The Patria System (Sistema Patria) and VenApp are the principal applications used by the government to monitor and control the population.323 The Patria System, managed by the Patria Foundation (Fundación Patria) under the Office of the Vice-President,324 is a digital platform functioning as a centralised mechanism for distributing social assistance.325 To access benefits and maintain eligibility, citizens must regularly update personal information and complete random surveys on socio‑economic conditions and consumer habits.326 Some of the data collected concern individuals’ relationships with relatives, neighbours, friends, and institutions, as well as information on banking transactions; this allows authorities to construct detailed maps of social networks, including connections involving people who are not themselves registered in the Patria System.327 The platform’s website is registered under the ruling PSUV rather than a government agency, further subordinating citizens to party interests.328
The Homeland Card (Carnet de la Patria) is an identity document that is linked to the Patria System.329 It contains a QR code and is required to access government services, including CLAP food boxes.330 According to the unofficial National Survey on Living Conditions 2025 (Encuesta Nactional sobre Condiciones de Vida, Encovi 2025),331 approximately 7.63 million households, or 81.7 % of all households, received CLAP food boxes, down from 8.17 million in 2024.332 In 2025, CLAP distributions reached 63 % of households classified as 'not poor', 84 % considered 'poor', and 87 % of those in 'extreme poverty'.333 Citizens’ dependence on social programs delivered through the Patria System compels them to register and continually provide personal information.334
VenApp is an application created in 2022 for reporting public services problems335 through geo‑localised alerts, such as broken water lines or subway delays.336 It also functions as a chat‑messaging platform.337 In August 2024, the government introduced changes enabling users to report political protests and dissidents, and in October 2025, President Maduro requested the addition of a feature allowing citizens to report '"everything they see, everything they hear'".338 According to DFRLab, VenApp has evolved into a tool of 'collective surveillance' that promotes the 'institutionalisation of reporting on neighbours'.339
- 323
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36-37; Freedom House, Carta abierta sobre la violencia política posibilitada por la tecnología en Venezuela, 6 August 2024, url; Amaya, telephone interview, 12 May 2026
- 324
Freedom House, Carta abierta sobre la violencia política posibilitada por la tecnología en Venezuela, 6 August 2024, url
- 325
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36; Freedom House, Carta abierta sobre la violencia política posibilitada por la tecnología en Venezuela, 6 August 2024, url
- 326
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36
- 327
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36
- 328
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36
- 329
USDOS, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2023: Venezuela, 22 April 2024, url; DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36; El País, ‘Sistema Patria’: a new digital tool for social control in Venezuela, 24 April 2021, url
- 330
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, pp. 37, 40; El Nacional, El carnet de la patria, extorsión y vigilancia: los avances tecnológicos al servicio del control social en Venezuela, 14 May 2025, url
- 331
The ENCOVI survey is a household survey in Venezuela covering measures such as food security, citizen security, demographics, and others. It is produced by the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, in Caracas, in the absence of government statistical information. UCAB, ¿Qué es la encovi?, n.d., url. The 2025 survey consisted of a sample of 11 352 households and was conducted between March and June 2025. ENCOVI, Encuesta Nacional sobre Condiciones de Vida 2025, 7 May 2026, url, p. 2
- 332
ENCOVI, Encuesta Nacional sobre Condiciones de Vida 2025, 7 May 2026, url, p. 41
- 333
ENCOVI, Encuesta Nacional sobre Condiciones de Vida 2025, 7 May 2026, url, p. 41
- 334
DFRLab, Los vigilantes en la mira: Tecnologías de vigilancia para el control político en Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 36; USDOS, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2023: Venezuela, 22 April 2024, url
- 335
Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025: Venezuela, February 2025, url; Crónica, Maduro ordena crear una app para que los ciudadanos denuncien “todo lo que vean y oigan”, 22 October 2025, url
- 336
DFRLab, Venezuela: A Playbook for digital repression, July 2024, url, p. 43
- 337
DFRLab, Venezuela: A Playbook for digital repression, July 2024, url, p. 44; CNN, Venezuela’s Maduro, fearing US attack, promotes app to report suspect behavior, 5 November 2025, url
- 338
Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025: Venezuela, February 2025, url; Crónica, Maduro ordena crear una app para que los ciudadanos denuncien “todo lo que vean y oigan”, 22 October 2025, url
- 339
DFRLab, Venezuela: A Playbook for digital repression, July 2024, url, p. 44