TNR Watch: Venezuelan Transnational Repression

A violent attack: According to Colombian police, unidentified assailants opened fire on Venezuelan human rights defender Yendri Velásquez and Venezuelan political consultant Luis Peche on October 13 in Bogotá. Velásquez and Peche, who both fled Venezuela in 2024 amid increasing persecution of opposition and civil society figures, are in stable condition after undergoing surgeries. The Colombian ombudsman’s office condemned the shooting, called for an investigation, and said Colombian authorities should safeguard the rights of Venezuelan nationals. Although the motive for the attack has yet to be identified, the case bears the hallmarks of an act of transnational repression (TNR) and, if confirmed, would be the latest in a long campaign by the Venezuelan government to threaten and harm dissidents abroad.

Maduro’s TNR campaign: The Maduro regime has a track record of extraterritorial violence against Venezuelan exiles. Chilean investigators have concluded that Venezuelan authorities orchestrated the February 2024 murder in Santiago of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda, with the assistance of members of the organized criminal network Tren de Aragua. In Colombia, another ex-military captain and a colleague of Ojeda, Ángelo Heredia, was kidnapped in December 2023 along the Venezuela-Colombia border and handed over to Venezuelan counterintelligence officials. He is thought to remain in custody in Venezuela. In March 2024, student activist Pablo Parada narrowly evaded an abduction in Bogotá that he also attributed to Venezuelan counterintelligence operatives.

The Maduro regime’s transnational repression is not limited to brazen physical attacks. Venezuelan authorities also persecute dissidents by manipulating the international police organization Interpol, weaponizing Venezuela’s repressive legal system, and harassing and intimidating people online and offline. Earlier this year, for example, the Venezuelan attorney general’s office asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice against Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López; López had spent several years in Venezuela’s prison system on spurious charges and is now based in Spain. In late October, Maduro also requested that Venezuela’s Supreme Court strip López of his citizenship. Authorities have restricted the mobility of critics like Velásquez, who was prevented from attending a UN conference in Geneva in August 2024, when he was still based in Venezuela. One Mexico-based Venezuelan human rights defender told Freedom House, “My passport was revoked for the second time while I was outside the country. Subsequently, I received information that SAIME [Venezuelan immigration service] officials were monitoring my presence in Mexico. I continue to receive attacks from government spokespeople or bots on social media when I publish any kind of opinion that goes viral.”

Strengthening Responses: Colombia and other countries that host Venezuelan exiles should do more to support those facing the threat of transnational repression. Law enforcement should proactively provide protection for targeted individuals and conduct wider outreach to Venezuelan communities to identify threats. Migration officials should respect the right to seek asylum and expedite the reviews of claims lodged by individuals such as Velásquez, whose uncertain status as their asylum claims are pending may make them feel less safe reporting incidents to law enforcement or exercising their rights for fear of attracting the attention of authorities. Finally, governments should offer travel documents, visas, and other services to Venezuelans whose passports were arbitrarily canceled by their homeland government, so they may continue their activism and feel a greater sense of freedom.