Hugo Chavez: President, King, God & Rockstar! - The Cult to Personality

The president of a country is an elected official. A person, elected by the masses to do a job which is to guide the nation; his responsibilities are almost as vast as the rewards.

During the 20^th century Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong used mass media as well as education, sports, photography, TV and radio to promote themselves, just like kings and emperors did in the 18^th and 19^th century. During the peak of their reigns these leaders appeared as god-like infallible rulers. Their portraits were hung in every home or public building, and many artists and poets were instructed to produce only works that glorified the leader.

Hugo Chavez is no different. Just take a look around anywhere in Venezuela and you will see his image or words painted in billboards, trucks, lights, walls and statues. The worst part is that Chavez is not the only one doing it; many of his followers are too. It is very common to see a billboard with the picture of a governor or major standing next to Chavez and praising the “Revolution”.

Government trucks are painted in Red. Take a look at PDVSA, CANTV, ETC, and every government-related company… they have all changed their logos to red. In some cases it goes even further; on Fridays some public employees are forced to wear red shirts and red caps in their workplaces and if necessary, they are asked to leave their posts of work to go to pro-government concentrations.

Refuse and you are fired.

IAFE: Venezuela's Train Transportation Institute

Apparently we should be thanking the government every time it builds a house, a road or a bridge, as if it wasn’t its job to do so. The 2 new stadiums, the few new hospitals, the few new houses (in 9 years, less than previous governments).. They all have happened “thanks to Chavez and the revolution”, as if it was not his job to do so.

Two years ago, the bridge that connects Caracas with the airport (El Viaducto) fell apart due to lack of maintenance. The government did not react and disregarded calls from known engineers and architects about the situation of the bridge. It is important to point out that this is one of the most important highways in Venezuela.

For 2 years Venezuelans and visitors have had to travel trough a dangerous and slow road to get from Caracas to the airport. Perhaps, the biggest consequence of the destruction of the bridge is the millions of bolivars lost by the population that lives close to the airport which depends on tourism from Caracas to survive. Meanwhile, when the new bridge was finally finished (built by a foreign Capitalist company), Hugo Chavez forced every single TV station to broadcast the inauguration of the new bridge, as if it was not his job to make sure we have proper roads and highways. Everyone that attended was given red shirts.

Another good example would be the Copa America. The day of the inauguration the government decided that every TV station had to broadcast the inaugural act where Chavez was going to talk and kick the first ball; meanwhile thousands of fans that were watching the game between Peru and Uruguay (which started earlier than the inauguration) were interrupted and forced to watch Chavez arrive to the stadium and hang out with his partners Evo Morales and Maradona.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the government bought out all the tickets to the event. The name “Hugo Chavez” was spelled on the tribune of the inaugural game. However, it didn’t prevent the anti-government chants from being heard.

ESPN, Yahoo news as well as several international sports and news networks repeatedly showed the “booing” Chavez received when he went to kickoff the ball; the booing however was overshadowed by the announcer who presented the Argentinean Diego Maradona.

In a country suffering of hunger, poverty, lack of education and healthcare problems… the government spends more money in self-promotion and weapons than fixing what needs to be fixed.

Sad…. Isn’t it?

<--- PDVSA (Oil Company)

PEQUIVEN (Another Oil related company) ----->

Above & Below: I don't even know what to say.


Below: National Institue of Nutrition (INN)
Below: Venezuelan Military Base
Below: Construction of the Stadium of Pto. La Cruz - Promotion of Governor Tarek:

Below: Avenida LibertadorBelow: Propaganda from in the subways of Caracas

So... anyone want to take a guess at how much money this costs?
This is what our taxes are used for!
I got soo many more pictures...

PS: Thank you Julia from "The End of Venezuela as we know it" for your help with some pictures!