Authoritarian regimes implement transnational repression
The Ortega-Murillo regime has implemented other forms of transnational repression, including harassment, surveillance of human rights advocates, criminal charges, forced exile and “unconstitutional and extra-judicial” denationalization.
HAVANA TIMES – The dictatorial regimes in Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua share a repressive strategy that includes the assassination of opponents beyond their borders. Examples of this practice are the assassination of Venezuelan opposition member Ronald Ojeda in Chile, the execution of the Montenegro family in Honduras, and the murder of Russian military pilot Maxim Kuzminov in Spain. These cases show how authoritarian regimes can extend their human rights violations beyond their own borders.
The issue of transnational repression was addressed in a panel: “Exile and Repression: assessing the current state and impact of transnational repression,” organized by the Central American think tank Expediente Abierto [“Open Files”]. Participating in the panel were David Khakim, exiled Russian activist; Wendy Flores, vice-president of the Nicaragua Nunca Mas Collective; and Adriana Flores, Venezuelan exile living in Argentina and former campaign head for Edmundo González and María Corina Machado.
Wendy Flores expressed that “transnational repression has been envisioned as a way of punishing Nicaraguans in exile.” According to the activist, the mechanisms of transnational repression against Nicaraguans have included “extrajudicial executions.” One case is that of farmer and former member of the Contras, Edgard Montenegro, and his son, murdered in Honduras in June 2019, Other government opponents in Costa Rica have been killed or attacked there.
Flores, a human rights advocate, also noted that the common factor in these killings is that they were directed against “people who fought with the Contra during the 80s,” and that “no credible investigations exist” to find and punish those responsible. According to the expert, these practices seek to “eliminate” those actively opposing the government and “seed terror among Nicaraguans in exile.”
In addition to the extrajudicial executions, Flores stated that the Ortega-Murillo regime has implemented other forms of transnational repression such as harassment, surveillance of human rights advocates, criminalization, forced exile, and “unconstitutional and extrajudicial” denationalization.
For his part, exiled Russian activist David Khakim affirmed that Vladimir Putin’s regime implements similar measures against dissidents abroad. He exemplified the recent case of the defected Russian pilot Maxim Kusminov, murdered in Spain, allegedly by the Russian mafia. According to Khakim, Putin exercises these actions against opponents he considers “traitors” to the Russian Government, seeking to sow terror in the rest of the diaspora.
Khakim, an environmentalist, also referred to the case of opposition leader Leonid Volkov who was brutally beaten outside his home in Vilnius, Lithuania. Volkov was an ally of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison in February 2024.
Venezuelan exile Adriana Flores Marquez pointed to the murder of Ronald Ojeda, a Venezuelan dissident in Chile who was killed there at the beginning of 2024 by the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. This crime “has been the cruelest human rights violation” committed by the regime of Nicolas Maduro.
According to Adriana Flores, the regime’s objective is “to generate fear among we Venezuelans abroad.” In fact, she noted, the assassination has had a self-censoring effect among the Venezuelan diaspora, with the aim of avoiding reprisals such as forbidding their eventual return to the country.
The Venezuelan panelist noted other methods of transnational repression, such as threats on social media or on national television programs like Diosdado Cabello’s Con el Mazo Dando [“Pounding the sledgehammer”]. Cabello, Venezuelan Interior Minister and a powerful figure in the Maduro regime, hosts this program showcasing politics and blunt opinions. In addition to these means of repression Adriana Flores mentioned spying and annulling the passports of people “who have demonstrated for the freedom of Venezuela.”
Arrest warrants issued by “courts allied to the regime,” including “an arrest warrant against President-elect Edmundo González.” The Maduro dictatorship committed a major fraud in the elections of July 28, 2024, and issued an international arrest warrant against the landslide winner González.
During the dialogue “Exile and Repression: evaluating the current state and impact of transnational repression, the panelists recommended that countries hosting exiles implement measures to confront transnational repression within their borders.
Wendy Flores urged: “Host countries should take steps to prevent criminal cells from settling in their territory.” She also recommended that sheltering countries, “create special police units to investigate crimes against exiled persons.” She believes that careful investigations could help clarify whether the crime against refugees was part of a broader strategy of transnational repression.
Adriana Flores mentioned that the work receiving countries do to protect the diasporas within their borders “depends on the political alliances [those governments] have with the Venezuelan regime.” She advocated for the establishment of “a regulatory framework,” to clarify the nature of transnational repression, so that exiles’ denunciations of crimes and threats against them by authoritarian regimes receive proper follow-up.
Flores said international cooperation should also be broadened to “share information and be able to issue alerts” about the involvement of criminal groups in the strategies for transnational repression.
Russian exile David Khakim stated that Russians living outside the country shouldn’t be stigmatized, “believing that they’re all functionaries of the Kremlin’s foreign service.” In that sense, he suggested reinforcing the mechanisms for identifying Russian investments in other countries that could be used to finance transnational repressors. He recognized that this was “a very complex job,” but that some exiled Russian citizens were already working on it.
First published in Spanish by 100% Noticias and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.