and other serious human rights violations”.
The furore led Apple and Google to remove VenApp from their stores.
But, although it can no longer be downloaded, the application never stopped working: anyone who had VenApp before August 2024 can access it on their smartphones, and the government also created and sponsored a mobile version that works in browsers.
In the capital, Caracas, CNN took a rare look at the application.
Citizens were asked to inform the government if they saw drones or the presence of “suspicious persons” in Venezuela.
Human rights organizations have renewed their criticism, expressing concern about the persecution of dissent in a country where more than 800 people are behind bars for political reasons, according to legal rights organization Foro Penal. The government denies the existence of political prisoners.
Among VenApp users who support the government’s goals is a resident of a favela on the outskirts of Caracas who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from the government for speaking to a foreign journalist and reprisals from neighbors who oppose Maduro.
The application worked very well to resolve public service problems, he confirmed to CNN, assuring that he would not hesitate to use it to inform other Venezuelans if he felt that the country was under attack by foreign forces.
“We are prepared to defend the homeland, our country, as good revolutionaries that we are!”, said the man, who is in his 50s and works odd jobs in Venezuela’s vast “informal economy”.
It is difficult to quantify how many other Venezuelans support Maduro.
According to the electoral results collected by the opposition, which the CNN analysis considered legitimate, Maduro obtained around 30% of the votes in last year’s elections. The European Union and independent election monitoring organizations, such as the Carter Center and the Colombian Electoral Mission, also supported the opposition’s claim.
Likewise, it is difficult to assess the support that a US offensive into Venezuelan territory would receive. Most Venezuelans who spoke to CNN in Caracas were cautious about sharing their opinions publicly.
VenApp may be part of the reason.
“I would never even dream of downloading it. It’s scary that there is now an application for citizens to report each other,” an opposition supporter, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told CNN.
“Besides, how do we know the app isn’t spying on us?” said the woman, who is in her 40s and works for a private media company. “This is a government that spies on its people.”
