{{Short description|Pro-Chávez Venezuelan propaganda}} [[File:Bolivarian propaganda in Guarenas.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|A billboard of Hugo Chávez's eyes and signature in Guarenas, Venezuela]] [[File:Maduro advertising.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|A political painting saying, "For the love of Chávez. Maduro (for) President." with the popular "Chávez eyes" visible.]] [[File:Typical colonial house from downtown Maracaibo.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|House painted with propaganda and woman in clothing supporting Hugo Chávez in Maracaibo, Venezuela.]]
'''Bolivarian propaganda''' (also known as '''''chavista'' propaganda'''<ref>{{cite web |title= Venezuela: Propaganda Blurs the Lines|url= https://nacla.org/news/venezuela-propaganda-blurs-lines |publisher=North American Congress on Latin America |date= 4 September 2007 |author= Eric Biewener |access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref> and '''Venezuelan propaganda'''<ref>{{cite news |title= Chevron Stayed in Venezuela Long After Rivals Quit. Then It Had Second Thoughts. |author= Vyas, Kejal; Olson, Bradley |work=The Wall Street Journal |date= 8 November 2018 | id= {{ProQuest|2130870838}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Juan-Carlos Molleda |title= Venezuelan propaganda infects and undermines Latin American PR professional organizations |date= 10 April 2015 |publisher= The Conversation |url= https://theconversation.com/venezuelan-propaganda-infects-and-undermines-latin-american-pr-professional-organizations-40002 |access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Peter Young |title= Opening a Second Western Front Against Putin: Russia's Latin American Proxies |publisher= Henry Jackson Society |date= October 2022 |url= https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Opening-a-Second-Western-Front-Against-Putin-WEB.pdf |access-date= 16 October 2022}}</ref>) is a form of nationalist propaganda, especially in Venezuela and associated with chavismo, Venezuelan socialism. This type of propaganda has been associated with Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution,<ref name=Manwaring813>Manwaring (2005), pp. 8–13.</ref> which used emotional arguments to gain attention, exploit the fears of the population, create external enemies for scapegoat purposes, and produce nationalism within the population, causing feelings of betrayal for support of the opposition.<ref name="LIbeyond">{{cite book|last1=Lansberg-Rodríguez|first1=Daniel|title=Beyond Propaganda June 2015 – The New Authoritarians: Ruling Through Disinformation|date=June 2015|publisher=Legatum Institute|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=9781907409837|pages=2–12 |url= https://lif.blob.core.windows.net/lif/docs/default-source/publications/the-new-authoritarians---ruling-through-disinformation-june-2015-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=4%3C |chapter= Alo Presidente! Venezuela's Reality Show Authoritarianism}}</ref><ref name=Manwaring11>Manwaring (2005), p. 11.</ref>
The ''World Politics Review'' stated in 2007 that, as Chávez began "transforming Venezuela into a socialist state", propaganda was "an important role in maintaining and mobilizing government supporters".<ref name=Moloney/> The image of Chávez was seen on sides of buildings, on T-shirts, on ambulances, on official ''Petróleos de Venezuela'' (PDVSA) billboards, and as action figures throughout Venezuela.<ref name=Moloney>{{cite news|last=Moloney|first=Anastasia|title=Photo Feature: Chavez's Propaganda|url=http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/506/photo-feature-ch-vezs-propaganda|access-date=10 March 2012|newspaper=World Politics Review|date=29 January 2007|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190301/http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/506/photo-feature-ch-vezs-propaganda|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=VenezuelaBans>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11818451 |date= November 23, 2010 |title= Venezuela bans unauthorised use of Hugo Chávez's image |author= Grant, Will |work= BBC News |access-date= April 26, 2012}}</ref> A 2011 article by ''The New York Times'' said Venezuela has an "expanding state propaganda complex"<ref name= PresidentsEar>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/world/americas/05venezuela.html |title= In Venezuela, an American Has the President's Ear |author= Romero, Simon |date= February 4, 2011|work= The New York Times | access-date= April 26, 2012}}</ref> while ''The Boston Globe'' described Chávez as "a media savvy, forward-thinking propagandist" that had "the oil wealth to influence public opinion".<ref name=Channeling/>
Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro, has continued using obligatory broadcasts on television known as'' cadenas''. Maduro became unpopular among Venezuelans, especially throughout the Venezuelan protests, with ''The Economist'' noting that "Chavistas used to be good at propaganda. Now they cannot even get that right".<ref name="ECONapr2017">{{cite news|title=The declining quality of Venezuela's propaganda|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21721407-president-tries-come-across-cuddly-it-isnt-working-declining-quality|access-date=15 May 2017|newspaper=The Economist|date=27 April 2017}}</ref> Essayist Alberto Barrera Tyszka has stated that citizens viewing state propaganda see well-fed Bolivarian officials living in "decadence", which offends the "poverty of Venezuelans” and has damaged the government's image, with the majority of Venezuelans suffering from malnutrition under Maduro's government.<ref name="ECONapr2017"/>
== Background == The term ''Bolivarian Revolution'' denotes a system of government,<ref name=Manwaring8>Manwaring (2005), p. 8.</ref> 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".<ref name="PALABRA">{{cite journal|last1=Canelón-Silva|first1=Agrivalca Ramsenia|title=Del Estado Comunicador Al Estado De Los Medios. Catorce Años De Hegemonía Comunicacional En Venezuela.|journal=Palabra Clave|date=2014|volume=17|issue=4|pages=1243–78|publisher=University of La Sabana|doi=10.5294/pacla.2014.17.4.11|doi-access=free|hdl=10818/22065|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
A so-called "participatory democracy", had become the foundation of the Hugo Chávez administration, with Chávez utilizing the national hero Simón Bolívar to legitimize his political standing.<ref name=Manwaring8/><ref name=LSE>{{cite web|last1=Espinal|first1=Cristina|title=A case study into the making and evolution of populist discourse: examining Hugo Chavez's discourse and its radicalisation through time.|url=https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/62913/|website=The London School of Economics and Political Science|access-date=11 August 2015}}</ref> According to Rory Carroll, "Media mastery had helped the commandante win successive elections and turn his administration into what he called the Bolivarian revolution".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|page=15}}</ref>
Chávez's popularity was accomplished through "exploitation of charismatic legitimacy" and a propaganda program was established to accomplish "participatory democracy", to strengthen his political position, and to strengthen his power base.<ref name=LSE/><ref name=Manwaring10>Manwaring (2005), p. 10.</ref> Douglas Schoen in ''The Threat Closer to Home'' said that Chávez has promoted his populist message<ref name=Schoen154/> via programs and legislation including a loyal chavista branch of bishops in the Catholic Church,<ref name=Schoen154>Schoen (2009), p. 154.</ref> closing RCTV, and altering laws to require citizens to report disloyal citizens.<ref name=Schoen156>Schoen (2009), p. 156.</ref>
==Funding== In 2002, the Venezuelan government signed a $1.2 million contract with lobby firm Patton Boggs to improve the image of Hugo Chávez in the United States. In 2004, it was estimated that the Venezuelan government's funding of propaganda was $30,000 per day domestically to about $1.0 million per day for both domestic and international propaganda.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
According to ''El Nacional'', 65% of Venezuela's Ministry of Communication and Information (MINCI) funds were used for "official propaganda" in 2014. Allocation of funds to MINCI were over 500 million Venezuelan bolívares. These funds were divided among separate government media organizations; 161,043,447 bolívares to VTV, 65% more than it received in 2012, 97,335,051 bolívares for the Venezuelan Telecommunications Corporation, 96,861,858 bolívares for the New Television Station of the South, 20,381,890 bolívares for El Correo del Orinoco, 48,935,326 bolívares for AVN and more.<ref name=MICNI1>{{cite news|last1=VÁSQUEZ S.|first1=ÁLEX|title=65% del dinero del Minci se utilizará en propaganda oficial|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/dinero-Minci-utilizara-propaganda-oficial_0_289171235.html|access-date=13 July 2014|agency=El Nacional|date=28 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712182636/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/dinero-Minci-utilizara-propaganda-oficial_0_289171235.html|archive-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>
