A report by the organization A World Without Gag on the expansion of the Venezuelan repressive apparatus documented 326 cases of transnational persecution against opponents in exile during the period 2024–2025.
This showed, according to the investigation, that the persecution against dissent was not limited to the national territory, but was projected beyond the borders as a systematic policy of control and intimidation.
The organization analyzed how the State extended its coercive mechanisms against citizens who, from abroad, continue to exercise their right to freedom. protest, public denunciation and political participation.
According to the study, this practice is not an isolated phenomenon, but the continuity of repressive patterns previously consolidated within the country, now adapted to the context of the diaspora.
Stigmatization and propaganda
The most frequent modality identified is extraterritorial stigmatization and propaganda, with 176 cases (53.99%).
According to the research, it is the systematic use of official narratives and communication platforms to publicly discredit opponents abroad, present them as threats or delegitimize their activism.
This type of actions does not necessarily imply physical arrests, but it does generate cumulative effects: isolation, loss of job opportunities, immigration risks and a climate of intimidation that impacts both the targeted people and their environments.
Consular services as a control mechanism
The report also documents 112 cases (34.36%) of consular-administrative repression.
In these scenarios, the documentary procedures, records and consular services They are used as instruments of pressure or exclusion.
Includes arbitrary delays, denials of documents or conditions linked to the political position of the applicant.
For those who are in a vulnerable immigration situation, the inability to renew passports or obtain official documents can translate into legal risks in host countries, which reinforces the coercive effect.
Criminalization and international mechanisms
In a smaller numerical proportion, the report identifies 23 cases (7.06%) of extraterritorial criminal repression, in which the justice system is used to open investigations, issue requests or activate procedures against people who are no longer in the country.
There were also two cases of abusive use of international police mechanisms, which suggests the instrumentalization of cooperation channels to persecute opponents outside the national territory.
Added to this are five cases of extraterritorial physical presence of parastatal agents or networks (1.53%), three cases of retaliation against family members in Venezuela (0.92%) and two cases of immigration coercion in the host country (0.61%).
Transnational digital repression
A World Without Gag documented three cases of transnational digital repression (0.92%).
The report warns that it is complex operations made up of multiple incidents: coordinated networks of accounts, stigmatization campaigns, identity theft and massive dissemination of content.
Its low percentage does not reflect less severity, but rather each case involves multiple articulated actions with broad transnational reach.
The document also stressed that the 326 cases represent a “minimum verifiable approximation.” Factors like the self-censorship, fear of family reprisals, immigration consequences or personal security risks They limit public denunciation even outside Venezuela.
Therefore, the organization maintained that The real magnitude of the phenomenon could be greater, but the information available is sufficient.
