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My Socialist Hell: Venezuela's Mass Wiretapping Campaign to Silence Dissent
These statements, coupled with evidence of mass communications wiretapping happening in Venezuela, serve as a reminder that no one is safe to freely speak here and that expressing dissent against the regime and its authorities can come with a huge price. At the head of the socialist regime’s censorship and privacy-breaching framework is the National Commission of Telecommunications (Conatel), the entity that regulates all telecommunications in the country, be it phone, internet, and media. Conatel has blocked access to dozens of dissenting websites, has forced local TV channels into self-censorship, has penalized political satire, neutered newspapers, closed more than 190 radio stations and taken shows off air, and has ordered private phone carriers to engage in mass surveillance and wiretapping of phone communications to curb dissent. MASS-SCALE PHONE SURVEILLANCE Having lived two thirds of my life under chavismo and lived through the rise of Hugo Chávez’s “Bolivarian Revolution,” I witnessed the constant presence of an unproven fear among friends and family most often expressed with the phrase, “you cannot say that over the phone.” It was a reference to the regime’s alleged — but always unconfirmed — wiretapping of phone conversations. At first, in the first half of the 2000s, I remember it being a sort of playful urban legend — but with time, and, as the Socialist Party cemented its grip on Venezuela, what was once a myth became a reality with proven evidence. Related: Venezuela: 2022-07-14 Darth Bolton talks about 'Regime Changes' Venezuela: 2022-07-14 Video shows 'Hundreds Upon Hundreds' of migrants crossing illegally into US at the Texas-Mexico border Venezuela: 2022-07-11 Soros Gets a Shock When He Tries to Buy Local Radio Station with Conservative Latina Behind the Mic Posted by: Skidmark 2022-07-15 |
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