Venezuela’s own NSA (CESSPA) revealed

Fellow colleague Casto Ocando has just published the first in a series about a massive surveillance operation taking place in Venezuela. Apologies, in advance, to the language impaired:

In a new site, called verticenews.com, Casto reveals the extent of chavismo’s illegal methods to keep tabs on Venezuelan opposition politicos and on whoever else considered a target.

There are no limits to what can be done: beyond employing an army of hackers and having the latest IBM technology (Watson), it is worth mentioning that the Venezuelan regime has absolute control of CANTV -Venezuela’s telecoms monopoly through which 87% of web traffic and nearly all fixed lines’ conversations flow.

Unlike with Snowden’s NSA revelations, there will be no consequences in Venezuela’s case. No media campaign exposing the abuse of power, and invasion of privacy will ever take place. No heads will roll.

Take one example: RaFa, the convicted hacker exposed as Boliburgeoisie’s favourite astroturf expert. Little surprise to read that RaFa is also part of chavismo’s surveillance efforts. This is the same individual appointed by Germany’s Bundesdrukerei as its Venezuelan representative.

Almost certainly, RaFa is behind publication of passport details of my sister, photoshoping of my children’s images for online defamation purposes, fabrication of false arrest orders against me and spurious accusations involving my deceased mother.

But the most worrying aspect is that RaFa is also consulted, for instance, by Venezuelan — American Chamber of Commerce (Venamcham), and opposition-aligned media and journalists. Efecto Cocuyo’s founder Laura Weffer said to me that RaFa used to be the go-to man of Ultimas Noticias’s former investigative unit, for any computer-related issues. Read, the regime’s hacker guarding working computers of Venezuela’s “foremost” investigative journalists…

Information from intercepted private messages, emails, and telephone conversations is used regularly by chavista officials, on State-owned media. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is a regular target. Same applies to Henrique Capriles Radonski, Julio Borges, Henry Ramos Allup, and whoever else the regime choses to target.

No communication, unless through use of encryption technology -whose use is not very common in Venezuela- is safe from the prying State. Worst of all, there’s no recourse available to victims to get redress.