Bolivarian propaganda

[8][9] A 2011 article by The New York Times said Venezuela has an "expanding state propaganda complex"[10] while The Boston Globe described Chávez as "a media savvy, forward-thinking propagandist" that had "the oil wealth to influence public opinion".

[12] The term Bolivarian Revolution denotes a system of government,[13] based on Simón Bolívar's vision of a unified South America led by a "strong but compassionate caudillo".

Months after being inaugurated in 1999, Chávez promised to bring dramatic change to Venezuela through this revolution resulting in a "radical redefinition of the relationship of the media system of mass communication with the sphere of political power and beyond, with the State itself as controller and regulating agent of society".

According to the PSUV, "members of the committee will hold regular and special meetings, in order to develop plans and carry out actions to defend the truth and block the war waged against the Bolivarian Revolution".

[29] The Bolivarian Revolution is advertised through all outlets: TV, radio, Internet (with websites like the Venezuelan Solidarity Campaign), magazines (like Viva Venezuela), newspapers, murals, billboards, memorabilia (action figures, T-shirts, posters), schools (through the lesson plans and books),[17] movies, symphonies (Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar), festivals, and public service vehicles (like buses and ambulances).

[8] Opposition candidate María Corina Machado "complained about what she called a government-orchestrated propaganda machine that churns out spots ridiculing Chávez's critics, runs talk shows dominated by ruling party hopefuls and picks up all of the president's speeches".

[30] In 2007, the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information stated:[14][31] For the new strategic landscape that arises, the fight that falls in the ideological field has to do with a battle of ideas for the hearts and minds of people.

[36] Hugo Chávez, however, used cadenas every few days, often taking over regular programming for hours and using the broadcasts as an effective weapon to fight criticism by running continuously to all audiences both in urban and rural sections of Venezuela.

[40] In a 2015 case study by The London School of Economics and Political Science focused of Hugo Chávez's populism rhetoric in Aló Presidente, with personalism in his speeches remaining common throughout his presidency while polarising and "revolutionary" language increased.

International celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover, and Sean Penn would appear on the show, lending their star power to the Chávez brand of permanent socialist revolution.

[Izarra] installed himself in Telesur and took the reins ... For him it wasn't about promoting Latin American identity and doing something different with television, but serving Chávez's domestic agenda and being a political instrument.

[51] On 29 September 2019 The New York Times, quoting Social Science One investigator Ariel Sheen, reported that Venezuela also had a large presence of sock puppets accounts on Facebook that were engaged in coordinated, inauthentic behavior [52] In 1999, Chávez began to promote his revolution through print media, mostly in local newspapers like Barreto’s Correo del Presidente, focusing the messages on the transformation of Venezuela into a first world nation within ten years.

[70] In 2009, Oliver Stone completed a feature-length documentary, South of the Border about the rise of populist governments in Latin America, featuring seven presidents include Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

[73] The Associated Press stated that "the Chavez administration tended to point fingers at the CIA or shadowy outside groups" while President Maduro would "often target local opposition figures".

[74][75] Some pro-government members have "accused conspirators of using newspaper crossword puzzles to communicate with enemies of the state, of developing tools to give leftist leaders cancer, and of plotting to 'ruin Christmas' with a coup included.

"[74] Brian A. Nelson says in The Silence and the Scorpion that opposition to Chávez was "born [when] a group of mothers realized that their children's new textbooks were really Cuban schoolbooks heavily infused with revolutionary propaganda".

[77] According to Nichols and Morse in the book Venezuela (Latin America in Focus), the "Bolivarian curriculum" that was instituted to reflect Chávez's goals was against a 1980 law that prohibited political propaganda in schools.

According to Maria Teresa Clement, Secretary of Communication of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers, the changes to the history books "revolves around the role played by a single president [Chávez], as if the previous historical record was irrelevant".

[81] In 2014, an assembly of teachers on the islands of Margarita and Coche demanded an end to "the indoctrination of children by educators" at the regional and national level, claiming that the days between the 5 and 15 of March were aimed "to worship former late President Hugo Chávez".

[97] According to La Crónica de Hoy, in 2006, students that were supported by Venezuelan agents printed "Bolivarian propaganda in favor of Andrés Manuel López Obrador" a leftist presidential candidate.

[100] According to ABC, Venezuelan radio and television transmitted in Spain portrays a happy Venezuela that is free of conflict which the newspaper says "exists only in the minds of the official propaganda designed to extend the legacy of the late Hugo Chávez".

"[104] In The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chávez and the War Against America, one of the Venezuelan government's propaganda methods discussed included the use of politically focused tourism for Americans.

[105] The New York Times and BBC News stated that the tours also included meetings with Venezuelan activists such as Eva Golinger, community leaders and the tourists watched the Chávez-approving documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

[111] In September 2003, VIO contacted Global Exchange in order to "ensure success" of their campaign while also discussing "ideas for strategizing on Venezuela" and "to begin conference calls of solidarity groups".

[66][67][68][69] In addition to maintaining a public website and a blog, VIO promoted its views in the media in a number of ways, including issuing press releases and contributing articles, such as responses to the 2008 Human Rights Watch report[112] on Venezuela.

[125] According to one scholar of Latin America from the University of California Santa Barbara, Juan Pablo Lupi, the creation of Chávez's cult of personality was "very well-staged, all this process of myth-making and appealing to the feelings and religious sentiment of the people.

[128] In a report about Chavez's funeral Spiegel Online wrote, "His last procession is also a TV marathon, presented in the tone of a sermon, during which Chávez, the freedom fighter Simón Bolívar and Jesus Christ merge into one person.

[144] It is pretty symbolic that the citizens are venting their frustrations on the author of the Bolivarian revolutionOn 22 May 2017, the birthplace home of Chávez was burned by protesters in Sabaneta, Barinas – "the cradle of Chavez's revolution" – after two students were killed by the National Guard.

"[151] B'nai B'rith International stated in a 2012 report that "State-sanctioned anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric" was "common in Venezuela under President Hugo Chávez" and that it had increased during the 2012 presidential campaign involving Henrique Capriles Radonski, who had Jewish heritage.

[149] At the 61st United Nations General Assembly, Hugo Chávez gave an anti-imperialist and anti-United States speech calling George W. Bush "the devil" and "world dictator".