Venezuelan Minister urges citizens to quit Facebook over spying

Venezuelan Minister of Prisons, Iris Marela, photo: France24

The Venezuelan Minister of Prisons, Iris Varela has recently called on her countrymen to cancel their Facebook accounts, to avoid being unwitting informants for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).


According to Reuters, the Minister urged citizens to deactivate their Facebook accounts, claiming that by using the popular social media network, Venezuelans were inadvertently working for the CIA
‘Fellow Venezuelans, cancel your Facebook accounts, since unknowingly you have been working for free as CIA informants’, Varela reportedly said.

This is coming on the heels of a former US National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, who last month leaked details about American intelligence agencies allegedly obtaining information from popular websites including Facebook.

Varela, an ‘anti-imperialist’ and an ardent supporter of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, also called on Venezuelans to seek financial compensation from the US for spying on them.