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by Daniela Gonzalez
One of the most obnoxious signs of this era is, to me, the nonchalant and desperate search for mass control – no matter what society you live in.
In the iron grip of a dictatorship like the one formally declared after July 28th, one of the most humble creations of the digital era, known as the QR code, a symbol of modern convenience, is on the path to becoming a sinister tool of oppression, enslaving citizens in my country, Venezuela with a spiderweb of surveillance and control.
Control mechanisms
Here is a summary of the control mechanisms that have been identified in Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship.
- Institutional Control and Power Imbalance: There is a power imbalance without a clear separation of powers. State institutions and bodies respond to the guidelines of the national executive and support its social control policies.
- Repression and Terror: The regime (as the world should know by now) is using repression, violence, and terror as tools to maintain control, especially in the face of declining popular support and allegations of electoral fraud. Arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, torture, and other serious human rights violations have been documented.
- Cooptation of Institutions: The cooptation of all branches of government has been observed to maintain control of the state, regardless of the popular will expressed in elections. This is to keep under control the people in the most populated regions, or the areas they need to control, to avoid interruptions of their illegal activities.
- Strategic Alliances: Maduro has strengthened alliances with nations such as Cuba, Russia, Iran, and China, which contribute to further repressing the Venezuelan people: . The role of the Cuban security apparatus is specifically mentioned.
- Restriction of Political Participation: It is alleged that the opposition to the regime would have been much higher if the approximately 8 million Venezuelans who have left the country in recent years could vote on July 28th, 2024.
- Economic Control: While not detailed in the provided results, control over the economy and the distribution of resources is also a common control mechanism of authoritarian regimes.
- Creation of Maximum Security Institutions: The creation of “maximum security” prisons intended to “re-educate” political opponents was announced.
Maduro’s despotic regime employs a combination of institutional control, repression, international alliances, and political restrictions to maintain power in Venezuela, stomping over the citizens, to keep stealing resources and narcotics trafficking.
Refining of the technologies: QR codes
The infamous “Ministry of Science” has worked for years on a “census” to assign a QR Code to each home. After 2020 and all the damage it brought along, by now, nobody should be so naive as to believe that the intention is “good”. There is nothing good in the mind of those sociopaths sitting in an office, draining your taxes and your country’s resources.
Relentless Tracking and Monitoring
The QR codes can be used to meticulously trace the movements of every citizen, recording their presence at events, public spaces, and even their participation in mundane activities. This information gathered in the shadowy offices of the Socialist Party societal control think tanks and other organizations, can be used to identify dissenters, those who dare to defy the regime’s iron will.
This can be used to track protesters and apply the “reforms” to our Constitution. This group of so-called “reforms” is no other than a series of countermeasures to dehumanize and remove the rights to rebellion provided in the Art. 350 of our Constitution, for example. In their vision, the reforms will provide them with a “legal” frame for the atrocities they´re planning to suffocate civilian uprisings with lethal force. The Tiananmen massacre would be legal then, under that logic.
Did you want an Orwellian 1984 scenario? This technology is even more than perfect for Big Brother.
Denying Access to Basic Necessities
QR codes can become the gatekeepers of essential services such as healthcare, education, and public transportation. The thugs disguised as a “government”, like a cruel gatekeeper, can control who gains access to these fundamental rights, conditioning their availability on an unwavering loyalty to the regime.
This has happened already in the past: the infamous National Assembly deputy for that time, Luis Tascón, compiled (illegally stomping on our privacy rights) a list where all those who signed to impeach Hugo Chavez back in the 2000-2010 decade were denied any participation or benefits: no access to loans or credits from state-owned banks or other institutions, and in some instances, even denying healthcare; no access to public work, and of course, belonging to opposition political parties.
Silencing Voices and Crushing Freedom
The QR code can be wielded against freedom of expression, assembly, and movement. Imagine a society where a QR code is required to attend a protest or public gathering, enabling the regime to identify and brutally suppress any opposition, as they will track you right to your doorstep. No bueno.
Manipulating Minds with Propaganda
Like a puppeteer pulling strings, QR codes can spread propaganda and misinformation, distorting reality and molding public opinion to serve the regime’s twisted agenda.
Economic Control and Oppression
The QR code can extend its reach into the economic sphere, controlling the financial transactions of citizens, and limiting their ability to spend or save. This power over the economy allows the regime to tighten its grip on the population, ensuring compliance through economic coercion.
