CARACAS.- Nicolás Maduro reacted with a new movement to shield his internal control structure, just days after Washington toughened actions against the so-called Poster of the Sunsa narcoterrorist organization that would be led by the regime, according to intelligence reports.
The recent approval of the Law of the Command for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation It is interpreted as an attempt to “legalize repression” and consolidate an institutional mechanism to intimidate the population.
The law, promulgated on Tuesday by the dictator, establishes a parallel territorial control systemarticulated between the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), governorates, mayors’ offices and organizations of the so-called Popular Power, with broad powers to “plan, coordinate and execute” actions in the face of any “threat or aggression” that, in terms of the regime, puts at risk “the independence, sovereignty or tranquility of the Republic.”
The article describes the new Command for the Comprehensive Defense of the Nation as an entity in charge of “integrating, articulating and directing” all internal defense bodies. The structure has the power to collect information about the communities, coordinate operations with security forces, supervise public services and evaluate “patterns and risks” in each territory through Situation Rooms.
Legalize persecution
Although the text ensures that its actions are governed by principles of “human rights, justice and freedom”, broad sectors believe that, in the hands of the regime, this figure will become an instrument to legitimize political persecution and repression against millions of Venezuelans who oppose it within Venezuelan territory.
The measure comes at a time of greatest international pressure against Maduro in the last decade. The US administration has intensified actions against the leaders of the Cartel of the Suns, an organization designated as terrorist by Washington and which, according to various federal files, would be directed by Maduro himself and part of his military leadership.
Faced with this scenario, the regime accelerates mechanisms to “shield” oneself from internal discontentwhich persists despite fear and censorship.
In October alone, the Maduro regime carried out 54 new arrests, in the midst of the political repression that has not ceased in Venezuela since 2024, which means that every 15 hours a new one is reported. political prisoner in the country’s police and military cells, and reports of violation of human rightsaccording to reports from the Peace Laboratory and the Vente Venezuela Human Rights Committee.
Quell protests
The law authorizes the Management Bodies for Comprehensive Defense to operate at all levels of the national territory and activate work committees — such as “Internal Order”, “Mobilization and Requisition” and the “Bolivarian Patriotic Committee” — that may carry out direct actions in cases of “threat” without requiring democratic controls.
Furthermore, article 14 establishes that, if a Emergencythese bodies will act immediately under military orders, thus reinforcing the total subordination of civil power to the military establishment.
For the regime, the regulations allegedly seek to guarantee “the comprehensive defense of the Nation” and promote “cooperation between State and society.” However, human rights defenders argue that this language expands the discretion of the ruling leadership to repress protests, monitor opponents and neutralize any expression of dissent under the figure of a “threat to peace”.
The final provision establishes that the law comes into effect immediately, consolidating a framework that, in practice, strengthens the militarization of the country and reinforces the regime’s ability to quell any expression of social rejection amid growing international pressures.
