ABSTRACT
This chapter explores policies and practices deployed by the Venezuelan government between 2009 and 2020 to control online contested spaces. It focuses on the increasing involvement of foreign actors from Turkey, Spain, and Russia and their coordination with the Chavismo trolls’ armies to spread propaganda on Twitter after escalating the geopolitical implications of the Venezuelan conflict after 2017. In most rural states, Chavismo has a monopoly of information (radio and print, plus the only open television signals available). Additionally, online communication spaces are contested by three other groups: a satellite opposition, an opposition that emphasizes its parallel international agenda, and a dissident opposition that broke from Chavismo. The US public opinion is one of the most active digital battlegrounds concerning the Venezuelan political conflict. The communicational control model includes the co-opting of private media through mutually beneficial relationships with owners, who often have a symbiotic relationship with political leadership.