For the 2015 Venezuelan government budget, the Venezuelan government designated 1.8 billion bolívares for the promotion of the supposed achievements made by the government of Nicolás Maduro, which was more than the 1.3 billion bolívares designated by the Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace for public safety of the most populous Venezuelan municipality, Libertador Bolivarian Municipality.<ref name=ENoct2014>{{cite news|title=Gobierno gastará más en propaganda que en el municipio Libertador|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Gobierno-gastara-propaganda-municipio-Libertador_0_505749619.html|access-date=24 October 2014|agency=El Nacional|date=23 October 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024051019/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Gobierno-gastara-propaganda-municipio-Libertador_0_505749619.html|archive-date=24 October 2014}}</ref> Funding for domestic propaganda increased 139.3% in the 2015 budget with 73.7% of the Ministry of Communication and Information's budget compromising for official propaganda.<ref name=ENoct2014/> With the 2015 budget, payments for government media could be around 3.61 billion bolívares per year.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Morales|first1=Maru|title=Con "m" de millardo se escribe hegemonía comunicacional|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/millardo-escribe-hegemonia-comunicacional_0_519548267.html|access-date=20 November 2014|agency=El Nacional|date=17 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120021353/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/millardo-escribe-hegemonia-comunicacional_0_519548267.html|archive-date=20 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Governmental and political organizations ==
=== Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information === {{main|Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information}} [[File:Bolivarian propaganda by MINCI.jpg|thumb|Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information board quoting Simon Bolivar, reading: "The United States appears by providence to plague America with misery in the name of freedom."]] According to ''El Nacional'', the Venezuelan government's Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (MINCI) used the majority of their 2014 budget for "official propaganda".<ref name=MICNI1/> According to a political communication analyst, Oswaldo Ramírez, MINCI has been "the propaganda function" during the Maduro presidency due to his low popularity.<ref name=MINCI2>{{cite news|last1=Díaz|first1=Sugey|title=El Minci "sigue siendo un ministerio de propaganda del PSUV"|url=http://www.laverdad.com/politica/62114-el-minci-sigue-siendo-un-ministerio-de-propaganda-del-psuv.html|access-date=24 October 2014|agency=La Verdad|date=15 October 2014|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727012432/http://www.laverdad.com/politica/62114-el-minci-sigue-siendo-un-ministerio-de-propaganda-del-psuv.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The vice president of the National Association of Journalists (CNP), Nikary González, stated that MINCI "remains with political propaganda that favors the PSUV".<ref name=MINCI2/>
===United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)=== The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is the ruling political party of the Venezuelan government<ref>{{cite news|title=Maduro Elected Venezuela's Ruling Party Chief|url=http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/07/27/2361s837867.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910215734/http://english.cri.cn/12394/2014/07/27/2361s837867.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 10, 2014|access-date=10 September 2014|agency=China Radio International|date=27 July 2014}}</ref> which was created from the fusion of pro-Bolivarian Revolution and pro-Chávez parties. The PSUV has used propaganda to influence support for the Bolivarian Revolution.