It is crucial to remember that the use of QR codes in a dictatorship is a grave violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This seemingly innocuous tool, in the hands of an authoritarian regime, can be transformed into an instrument of oppression, enslaving the population and extinguishing the flames of liberty.
How can people protect themselves from technological dictatorships?
In situations of repression and violence, there are non-violent alternatives that people can consider to protect themselves and defend their rights:
- Community organization and support: Forming neighborhood support networks is paramount. There is a practice where suddenly the police kidnap young men, dragging them to a patrol car, and practically disappearing them from the world. This practice has found serious obstacles when the neighbors, once aware a kidnapping is on the move, start reacting and defending the youngsters. Collective presence and support can deter violent actions and facilitate seeking help.
- Documentation: Recording and documenting incidents of repression and violence (whenever it is safe to do so) can be crucial to make the situation visible and seek justice in the long term. This may include taking notes, photos, or videos discreetly and safely. This has blown out in the faces of many thugs disguised as “cops” or “guards”.
- Situational awareness and avoidance: Maintaining awareness of the surroundings and avoiding high-risk areas or situations can help prevent exposure to brutality. This involves staying informed about the situation in the city and making prudent decisions about where and when to move.
- Seeking safe refuge: Identifying and having knowledge of safe places to turn to in case of danger (homes of family, friends, churches, or other organizations that can offer shelter). Using different addresses can be a smart move. On the other hand, the best move is to remain utterly anonymous.
- Communication and information dissemination: Using secure communication channels to inform others about the situation and seek support or resources. This may include using social media with caution, encrypted messaging applications, or contacting human rights organizations. Don’t use social media apps. The corps will scan your device and you will be in deep trouble unless you are extra paranoid deleting everything they want to call “compromising information”. I have read in some networks out of the public eye that even using apps like BinancePay can get people in trouble. Be advised.
- Reporting to human rights organizations: Contact local and international HHRR organizations to report the situation and seek their support and protection. These organizations can offer advice, and legal assistance to make the situation internationally public. This can increase the pressure on the regimes, and damage the harmless image they try to project.
- Non-violent civil resistance: The communities are starting to participate in forms of non-violent civil resistance, such as peaceful protests (whenever conditions allow it), dissemination of information, or acts of solidarity that are a way to express rejection of repression. However, this is done with extreme caution and awareness of the risks.
- Psychological support: Seeking psychological support to cope with the stress, fear, and anxiety that these situations can generate. Emotional well-being is essential to be able to face adversity.
It is important to remember that the choice of what actions to take will depend on the specific situation, the risks involved, and the capabilities of each person. Personal safety should always be the priority.
What comes next?
We are now heading into a spiral of unknown consequences. The recent events have opened Pandora’s box, and the dire echoes of the 2016-2018 hyperinflation and scarcity are stronger every week.
Stockpiling dry food, water, and other supplies is the least we can do. Those with a patch of land have started to prepare for another period of scarcity, getting seeds, increasing their hen flocks, and doing whatever they can, including precautions against marauders.
Many of us have already begun to lose weight. A family friend bought a $5 kitchen scale to weigh the proteins for their kids…so, people seem to be better prepared for this occasion. And now the protests will have a legal base: they have to surrender, because of the committed fraud on July 28th.
Thanks for reading, and spread the word by writing to your Congressman and supporting our cause!
About Daniela
Daniela Gonzalez is a student of history at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas.
20 Responses
Daisy, you know what they call a conspiracy theorist? Someone six months ahead of his time.
Dear Ray White,
You made me blush.
🙂
Dani.
