The swarm: this is how María Corina Machado's network operates, attacking dissent within the Venezuelan opposition

In Venezuela, political conversation does not only happen in events and statements: it takes place every day on the timelines of X, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. For years, social media has become the main battleground for an opposition that, often hindered from carrying out normal political activity under Nicolás Maduro's regime, has shifted much of its strategy to the digital realm.

However, this ecosystem has also begun to generate strong questioning from within the opposition itself. A leader with more than twelve years of militancy within the movement currently led by María Corina Machado described, in an interview granted under strict confidentiality to La Derecha Diario, the existence of an organized structure to install narratives, coordinate social media campaigns, and publicly discredit those who question the strategy of the opposition leadership.

This machinery is what we call "the swarm": a metaphor that summarizes what the source describes as a set of accounts, influencers, and digital operators that do not necessarily have a visible center, but that, according to their account, act in a synchronized manner when they consider that a voice represents a threat to the dominant narrative.

"The Swarm": a network that does not distinguish ideology

The source assured that the swarm does not respond to an ideology, but to the current opposition leadership at each stage. According to the interviewee, the same logic operated "with Capriles," "with Leopoldo," and works today around Machado's figure: when the spokesperson for the opposition changes, they say, "the whole apparatus" reorients itself towards that new figure.

This network, the source labels with two tags: "digital inquisitors" and "puritanical crucifiers." The comparison they propose is explicit: they would act "like in the time of the Inquisition," but in a 2.0 key through social media.

This web would be made up of a group of communicators, influencers, and digital operators who, regardless of the current opposition leadership, act in a coordinated manner to install narratives and discredit dissenting voices.

Among the names that would make up "The Swarm" are David Smolansky, Claudia Macero, Orlando Avendaño, and Emmanuel Rincón.

How "The Swarm" operates

The source maintains that this methodology has allowed for the construction of a strong capacity for influence within the Venezuelan digital ecosystem over the years. As they explain, the weight of certain accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers means that a narrative can be quickly established and organically amplified once it is pushed by the main figures.

In that context, they assert that many public figures, journalists, analysts, or political leaders choose to avoid public questioning of the opposition leadership for fear of becoming the next target of these digital campaigns.

"Number one target" for dissenting

The source recounts that in the last year they were the target of a campaign of attacks that escalated to personal levels and included their family. "It’s hard to get up, grab the phone, log into a social network, and see how you are judged, how you are defamed," they summarize. They assert that the pattern repeats with other critical voices and that when the swarm activates against third parties, they immediately recognize "the same template."

On the other hand, the source sharply distinguishes the personal from the political. They say they respect Machado "as a woman, as a person, as a mother," and locate their differences in the realm of strategy and in the environment surrounding her, which they describe as "very sectarian."

They also recall that the very leadership that accompanies her today once sidelined her and labeled her as "radical" years ago, and express the desire for a leadership capable of "broadening the spectrum" beyond traditional parties.