Maduro Opponents in Venezuela Find their Houses Marked with an X

Venezuelans have lived in fear since Nicolás Maduro declared victory in the July 28 election. The result was challenged by the opposition, which believes that Maduro is afraid to publish the voting tallies because their candidate actually won. 

To suppress the mass protests that erupted after the election commission declared his victory without offering proof, Maduro launched the so-called Operation Tun Tun, or Operation Knock Knock, in which armed security forces knock on the doors of opposition leaders and supporters in the middle of the night and arrest them.

So far, 25 people have lost their lives in the dispute between the regime and the opposition, and more than 2,000 have been detained. In many cases, relatives still do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones, and Maduro announced plans to build new prisons or reopen dismantled ones to accommodate the influx of detainees.

The overnight marking of houses began last week in the western neighbourhood of the capital, near the mausoleum of the late President Hugo Chávez—Maduro’s political mentor and predecessor. Nearly 30 houses on Plan Sierra Maestra 23 de Enero Street were marked.

"We noticed that almost all the doors had X's, but the few that didn’t were where families of colectivos or those with pro-government ideology live," a source, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told OCCRP. 

Colectivos are paramilitary groups loyal to the regime that operate in impoverished areas. They use violence with impunity to harass political opponents of the Venezuelan government.

According to a 2023 report by Universidad Católica Andrés Bello titled "Collective Fear: The Intimidation by Armed Colectivos as a Cause of Asylum Requests," the regime uses such loyalist groups to exercise "greater political control over the population," as colectivos can easily identify opponents within their communities.

"What’s presumed in the neighbourhood is that they’re marking the houses of all those who protested on the 29th with pots and pans, or those they’ve identified as opponents or anti-government. But so far, no one has claimed responsibility for the graffiti, nor explained why the houses were marked," the source said.

Nevertheless, new protests are scheduled for Saturday throughout Venezuela, as well as abroad, where nearly a quarter of the country’s population has fled the regime.