I know this is a pro Trump space but put your critical thinking hats on for a minute. The first 4 control mechanisms are already in effect in the US. Think about it Trump is ignoring the constitution. He has a congress and senate that won’t assert it’s own power, and a Supreme Court that is stacked to agree with him. They have even said that he is not responsible for any crime he commits while president. He has done away with the checks and balances of government. He is firing anyone in non-elected government jobs that disagrees with him. He has co-opted and coerced most social media billionaires and heads of tech companies. He is using his power and the threat of lawsuits to take over the media. Jeff Bezos and the Washington post and the lawsuit with CBS are just 2 examples. He has coerced multiple large legal firms to just give him millions in free legal services. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/trump-law-firms-pro-bono-deal And now he has set up a system to send people to a prison in El Salvador. The people sent there, were sent there with no due process and he has said that he wants to send “homegrown” criminals there. It doesn’t matter who he sends there, even illegal immigrants are guaranteed due process under the constitution, not to mention the “mistakes” that have happened. Under this system anyone could be sent to these prisons and called illegal but without due process they would never have a chance to prove their citizenship. And these people are not being arrested, masked people are throwing a bag over their heads and just taking them away. That is “disappearing ” someone, and totally unconstitutional. Then, even if the courts order that a person be returned the government has not designed any process to return people. Prepers have prepared for a government take over, whe have looked at Venezuela and shook our heads but when our own country is being taken over we cheer? I know people love their god-king Trump but I don’t understand how they can’t see this. I thought we were a smart bunch. I thought we would be the ones to protect the constitution and the country but when the threat is on our doorstep we are blinded by our hate of the woke libtards. We call “fake news” and worship an orange king that let’s the 1% come into government, unelected I might add, and do whatever they want. Everyone thinks Elon is so smart but he knows nothing of our government and constitution. He wasn’t even raised in this country! He didn’t study the 3 branches of government in 4th grade social studies. I know how much backlash I will get from this post, I know my opinions will be very unpopular here, but you are smart people with critical thinking skills. Please take just a few minutes and look past your biases before it is too late. Our constitution is under attack.
I think everyone has a right to their opinion. 😊 Some of what you say, I agree with, some I don’t. But I won’t attack anyone for speaking their own opinions.
@aliberalprepper
I was just thinking the same thing. Thanks for being brave enough to say so in this space
And thank you to @deb for your polite reply.
Do you always use any subject at hand to insult people who disagree with you politically? You wrote some very snide comments.
Liberal Preppie:
You wrote “…….take a few minutes and look past your own biases.”
Ditto……….. back at you.
Moniqueo
You must be forgetting the prior 4 years?? Same could be said.
While I still am still skeptical knowing what Revelation predicts, I still say reinsert Bidens term into your statement above. It’s similar if not the same theory.
I see your detestation of President Trump. How are your “feelings” toward the so called leader of the last four years? The Biden/Harris regime was a disaster to our country. Trump is most likely getting even with the persons who harassed, instituted illegal lawsuits against him and some of his supporters, not to mention the swat teams going after persons who supported him. He is not perfect. None of us are but he puts Americans first. And to add, the illegal invader aliens have no constitutional rights. They are not citizens of the United States. Would you have said the same about Maxine Waters of California who pushed people to insult conservatives such as Ms. Huckabee at a public restaurant?
Liberalprepper: my vote was not for Trump, but against Obama, Clinton, Biden and Harris (I heard about her political rise from Democrat operatives when I lived in San Francisco). I hoped that Trump would not be as bad as those people, but the latest information I’m getting from other sources indicates that he is just as bad. Looking back, only twice have I voted FOR a candidate, who ended up disappointing me, over half the times third party because I couldn’t decide who was the worse candidate, and the rest AGAINST a candidate.
Our Constitution has been under attack since my grandfather’s generation, when the majority of that generation followed a Pied Piper in 1932 who for the next decade tried to destroy this country. Since then I can’t think of a single president who has been a great president.
One thing to remember is that the leadership of the Democrat Party and their sycophants in the main stream press are inveterate liars. That makes it hard to learn what is the truth. That is why sites like the Organic Prepper exist. I don’t think Daisy Luther is a rabid Trump supporter. I’m not. Do you have evidence for all of the charges that you brought? Or are some of them Democrat lies? By the way, news reports say that Saint Garcia was identified in court as a member of MS-13. In other words, he had more due process than many of the J-6 defendants who were U.S. citizens, not illegals.
Dear R.O.
Maybe once you start to see the US economy raising up and the seizing of the “farmland” property of the CHCP via proxy holdings, that surrounds the US military bases, will change your perspective?
Dear Dani:
Trump is supporting the thugs who are terrorizing the people of Venezuela and threatening war against a sovereign nation to take territory that has been recognized as belonging to that nation since long before that nation existed, since the 1500s. You may not see it, but Europe sees Trump’s “peace offer” the same as what Neville Chamberlain called “Peace for our time” in 1938, a shameful action that resulted in World War II. Trump supports that thug in the Kremlin who helps the Venezuelan thugs oppress their own people. We will have war, and the world will suffer.
Gordon Chang, China expert, warns that Americans need to have six months of supplies to survive the war that is coming, because it will be fought on U.S. soil.
