PRACTICES OF MADURO REPRESENTATIVES

Religious groups reported they generally enjoyed freedom of religion or belief so long as they refrained from criticizing Maduro-aligned figures or policies. Many religious groups practiced self-censorship out of fear that Maduro’s representatives would apply the penal code or the antihate law that criminalizes political party activities promoting “fascism, intolerance, or hatred” to religious actors who criticized them.

Maduro’s representatives continued verbal harassment against members of the Catholic Church who expressed concerns regarding the political and social state of the country. On January 16, Diosdado Cabello, vice president of ruling United Socialist Pary of Venezuela (PSUV), called a January 14 speech in Lara State by Monsignor Victor Hugo Basabe, in which Basabe criticized the country’s economy, an “ill-intentioned political speech.” Cabello referred to the Catholic Church as an “ecclesiastical hierarchy that has historically turned its back on the people.” Media outlets reported the PSUV-controlled local council of Lara State’s Iribarren municipality voted the following day to declare Basabe persona non grata. On January 17, Jorge Rodriguez, president of the Maduro-controlled entity calling itself the national assembly, accused the Catholic Church of meddling in political issues and supporting U.S. “interventionist” actions. Rodriguez referred to members of the Venezuelan Catholic Bishops’ Conference as “devils in cassocks.”

On June 19, Cabello said the role of the CEV as a “political party” (in favor of the opposition) was “clear” after the opposition-run National Primaries Commission suggested some Catholic churches could be used as voting sites for the opposition-led October 22 primary election. On November 26, Cabello characterized as “an embarrassment” the CEV’s November 23 statement calling on Maduro not to “manipulate for political interests” the December 3 referendum on the contested Essequibo region between Venezuela and Guyana and urging instead that Maduro deal with other problems in the country, such as the crises of fuel, public services, and health.

According to a Catholic Church leader, Maduro representatives paused or completely stopped funding some Catholic schools, which are typically located in impoverished areas. The leader described this as part of Maduro representatives’ attempt to limit the actions and influence of the Church.

Catholic Church representatives continued to cite difficulties in securing religious visas for priests. They said many international Catholic Church personnel could not obtain religious visas and had to enter the country with tourist visas, which require renewal fees that represented a financial burden for the Church. Maduro representatives reportedly denied members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) entrance into the country in July. USCCB had not been able to enter the country since 2016, according to a USCCB representative.

In October, Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia reported Maduro had accused David Smolansky, former Organization of American States Commissioner for the Venezuelan Migrants and Refugee Crisis, of being one of four individuals who were “coyotes” trafficking Venezuelans into other Latin American countries and the United States for substantial sums of money. During the year, PSUV vice president Cabello called Smolansky a “Zionist” and a “fascist” during Cabello’s weekly television program Con El Manzo Dando, including during a May 10 program. According to Smolansky, the online insults and threats increased following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Following Cabello’s October 9 show, during which he accused Smolansky of being “Zionism’s project, representing death and terror in Venezuela,” Smolansky responded that Cabello was an antisemite who since 2014 had frequently used his television show to systematically attack him for his Jewish heritage.

During the year, OLIRE reported criminal organizations and other nonstate groups operating in the country with Maduro’s support or permission put at risk the security of religious leaders who attempted to prevent or denounce the recruitment of youth for armed groups or who disrupted the status quo imposed by these groups by providing humanitarian aid. Religious leaders were also reportedly targeted for refusing to accept donations from criminal groups. According to OLIRE, there were indications these groups posed a threat to religious leaders who were well known or related to dissidents or critics of Maduro and his representatives.

According to a report of Venezuelan investigative journalism online site ArmandoInfo, entitled Even Priests say Amen to ELN Commandments in Tachira and Apure and based on 30 interviews conducted during the year, Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas had imposed “Eight Commandments” to replace the biblical Ten Commandments on all those who resided in ELN-controlled territory, including parts of Apure and Tachira States. According to the report, a priest said the ELN had warned him that if he did not comply with the ELN commandments, “he would disappear, and not exactly to heaven.” Commandments three and six refer specifically to religious figures. The third commandment states priests are forbidden from speaking about certain topics, including extortion, violence, or kidnappings, and from making any reference to the guerrilla forces (ELN). The sixth commandment prohibits religious authorities from using social networks, giving interviews, or sharing photographs that present the “reality of the community.” According to priests interviewed for the report, ELN members carefully monitored masses and other religious activities to ensure compliance with ELN commandments.

