1.7. Monitoring mechanisms

Sources indicated that state surveillance remained widespread,311 supported by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL, Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones) and the state‑run provider CANTV.312 Surveillance was further enabled by the use of 'cooperating patriots'.313

Reports also suggested that the government expanded its capacity for digital surveillance, reflected in the growing number of detentions of individuals for expressing dissent on social media.314 According to the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), an organisation of the Atlantic Council that researches disinformation and digital rights, this type of monitoring intensified since the July 2024 elections, with authorities using intimidation, detentions, and digital platforms for surveillance and pressure.315 China continued supplying Maduro‑aligned authorities with technology used to monitor citizens’ social, political, and economic activities.316 According to Freedom House, freedom of expression 'is severely constrained in Venezuela, due in part to the deterrent effect of extensive government surveillance'.317 Amaya indicated that

'the government has collected massive amounts of personal information. Some individuals are not registered in the Sistema Patria but nonetheless appear in it because they are part of the family or interpersonal network of someone who is registered and has listed them in their account. The system contains information on vehicles, homes, employment, the use of subsidies, affiliation with the health‑care system, and consumption patterns. In supermarkets, fingerprint scanners were previously used at payment points, requiring customers to provide a fingerprint before completing a purchase, thereby capturing data on what they bought, where, and in what quantities'.318

A 26 December 2025 article, published on news source La Gran Aldea titled 'A Crystal Vault', described how the Venezuelan state has reengineered mechanisms of civil control through an expanding digital‑identity and data‑management architecture that centralises personal information across multiple platforms.319 Systems such as the Sistema Patria, biometric registration, digital payment and subsidy tools, and interconnected databases allow authorities to collect and cross‑reference data on identity, social networks, mobility, consumption, and access to public services; this integrated infrastructure forms a 'Crystal Vault' of citizen information that strengthens state oversight and reduces individual privacy.320

Information on surveillance of Venezuelans abroad conducted by Venezuelan diplomatic representations was scarce among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this report. Briceño-León indicated that diplomatic missions do not have enough resources to engage in the mass surveillance of Venezuelans abroad, but that cases of state intelligence agencies deployed abroad for this purpose have been reported.321 Additional information could not be found among the sources consulted within the time constraints of this report.

Venezuelan authorities deploy a wide range of surveillance technologies that play a central role in government repression.322 The mechanisms described in the following paragraphs were among those reported by sources.