Dear Liberal Prepper,
Most of the actions Donald has taken weren’t based on bills that Obama and the Dems passed and approved?
The guy has faced two m*rder attempts.
Just asking, as a foreign observer.
BTW the exact same things are doing the commies in my country, Venezuela: a bunch of masked guys throwing people in a truck without license plates and disappearing them. Just for you to know.
Time to see the big picture, señor.
Our cell phones are our worst enemy. I have a faraday bag for mine when I go out. I use the SLNT brand made in America not a cheap one from China. I also have rfid blockers for credit cards and my driver’s license. I do not scan QR codes with my phone. Ever. As an aside, isn’t it convenient that your cell phone camera can scan QR codes easily? Hmmm
If there is anything else I need to do to I would love input.
When QR codes first came out all the conspiracy theories told us what information we were giving every time we scanned them (the QR code). Now, you can’t find that list. I did find this:
How much information can be stored in a QR code?
Standard QR Codes can hold up to 3Kb of data. QR Codes are made of multiple rows and columns. The combination of these rows and columns makes a grid of modules (squares). There can be a maximum of 177 rows and 177 columns which means the maximum possible number of modules is 31,329. Source: https://bridefeed.com/magazine/does-a-qr-code-collect-data/#What_are_the_pros_and_cons_of_QR_codes
From there I found a kB converter since I don’t know what a kB is. https://mbtogb.com/3-kb-to-gb
So one QR code can hold 3 gigabits of information. Your information. Residence, where you work, telephone number, hair color, sex, marital status, how many kids, religion (or not), parents, siblings. On and on. I remember those early warning said every time you scan a QR code you were handing over all of your information. Every detail.
Please prove me wrong.
Yep, I never use them either. People get so annoyed with me. Tough. Give me a dang menu on paper or I walk out!
‘They’ have programmed my kids generation for sure.
The fact is that they have already incorporated the QR Code coupled with the Bar Code into United States legislation’s as I witnessed here in New Mexico, when the SNAP program sent me an 18 page interrogatory which they intentionally and deceptively dubbed as “An Interim Report” There were no signs of any human taking credit for the aforementioned report. At the bottom of each of the 18 pages was a QR Code and a Barcode. They wanted me to either confirm or deny what they thought they knew/know and sign and date it in three different places. The so called “Social Credit System” has been fully operational now for a lot longer than the people have known. As touching Constitutional Challenges, that has been going on since a snake in the garden said “Has God really said”? They already exercise despotism under many different names, but in a feudalistic system of aristocrats and their surfs, where do you find any middle ground?
The surveillance described here does not need anything as complex as a QR code for each address or individual. Almost every single person has already subscribed to voluntary tracking via phone apps. Want a free donut? You have to tell us where you are right now and allow us to continuously use data location to track you, what you are buying now, your name, address, phone number, email address and social media account. Want $1.00 off your next purchase? Same as above.
Ancestry and other genealogical apps have taken voluntary tracking a step further as millions have voluntarily submitted DNA along with a wealth of personal information that can be accessed by anyone who subscribes to the service.
The solution is simple but people have become too lazy to implement it; disconnect as much as possible from the technology. Put down the phone. Use the phone to make calls and text. Turn off all the apps and tracking programs. Do not send your DNA to anyone. Get off social media. Don’t use your phone for purchasing and banking, use cash whenever possible.
Dear OutOfTime,
As much as we would like it, for most of us it’s simply not that easy. Of course, shipping out our DNA overseas is extreme; but you’re right on the basic use of the phones for calls and text. At least minimize the apps and wipe it off every week or so.
Dear Readers,
I truly appreciate all of your comments; they provide richness to a necessary debate.
However I need to point out, as a foreign observer, that radicalization (no matter what side it comes from) is one of the worst things that we have faced in Venezuela. It allowed our society to crumble apart, and even nowadays, some people is too stubborn to admit they were deceived, and taken advantage of.
Both sides have negative and positive traits. But whenever the ones with the stick on the hand face 85-90% of their voters to tell them enough is ENOUGH, they stain their underpants. The whole Continent is going to face huge threats these next 4 years until 2030.
Stay united, as Americans.
“The whole Continent is going to face huge threats these next 4 years until 2030.” This sounds like you might be a believer in “The Fourth Turning Is Here” by Neil Howe. Yes, there are several more years to go before mankind is out of the woods.