CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥 Venezuela's President Nicol谩s Maduro is trying to accomplish something that seems impossible in the South American country: steer people away from WhatsApp and X.
Maduro's announcement this week that he had ordered a 10-day block on access to X in Venezuela is the latest in a series of efforts by his government to try to suppress information sharing among people voicing doubts about his claim to victory in the .
It also reveals how every aspect of Venezuela's government is subject to Maduro's wants and needs, as he went from demanding his Cabinet to retweet his posts in May to ordering the nation鈥檚 telecommunications agency on Thursday to block access to X.
鈥淴 out for 10 days! Elon Musk out!鈥 Maduro said Thursday as he announced his decision to temporarily ban the social network and accused its owner, , of using it to promote hatred after Venezuela鈥檚 disputed presidential election.
Maduro, who also accused the social network of being used by his opponents to create political unrest, gave the company 10 days to 鈥減resent their documents,鈥 but he gave no additional details.
The government鈥檚 centralized communications office on Friday did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press seeking a copy of the resolution Maduro said he signed to authorize the ban against X.
X鈥檚 press office did not immediately respond to an email from AP requesting comment.
Electoral authorities declared the winner of the highly anticipated election, but unlike previous presidential contests, they have yet to produce detailed to back up their claim. Meanwhile, the opposition revealed it collected tally sheets from of the 30,000 electronic voting machines nationwide showing he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
The dispute in protest to which the government responded with full force. Security forces have since rounded up more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Maduro or questioning his victory. Venezuela-based human rights organization Provea recorded 24 deaths.
After the election, Musk used X to accuse the self-proclaimed socialist leader of a 鈥済reat electoral fraud,鈥 drawing Maduro鈥檚 rage and a challenge to a 鈥渇ight.鈥 That鈥檚 a reversal for Maduro, who, aware of the key role that social networks play in news consumption in Venezuela, told Cabinet members in May during a televised meeting to support him on social media.
鈥淲ho among you does not follow my accounts?鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou are embarrassed to raise your hand, right? All of you? And why don鈥檛 you like me? Why don鈥檛 you like or retweet? Why? That doesn鈥檛 cost anything, it鈥檚 a second, boom!鈥
A month later, he promoted an Instagram post whose song鈥檚 chorus urged people to 鈥淕ive Nicol谩s a like, give Nicol谩s a like,鈥 with a caption including the hashtag #NicoLike.
Fran Monroy, a telecommunications expert in Venezuela, said Maduro鈥檚 decision to block X is an escalation of censorship that began several years ago.
鈥淰enezuelan newscasts from the major television networks are not watched because they do not reflect the news reality of the country,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o, what is left? The emergence of YouTube channels that have been very powerful in terms of the dissemination of information, social networks and in some ways virtual messaging or private messaging apps.鈥
Earlier this week, Maduro went after Meta's WhatsApp messaging app, publicly deleting it from his phone during his weekly TV show and urging supporters to switch to competitor Telegram.
WhatsApp plays an integral role in everyday life in Venezuela. Millions use it not only to chat among friends and family, but also to schedule beauty salon and doctor's appointments, buy food, hail a cab, send and receive school homework, and hire and fire employees.
Even the ruling party's vast network of neighborhood leaders depend on the app to distribute subsidized food, take attendance at pro-government events and coordinate voter-mobilizing efforts on election days, including on July 28.
And the country's main opposition used it to communicate with campaign volunteers, local organizers and others, who contributed to the bloc's herculean task of from polling sites.
鈥淢aduro has pivoted hard from trying to purchase support and mobilize his base through propaganda ... to recognizing neither of these strategies will work,鈥 said Will Freeman, a fellow on Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. 鈥淎s he leans hard on repression to remain in power, he has an incentive to limit communications so Venezuelans and the world see as little of what will unfold as possible."
It remained unclear Friday how the government is carrying out the ban on X. Some users in the capital, Caracas, could still access and refresh the application on their phones without using a virtual private network.
Horacio Melendez, however, was among those who could no longer update the posts on the application. Sitting outside a church before going to work, he said he has never posted anti-government messages on his account, which he uses mostly to read what others share. He expressed skepticism over the reasons for the ban.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the news is,鈥 Melendez said. 鈥淭here is a lot of news shared among people, among citizens, about the things that are happening. I imagine that has something to do with the ban as well; it's not just because of Mr. Elon.鈥
