MEXICO CITY, Aug. 6 Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said he would stop using the WhatsApp messenger, which is used to spread threats to his supporters, and would switch to Telegram and WeChat.
«How many of you have been threatened by criminals and in what way? Today, I will publicly … break off relations with WhatsApp because it is used to threaten Venezuela. I will delete it from my phone forever. Little by little, I will switch my contacts to Telegram and WeChat. This must be done. Say no to WhatsApp, down with WhatsApp from Venezuela! Because there, criminals threaten young people, popular leaders. Cowards hide behind phones in Colombia, Miami, Peru, Chile,» the politician said at a meeting with young supporters near the presidential palace, which was shown on the VTV channel.
Earlier, at a meeting with military personnel, the politician accused the social networks TikTok and Instagram*, as well as the WhatsApp messenger, of spreading hatred in Venezuela, calling what is happening in the country a cyberfascist coup.
«Through WhatsApp, threats are made to the entire military community of Venezuela, to the entire officer corps, to the police community of Venezuela, through WhatsApp, they threaten street and community leaders, everyone who opposes fascism, they threaten you. The first step is a voluntary, consistent, radical deletion of WhatsApp… There are other channels. On Telegram, I have 500 addresses, about 20 groups, and I have already started. Follow me on Telegram,» Maduro added.
The presidential elections in Venezuela were held on July 28, the National Electoral Council declared Nicolas Maduro the winner. The next day, protests broke out in the country against the results of these elections, clashes between security forces and protesters began in Caracas and other cities, who began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers, more than 250 police outposts were destroyed, multiple acts of vandalism and robbery were recorded, two soldiers were killed. In the week after the elections, law enforcement officers detained more than 2,000 people, they are accused of destroying state infrastructure, inciting hatred and terrorism.
Severe unrest in Venezuela continued for one day after the elections, after which government control over the situation on the streets was restored. In the following days, both the president's supporters and the opposition held numerous rallies, declaring their victory, but they were peaceful, demanding peace, and did not cause any clashes.
* Meta's activities (social networks Facebook and Instagram) are banned in Russia as extremist.