<ref name=ALBAaugust2014>{{cite news|title=Comisión de Propaganda, Agitación y Comunicación del PSUV planifica agenda de acciones|url=https://albaciudad.org/wp/index.php/2014/08/comision-de-propaganda-agitacion-y-comunicacion-del-psuv-planifica-agenda-de-acciones/|access-date=10 September 2014|agency=Alba Ciudad|date=28 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=PSUVaugust2014>{{cite web|title=Comisión de Propaganda, Agitación y Comunicación del PSUV planifica agenda de acciones concretas|url=http://www.psuv.org.ve/portada/comision-propaganda-agitacion-y-comunicacion-psuv-planifica%C2%A0-agenda-acciones-concretas/#.VA_DkS5dUQ4|website=United Socialist Party of Venezuela|access-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> According to the University of La Sabana, "since coming to power, the government of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), what is today the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), devoted the bulk of its energies to achieving three basic objectives with respect to communications, ... the erection of a single regulatory framework to govern all audiovisual and electronic media; the expansion of alternative-community media, as well as public, preceded by a strong economic investment in order to optimize the operation of these media devices through training, provision of equipment and infrastructure improvement, and the creation of independent bodies that centralize content control, access to grants and frequencies and management of training courses, among other issues".<ref name="PALABRA"/>
=== The Commission of Propaganda, Agitation and Communication of the PSUV === {{main|The Commission of Propaganda, Agitation and Communication of the PSUV}} On 27 August 2014, the first meeting of The Commission of Propaganda, Agitation and Communication of the PSUV was held. Head of the committee, Ernesto Villegas, stated that the committee recognized would continue communicating like "Commander Hugo Chávez, the great communicator, agitator and propagandist to remain so for indeed still with us and will remain, his message, his political doctrine which is the guide and permanent blaze that pushes us to move forward together to conquer this people building the Bolivarian Socialism". Villegas further explained that "the commission planned communication strategies that will be based on the policy guidelines issued by the PSUV". 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".<ref name=ALBAaugust2014/><ref name=PSUVaugust2014/><ref>{{cite news |url= https://runrun.es/nacional/inbox/149751/maduro-la-crisis-se-debe-politicas-implementadas-por-el-gobierno/ |author= Desiree Sousa |date= 26 August 2014 | title= Maduro: La crisis no se debe a políticas implementadas por el Gobierno |language= es |trans-title= Maduro: The crisis is not because of policies implemented by the Government |publisher= Runrunes|access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref>
The National Commission of Propaganda, Agitation and Communication encourages people on the street to use their work and place propaganda in public spaces in order to counter "capitalist relations of exploitation and domination". Their website includes stencils for Venezuelans to spray paint propaganda graffiti. Ernesto Villegas said that, "We will go to each brigade, paintings and some elements for propaganda. For that we will we deploy on the street and has murals and presence of the voice of the Bolivarian Revolution telling the truth, carrying the memory, enthusiasm and optimism, additional information is necessary".<ref name=VTV1>{{cite web|title=Equipos estadales de Agitación, Propaganda y Comunicación del Psuv se instalarán este martes|url=http://www.vtv.gob.ve/articulos/2014/09/15/equipos-estadales-de-agitacion-propaganda-y-comunicacion-del-psuv-se-instalaran-este-martes-2027.html|website=Venezolana de Television|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024064753/http://www.vtv.gob.ve/articulos/2014/09/15/equipos-estadales-de-agitacion-propaganda-y-comunicacion-del-psuv-se-instalaran-este-martes-2027.html|archive-date=24 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Media == Bolivarian propaganda has been disseminated in Venezuela and the abroad.<ref name=Bogardus>{{cite web |author= Bogardus, Kevin |date= September 22, 2004 |url= http://projects.publicintegrity.org/oil/report.aspx?aid=383 |title= Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars: President Hugo Chávez takes his case to America's streets |publisher= Center for Public Integrity |access-date= April 26, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111004222044/http://projects.publicintegrity.org/oil//report.aspx?aid=383 |archive-date= October 4, 2011 |url-status= dead }}</ref> 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),<ref name=Manwaring10/> movies, symphonies (Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar), festivals, and public service vehicles (like buses and ambulances).<ref name=Moloney/> In Venezuela, "Hugo Chávez is everywhere", along with images portraying similarities to Simón Bolívar; the typical images that accompany the pro-socialist messages are the red star, Che Guevara portraits, Simón Bolívar portraits, red barrettes, Venezuelan flags, "evil" Uncle Sam, Uncle Sam as a snake, and Chávez with the superman logo.<ref name=Moloney/> 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".<ref name=ChavezFoes>{{cite news |author= Toothaker, Christopher |url= http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012941607_apltvenezuelaoppositionsobstacles.html |title= Chávez foes face obstacles ahead of crucial vote |date= September 19, 2010 |publisher= Associated Press |work= The Seattle Times |access-date= April 26, 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110924060731/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012941607_apltvenezuelaoppositionsobstacles.html |archive-date= September 24, 2011 }}</ref>
