Digital Socialism or Extinction

1. The Lesson of Venezuela

At the dawn of an ordinary day in early January of this year, 2026, the world woke up to shocking news whose repercussions were not clear at first glance: a brutal US military aggression and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a complex operation executed with supreme military and intelligence precision. Although the operation included a direct military attack, intensive shelling, and systematic destruction of weapon depots and defence platforms, it relied heavily on a massive employment of digital technology, and this is the axis we will focus on analysing here. Mainstream media coverage focused on the political and diplomatic aspects of the event, without real attention—whether spontaneous or intentional—to the pivotal role that advanced technology played in this operation. It was not merely a traditional military intervention as some Western media attempted to portray it; rather, it was a comprehensive and organised digital war that preceded the arrest by long months, if not years of planning, monitoring, and preparation.

Before continuing, I would like to mention here my reservation regarding the policies of the Maduro regime in suppressing dissent, restricting freedoms, and tightening the grip on leftists and labor unions. Our critique of American capitalist intervention, the violation of international law, and the use of technology as a weapon of hegemony does not, in any way, mean justifying the repressive practices of the Maduro regime against progressive forces and the labor movement in Venezuela, especially the Communist Party of Venezuela. Standing against the aggressive militarism of American capitalism does not contradict the critique of internal tyranny; rather, it is a position consistent with leftist values. What we are highlighting here is the technological and strategic lesson that this incident provides to all leftist and progressive movements, regardless of our assessment of the Maduro regime itself.

According to what has been circulated in the media, the most advanced US satellite surveillance systems in the world were used in this operation to track the movements of the Venezuelan leadership via US satellites orbiting the Earth around the clock. Big data analysis was not limited to monitoring physical movements only, but extended to include drawing accurate and detailed maps of the Venezuelan government communication networks with all their complexities and branches. The breach of electronic systems was not a random process, but was meticulously planned to