by Daniela Gonzalez We won’t be disserting endlessly about politics and other nonsense in this article. The facts described below have nothing to do with the standard definition of politics. It’s about how an entire society of millions of people is being subjugated under radical and illegal means of societal control. We will discuss, instead, the effects of such societal control measures on the daily lives of Venezuelan people and how to deal with them. The Venezuelan citizens were slowly taught, brainwashed, and induced to be afraid of the uniformed crowd, no matter the color of the uniform, for the last 20 years. It’s not about getting respect. It’s about making them fear the LEOs that should protect them, even if you’re a law-abiding citizen without a transit infraction. What is the real objective? In the words of the opposition leader Julio Borges, who warns the world about the real objective of the “peace judges” figure: the reliving of the communist-style political commissary. Of course, the sugar coating of this poisoned pill is, in the words of the official position: “With this process, Chavismo promises that justice will be closer to citizens, who without having to go to court, will be able to raise conflicts related to the application of ordinances, domestic or gender violence, animal protection, and property, so that a justice of the peace can proceed to resolve them, through mediation and conciliation… But experts on the subject warn about the intention of the national government to want to deepen social control in the communities, with political cadres of the PSUV “disguised as judges” who will not impartially dispense justice, in a context of increasing political repression after the presidential elections of July 28.“ This is clearly to spread the word so the regular citizens do not get organized in a militia resistance and start fighting back.  As everybody knows already, the actual rulers lost the past election in July 28th. They’re not democratic people after all, and they tried to manipulate the world’s opinion to make it seem as if the real winner was the bus driver. Twisted version of the facts, that nobody other than the allies of the Axis of Evil bought and defend. To keep in power, the only tools they have are boots and weapons. Metaphorically speaking. Let’s see how that works once people decide that enough is enough. Let’s move on. The following initiative the bus driver and cronies have unfolded is beyond belief. Currently, they’re recruiting Socialist Party members to “work” as “peace judges” and prosecute the citizens, falsely charging them with “treason to the homeland” and similar “criminal offenses” in a move to spread State-sponsored terrorism. Official position The justice of the peace in the South American nation will be “the person to turn to in case of facing a problem.” This ambiguous sentence can have any meaning. Neighbors could accuse a youngster of “being a criminal” only for attending and marching in a demonstration. Then, the repression machinery (working right now with “judges” acting as political commissaries in the Chinese Cultural Revolution) The “application process” for the “communal peace judges” concluded…without them being or having any formal education about laws. And they will be responsible for “the administration of justice in their respective communities”…as worrying as this sounds. The town of Palo Verde, located in the densely populated Petare parish of the Sucre municipality, was one of the many communities where this process was carried out. The members of the Socialist Party of this community presented their candidacies to an electoral committee composed of the seven communal councils (all of them members of The Party also). In a very dangerous twist, The Party tries to sugarcoat the whole thing: “(…)..the organizing committee of Palo Verde, supported the application process and highlighted that this event represents a significant task for the community, since the justice of the peace will be the person to turn to in case of facing a problem”…”We needed it,” said the spokesperson for the “Social Comptroller of the Bolivarian Communal Council” of Palo Verde, who affirmed that “(…)the communal justice of the peace will complement her work in the comptroller’s office, in addition to promoting peace and coexistence.”. The main lie is that domestic problems in the community will be easier to address and resolve. The Party pretends to make people believe that “..the justice of the peace will act as a receiving body for complaints that will complement the work of the hundred justices of the peace existing in the municipality, who are unable to cover all the demand, given that it is the most populated parish in Venezuela.” In an incredible act of hypocrisy, they even state that “…this body will be in charge of conciliation, mediation, and arbitration, but most importantly, it will also watch over the rights of children and adolescents”. (Yeah, right, with over 80 kids under 18 still in prison.) Analysis But the truth is very different, according to the experts: “With the approval of the Organic Law of the Special Jurisdiction of Communal Justice of the Peace in 2012 and now its recent reform, the AN undoubtedly distorts the content and purpose of the justice of the peace, apart from usurping from the municipalities a constitutional competence that they have assigned in article 178, numeral 7, competence that in turn is enshrined by the legislator in the Organic Law of Municipal Public Power of 2010, in article 56,” says a lawyer and professor at the Central University of Venezuela who preferred to omit her name for this article. The jurist points out that the justice of the peace, according to article 258 of the Constitution, constitutes an alternative means for the solution of conflicts that arise between citizens without the need to go before the jurisdictional bodies, which in theory would decongest the courts and make the solution to certain problems that arise in the communities more expeditious. In the real world, however, this figure of paralegal judges will be used to spray some resemblance of “legality” to the accusations of “treason”…something we have