Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro denounced that the ultra-right Argentine government of Javier Milei financed with public funds a series of massive cyber-attacks against Venezuela. He also denounced that the Argentinian used these robot farms during his election campaign in Argentina, to create the false perception of massive popular support on social networks.
Victoria Korn, La Pluma, 19/8/2024
Translated by Fausto Giudice, Tlaxcala
Victoria Korn is a Venezuelan journalist, analyst of Central American and Caribbean issues, associated with the Latin American Center for Strategic Analysis (CLAE).
Venezuela continues to be the focus of attention in the region and around the world. On Friday, at an extraordinary meeting of its Permanent Council, the OAS approved a resolution put forward by the USA, the content of which is very similar to that of the resolution that failed to achieve consensus on August 1. The resolution was supported by Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Suriname and Uruguay.
Venezuela is a victim of its desire to manage its natural resources on its own. Donald Trump openly declared in 2023 that, when he left, Venezuela was on the verge of collapse : “We would have taken it over and kept all that oil for ourselves. Instead, we're buying oil from Venezuela and making a dictator very rich”.
Maduro accused Milei of spending $100 million on trolls to attack him.
Some Venezuelans, as well as countries that have not recognized Nicolás Maduro as elected president, are demanding that he present the results of the July 28 elections, broken down by polling station, and that they be counted with “transparency”, in the installation of a new destabilization plan. When it comes to natural resources, democracy doesn't matter.
Milei and the trolls
Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, has denounced the fact that the ultra-right Argentine government of Javier Milei has financed with public funds a series of massive cyber-attacks against Venezuela : “Milei has spent the equivalent of $100 million from the Secretariat of Intelligence of the State: he says he has no money but he has spent $100 million to attack the Bolivarian revolution, the Bolivarian government and the Venezuelan political process with his bots,” Maduro denounced.
He also denounced the Argentinian's use of these bot farms during his election campaign in Argentina, to create the false perception of massive popular support on social networks.
“Milei simulated, created the climate that everyone was speaking in his favor and bought important influencers in Argentina and abroad," Maduro pointed out.
What are robot farms and how do they work?
Maduro denounced the fact that 106 of the country's websites have fallen victim to cyberattacks over the past 20 days. According to experts, these attacks were carried out by sophisticated bot farms located in Spain, Mexico and Argentina, with the aim of destabilizing the Bolivarian government.
Bot farms are automated networks of fake social media accounts, controlled by software or operators, designed to simulate online activity. These accounts can generate thousands of messages, comments and reactions, giving the impression of massive support or rejection of certain issues or personalities. In this way, public opinion is manipulated, amplifying specific messages and silencing dissenting voices.
Maduro pointed out that on Wednesday, [United Socialist Party of Venezuela's Vice-President] Diosdado Cabello's TV show, “Con el Mazo Dando” [Hitting with the sledgehammer], was attacked simultaneously from Spain, Mexico and Argentina during the live broadcast, and that the accounts on which it was broadcast were saturated with automated messages attempting to discredit the content and cause chaos.
Translator’s Note
In 2018, the Venezuelan Ministry of the Interior published a guidebook entitled “Project to create the Bolivarian Revolution's army of trolls to confront the media war”, whose methods appear to be no different from those of its enemies and adversaries. See the guidebook here.