In January, Maduro ordered CONATEL to create a technical working group to discuss increased access for evangelical Protestant churches to radio programming. In October, CONATEL ordered the closure of Catholic-associated radio station Radio Fe y Alegria, citing a lack of permission to operate. Observers said CONATEL issued the order after the station interviewed a politician who opposed Maduro.

Maduro representatives continued to promote the National Religious Council they created in 2020. As part of this effort, they organized meetings throughout the year with the Evangelical Christian Movement for Venezuela (MOCEV), a pro-Maduro organization close to the PSUV. The ECV stated MOCEV was not representative of all evangelicals and that not all evangelical Protestant movements supported Maduro policies.

According to Foreign Policy magazine, starting in January, Maduro increased his engagement with evangelical Protestant religious groups. In February, Spanish daily El Pais reported Maduro was deepening his engagement with a sector of the evangelical Protestant community that had created a political movement to support him. During a January 19 meeting with MOCEV, Maduro announced new programs, including the Programa Iglesia Social (Social Church Program) and Mi Iglesia Bien Equipada (My Well-Equipped Church), to repair damaged churches and provide social services to the needy. Media outlets reported the programs were part of a pattern of offering some evangelicals benefits during electoral periods. Religious organizations criticized Maduro for instituting programs that benefitted only certain sectors of evangelicals, particularly MOCEV. The ECV said these programs and other support to certain sectors of evangelism were “partisan, political actions,” called for separation of church and state, and reiterated the ECV’s belief that public funds should not be used to “advance the religious or ideological creeds of individuals.”

Maduro representatives continued to disburse the “Good Pastor” bonus to some evangelical pastors via the Sistema Patria (Homeland System), a Maduro-controlled virtual platform on which many individuals must register to collect their salary and receive economic assistance. The bonus was reportedly 360 bolivars ($10) and benefitted an estimated 13,915 evangelical Protestant pastors.

On January 24, the Maduro-controlled national assembly approved in a first reading a law on the inspection and regularization of the activities and financing of NGOs and related organizations. If passed, the law would require civil society organizations, including religiously affiliated organizations, to declare their activities, sources of financing, and relationships with national or international organizations. Catholic priest Luis Ugalde, speaking at a press event with a federation of local organizations and network of 178 schools offering education in the most disadvantaged parts of the country, said if the law passed, many successful NGO initiatives could end.

Nicolas Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son, continued to spearhead evangelical Protestant Church programs in his role as president of religious issues for the PSUV. According to media reports, in addition to the “Good Pastor” program, some Maduro-aligned religious leaders received privileged medical care, and some had their churches remodeled. ECV Director Nelson Sevilla said his organization did not receive similar benefits. At a November interfaith gathering focused on consolidating support for Maduro’s December 3 referendum over the contested Essequibo territory, Maduro Guerra stated Maduro’s position was based on “peace and the values of profound spirituality” and said the referendum demonstrated Venezuela was one of the main promoters of peace in Latin America. Catholic Church representatives stated since his appointment in 2022, Maduro Guerra had not made significant statements related to religion and that his appointment was intended to advance PSUV interests.

According to The National Interest, following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, state-owned news channel Telesur TV described Israel as a modern-day genocidal Nazi regime backed by Jewish-controlled media. The online publication reported Telesur commentators routinely compared Israel to Nazism, demonizing Israel with antisemitic tropes. In October, police deployed to ensure anti-Israel protesters did not attack synagogues in response to the latest events in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On December 27, PSUV member Alberto Aranguibel, who is also a member of the Maduro-controlled national assembly, posted on X that “Hitler did not deserve to die so prematurely, he left much to be done with his great work to the benefit of humanity” and that Israel was committing “the atrocity of genocide” against the Palestinian people. On December 30, Jorge Rodriguez alleged Aranguibel was never actually a member of the national assembly and condemned his statement. Rodriguez stated the Maduro-controlled entity calling itself the national assembly condemned the Holocaust “in the same way we condemn and repudiate the crimes of Netanyahu’s Zionism against the Palestinian people.”

According to news reports, in September, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) evicted approximately 14,000 illegal miners from the Yapacana National Park in Amazonas State. The FANB subsequently declared the park free of illegal miners on September 25. The park is a spiritually significant site for Indigenous communities that live in the area.

On November 15, Maduro announced the creation of the National Institute of Religious Affairs and Churches. In the same statement, Maduro approved a project for the creation of the Interreligious University of Venezuela. Maduro also said the country would conduct a first-ever religious census, without providing a date. Maduro appointed his Minister of interior, justice, and peace, Remigio Ceballos, to preside over the census.