seen already in communist-ruled countries once and again. The evidence is this: “Not to engage in the promotion of hatred, intolerance, discrimination, treason, as well as fascist, neo-fascist positions and similar expressions, contempt of the Constitution, laws and other acts of the organs of Public Power, dishonor of the symbols of the country, acts against the protection of sovereignty, nationality and territorial integrity, are the prohibitions established in article 18″. These changes were proposed by Jorge Rodríguez in the second discussion in the plenary session. (Rodriguez is one of the most dangerous elements behind the repressive structure) And The Party members insist on washing the face of the real structure and its purpose. It’s good to know it’s all recorded for the coming real justice application. “This law is a radical transformation of the justice system, so that in the territories there is not a peace judge, but a collegiate body between the elected peace judge, which can be up to three per territory; and the organized community that is the popular power, called the communal justice committee (CC law) which is in turn made up of the commissioners of justice of the peace of each Communal Council,” explained the deputy Mogollón to the State channel VTV. In the Communes, there is also the Commission of Communal Justice and Peace, which comprises spokespersons of the Communal Councils. The justices of the peace will be the heads of said collegiate bodies under the direction of the Directorate of Justice of the Peace of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which The Party totally controls. It’s an extension of that body: “The most interesting thing about this reform is that justice is not blind, it has a context, it is collective, it must be collegial, it is the neighbors themselves,” say The Party parliamentarians. Neighbors without a clue of anything related with our legal system, hunting down young men and women to send to prison because they chose to be “rebels”. This is nothing but an attempt to make politically originated mobs and prison charges seem legal. Partisanization of justice For experts on municipal issues, the “communal name” contains the introduction of an ideological component, since the communal structures (Communal Councils and Communes) are made up of people who are members or sympathizers of The Party, which will work as a certain obstruction for the independence that should characterize the fact of administering justice. This initiative likely came from real judges that try to redirect the coming fire towards other targets: those fool enough to believe they can “judge” people and charging them with “treason to the homeland” sending them to prison only for participating on a demonstration, just like happened in the days after July 28th that detonated a real bomb, with people as important as Eurodeputees Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo asking to the ICC to speed the process of submitting an arrest order. The general consensus is that the way the ruling party conceives justice for the peace with the addition of “communal courts” intends to deepen societal control in the communities. This was stated by one of the teachers at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) in the area of ​​government and citizen participation, in agreement with the former mayor Ramon Muchacho. This, he warned, after what happened with the presidential elections in which the vote favored the opposition candidate Edmundo González, according to 83.5% of the voting certificates or acts released by the opposition, and that those who demonstrated against the result in favor of Maduro, announced by the Electoral Power, were mostly from popular sectors. Venezuelans have a long road ahead. Strategies to Mitigate Government Repression Government repression is a complex issue that requires multifaceted solutions. Here are some strategies that we detected as being effective in protecting citizens from the ruling mafia: At the Individual and Community Level: Peaceful Organization and Mobilization: Unity is strength. Organizing peaceful protests, marches, and demonstrations can make discontent visible and increase the pressure over the government. Civil Disobedience: Non-violently rejecting unjust laws can undermine the government’s legitimacy. This was proven when women surrounding youngsters in the demonstrations avoided them being “arrested”. Information Dissemination: Using social media and other means to inform the whole world about abuses and human rights violations. It’s not like the ICC is going to run, but surely it would make them look bad. Mutual Support: Creating community support networks to protect vulnerable individuals and provide legal assistance. Documentation of Abuses: Recording and documenting instances of violence and repression to present evidence to international bodies. This has been a key issue, and resulted in the European government “noticing” there are 16 Spanish citizens under detention. Specific Strategies for Digital Contexts: Use of Security Tools: Utilizing VPNs, encryption, and other tools to protect privacy and avoid censorship. Development of Decentralized Technologies: Promoting the use of technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrencies to facilitate secure communication and information sharing. Creation of Anonymous Networks: Developing social networks and communication platforms that protect user identities. These are the reasons why many of us restrict our public profiles on social media and don´t deliver strong statements that could make us stand out. This repression structure is nothing new. It has been implemented previously and only worked because the citizens allowed it. In a free society, the rule of law will never be crushed. What are your thoughts? What do you think about the way officials are trying to make repression seem like acts of law? Do you have other ideas for mitigating government repression? Let’s discuss it in the comments section. About Daniela Daniela Gonzalez is a student of history at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. 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