In 2007, the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information stated:<ref name="PALABRA"/><ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> <blockquote>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. We need to develop a new plan, and we are proposing is to the communicational and informational hegemony of the State ... Our socialism needs communicational hegemony ... all communications have to rely on the state as a public good.</blockquote>
Following this plan, the Venezuelan government shut down and limited private opposing media organizations, while expanding public propagandistic outlets,<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/><ref>{{cite magazine |author= Francisco Toro |date= 4 October 2012 |title= Hugo Chavez Might Actually Lose His Election on Sunday |url= https://newrepublic.com/article/108210/hugo-chavez-might-actually-lose-his-election-sunday |magazine= The New Republic |access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref> though it initially permitted Globovision in order to state that there was media plurality in the country.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> The Venezuelan government harassed Globovision with fines and rhetoric until its majority owner fled the country, closed dozens of radio stations and warned all media organizations into fear that if they criticized the government they could be shut down.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> By 2023, according to El País, Chavez's "communication hegemony" had been achieved with viewers without cable access limited to "high doses of chavista propaganda".<ref>{{cite news |author= Florantonia Singer |date= 4 August 2023 |title= Venezuelan TV: chained to censorship and frozen in time |work= El País |url= https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-08-04/venezuelan-tv-chained-to-censorship-and-frozen-in-time.html |access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref>
Writing in the 2020 ''The Sage Handbook of Propaganda'', Daniel Aguirre and Caroline Ávila state that the "emergence of new media outlets that amplify the propaganda messaging that Chávez directly articulated and was later channeled by pro-government media" is covered in reports of the limitations of press freedom in Venezuela under ''chavismo''; the authors mention Telesur, TVes, the "Aló Presidente" television show, ''cadenas'' overtaking air time, and a "combination of presidential actions, legislature and media harassment" such as the case of RCTV, under the Chavez and Maduro administrations that resulted in "populist communication" that was "biased and consequently akin to systemic propaganda".<ref>{{cite book |chapter= Propaganda and populist communication in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela |first1= Daniel |last1= Aguirre |first2= Caroline |last2= Ávila |title= The Sage Handbook of Propaganda |year= 2020 |editor1-first= Paul |editor1-last= Baines |editor2-first= Nicholas |editor2-last= O'Shaughnessy |editor3-first= Nancy |editor3-last= Snow |publisher= Sage Publishing |isbn= 978-1-5264-5998-5 |pages= 486–487}}</ref>
=== Television and radio === {{see also|May 2007 RCTV protests}} Through the use of propaganda, Chávez continually verbalized his successes on television which resulted in a large popular base of support.<ref name=Manwaring12>Manwaring (2005), p. 12.</ref> Under Chávez, the number of state television channels grew from one to eight, with each channel constantly showing Chávez.<ref name=TELE1>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=23–26}}</ref> What Chávez said "became de facto law" and since he was unpredictable and a great performer, suspense was built around his appearance on television.<ref name=TELE1/>
Under Maduro, the government's "main weapon ... remains, state control of television, which repeats endlessly the risible claim that Venezuela is a victim of an economic war". However, unlike Chávez, Maduro lacks the same charisma that drew positive attention from the masses.<ref name="ECONapr2017"/>
