Venezuela uses Armed Drones, Bans Civilian Drones

There is a strange and deeply ironic silence in the skies over Venezuela today. Just as the government proudly showcases its new fleet of locally-assembled, missile-capable combat drones, it has slammed the door shut on every single civilian pilot in the country. A new government decree has banned all private drone operations nationwide, effectively grounding an entire community of creators, hobbyists, and professionals.

This move creates a stark and frankly, disturbing contrast: while the state is investing in the manufacturing of lethal drone technology, it simultaneously denies its own citizens the freedom to fly even the smallest recreational drone. It’s a powerful statement about control, and it’s happening right now.

A Nation’s Airspace, But Not for its People

Let’s be very clear about what this ban entails. Citing “public safety concerns,” the government has prohibited everything: the flying, sale, manufacturing, and even the import of all remotely piloted aircraft. For the next year, if you’re a Venezuelan citizen, you cannot fly a drone. Period. The only exception is for state security and defense agencies.

This has sent a shockwave through the Venezuelan droner community. Wedding photographers, real estate videographers, agricultural drone operators, and countless hobbyists who found joy and a creative outlet in flight have been grounded overnight. Their passion and, in many cases, their livelihood, has been put on hold by government decree.

The State’s Drones: A Lethal Arsenal

While its citizens are being forced to box up their Mavics, the Venezuelan military is doing the exact opposite. As part of its tense standoff with Guyana, Venezuela has deployed a squadron of Mohajer-6 drones to its eastern coast. And these are not simple spy planes.

The Mohajer-6, a design from Iran, is a UCAV—an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle.

It is an armed drone capable of carrying precision-guided missiles. This isn’t just an imported piece of hardware, either. Reports confirm that these combat drones are being assembled in Venezuela at a factory in Aragua state, as part of a strategic alliance with Iran.

The message is unmistakable: Venezuela is not just using armed drones; it is building them. The government is embracing the most lethal form of this technology as a key part of its national defense, projecting its power over the disputed Essequibo region.

The Profound Contradiction

The hypocrisy here is staggering. How can a government justify a total ban on civilian drone manufacturing for “public safety,” while simultaneously running a factory to build military drones designed to carry missiles?

The “public safety” argument evaporates completely in the face of this reality. A teenager flying a DJI Mini in a park is not a threat. A state-owned factory producing combat drones introduces a level of risk and a type of technology that is orders of magnitude more serious.

It paints a picture of a government that wants to monopolize this technology for its own purposes. It sees the immense power of drones for surveillance and lethal force, and it is investing heavily in it. But it fears the freedom and perspective that a simple camera drone offers to its own citizens.

DroneXL’s Take

As a Venezuelan who built a career around the creative power of drones, this news is personal and deeply infuriating. The government of my home country is telling the world that it is a modern, technologically advanced military power, capable of building and deploying armed, combat-ready drones. In the same breath, it tells its own people that they cannot be trusted with even the most basic hobby drone.

The contradiction is an insult to every creative and responsible droner in Venezuela. The government isn’t just banning drones; it’s banning a tool for art, for commerce, for innovation. It’s banning a community. All while they are busy assembling the very machines that give drones a fearsome reputation in the first place. But after having to flee the country because of my pictures, this doesn’t surprise me AT ALL.

This is the ultimate expression of state control. They see the power in an eye in the sky and have reserved it exclusively for themselves, and not just for watching, but for striking. For the Venezuelan state, the drone is a weapon. For all the Venezuelan people, it is now a crime. I can only hope this absurd and hypocritical ban is reversed, and that the vibrant community of Venezuelan droners can one day reclaim their sky.

Because a sky where only weapons are allowed to fly is not a free sky.