====''Cadenas''==== [[File:Bolivarian mural SiBCI-VTV.jpg|thumbnail|A mural representing SiBCI sharing Chávez's message beside the VTV logo]]
The executive office in Venezuela was granted permission to interrupt television broadcasting in Venezuela with ''cadenas'', or obligatory televised transmissions. Chávez's predecessors would only use the broadcasts for emergencies or important events.<ref name=TELE1/> 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. The ''cadenas'' that would interrupt television programs had various topics ranging from visits from Russian delegations to tours of tractor factories, with the program lasting until Chávez wanted to stop speaking.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=182–94}}</ref> By 2010, Chávez had spent 1,300 hours, or 53 days, speaking on them with a total of 1,923 ''cadenas'' lasting an average of 40 minutes.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/>
During the presidency of Nicolás Maduro, the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated that President Maduro "has continued to use obligatory national radio and television broadcasts to transmit government messages" and criticized President Maduro saying that “not just any information justifies the interruption by the President of the Republic of regularly scheduled programming. Rather, it must be information that could be of interest to the masses by informing them of facts that could be of public significance and that are truly necessary for real citizen participation in public life”.<ref name=OAS2013>{{cite web|title=Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2013|url=http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/docs/reports/2014_04_22_%20IA_2013_ENG%20_FINALweb.pdf|work=Report|date=August 2009|publisher=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref> On 10 September 2013, President Maduro announced the creation of ''Noticiero de la Verdad'', "an obligatory national broadcast, in order to provide information on the activities of his administration, as he believes that private media outlets do not report on official acts and conceal his administration's achievements".<ref name=OAS2013/> Between April 2013 and January 2016, President Maduro spent over 500 hours speaking on ''cadenas'', with the broadcasts costing 255,000 Bs.F per minute.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cawthorne|first1=Andrew|title=Garrulous Maduro has addressed Venezuela for 500 hours: group|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-maduro-idUSKCN0V42A8|access-date=24 February 2016|work=Reuters|date=26 January 2016}}</ref>
====''Aló Presidente''==== {{main|Aló Presidente}} In 2001, he transformed ''Aló Presidente'' from a radio show to a full-fledged live, unscripted, television show promoting the Bolivarian Revolution, blaming the Venezuelan economic problems on its northern neighbor, the United States as a "mass-market soapbox for the policies and musings" of Chávez, who ''The Boston Globe'' called "a media savvy, forward-thinking propagandist [who] has the oil wealth to influence public opinion".<ref name=Channeling>{{cite news|last=Lakshmanan|first=Indira|title=Channeling his energies Venezuelans riveted by president's TV show|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2005/07/27/channeling_his_energies/|access-date=14 April 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=27 July 2005}}</ref> Many Venezuelan's tuned in because he would "reward his supporters with gifts and patronage, deciding, if not matters of life and death, then at least the destinies of individual citizens".<ref name="LIbeyond"/> From 1999 to 2009, President Chávez spent an average of 40 hours a week on television,<ref name=Schoen154/> spending over 1,500 between 2000 and 2010 denouncing capitalism on the show.<ref name=MOROZOV1>{{cite book|last1=Morozov|first1=Evgeny|title=The net delusion : the dark side of Internet freedom|date=2011|publisher=PublicAffairs|location=New York|isbn=978-1610391061|pages=113–16|edition=1st}}</ref>
The production of ''Aló Presidente'' was well-polished in order to create the narrative that Chávez wanted to instill into viewers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|page=16}}</ref> 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.<ref name=LSE/> Chávez would use the program to show Venezuelans that those who supported him were rewarded while those who did not were used as scapegoats.<ref name="LIbeyond"/>
In 2015, ''Foreign Policy'' gave a description of ''Aló Presidente'' saying:<ref name=FPpeter>{{cite news|last1=Pomerantsev|first1=Peter|title=Beyond Propaganda|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/23/beyond-propaganda-legatum-transitions-forum-russia-china-venezuela-syria/|access-date=27 January 2016|work=Foreign Policy|date=23 June 2015}}</ref> {{blockquote|A mix of Jay Leno and Mussolini, the show allowed Chávez to share his views on anything from baseball to George W. Bush; to answer phone calls from the populace; to share personal anecdotes, fire ministers, announce the start of wars, or burst into song. 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.}}
====TeleSUR==== {{main|TeleSUR}}
{{Quote box|width=250px|align=right|quote=[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. That meant propaganda as rolling news. The same garbage as the enemy but from the other side. Bye-bye, credibility, they killed it. Izarra didn't debate. He kicked me out in December 2008.|source=Aram Aharonian, teleSUR founder<ref name=CarrollTELESUR>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=195–196}}</ref>}} In 2005 after teleSUR was founded, it was described as being a network showing the diversity of Latin America.<ref name=CarrollTELESUR/> After 2007 however, some began to believe that teleSUR appeared to be a propaganda tool for Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Revolution, with the network being described as "a mouthpiece for Chávez after Andres Izarra became head of the network.<ref>{{cite news|title=Using oil to spread revolution|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2005/07/28/using-oil-to-spread-revolution|access-date=10 June 2015|agency=The Economist|date=28 July 2005}}</ref><ref name= ChavezBid>{{cite news |url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5046080.stm |title= Chávez bid to counter Hollywood |date= June 4, 2006 |work= BBC News |access-date= April 26, 2012}}</ref><ref name= TelesurTested>{{cite news |url= https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1122/p07s02-woam.html |title= Telesur tested by Chávez video |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date= November 22, 2005 |access-date= April 26, 2012| author= Sreeharsha, Vinod |quote= These clips bolster critics who claim the network is and will be a propaganda tool for Chávez.}}</ref><ref name=CarrollTELESUR/> ''The Boston Globe'' stated that Chávez's government was able to fund 70% of TeleSUR's functions while also providing broadcasting facilities, with other leftist governments supporting the network as well, advertising it "as a Latin socialist answer to CNN".<ref name=Channeling/> Joel D. Hirst, a former International Affairs Fellow in Residence of the Council on Foreign Relations, stated that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), knowing the importance of propaganda, "embarked upon an ambitious plan to control information across the hemisphere" and began their plan with the creation of teleSUR in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hirst|first1=Joel D.|title=The Bolivarian Alliance and the Hugo Chavez Propaganda Machine|url=http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-hugo-chavez-propaganda-machine/p23307|website=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=10 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611195152/http://www.cfr.org/venezuela/bolivarian-alliance-hugo-chavez-propaganda-machine/p23307|archive-date=11 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> TeleSUR changed from a "modest attempt to pluralize media" to an organization that tries "to promote the charismatic presence of Hugo Chávez as an international figure".<ref name=HAYDENsp>{{cite book|last=Hayden|first=Craig|title=Rhetoric of soft power : public diplomacy in a global context.|date=2011|publisher=Lexington Books|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0739142592 |page= 132}}</ref>
The Legatum Institute states that TeleSUR "attempts to whitewash regime abuses and failures" and that "TeleSUR focuses on exaggerated coverage of negative events elsewhere ... and sets up false comparisons, such as equating Venezuelan supermarket queues and queues for the 'Black Friday' shopping holiday in the US".<ref name="LIbeyond"/>
====Venezolana de Televisión==== {{main|Venezolana de Televisión}}
In February 2004, the president of state television station Venezolana de Television (VTV) stated that VTV was not a state television station but a station of President Chávez's political party. VTV would have ads showing the September 11 attacks, comparing them to the opposition stating "The people know who the terrorists are". During the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–03, VTV would share ads depicting Venezuelans waiting in line for gas canisters with a voice saying "The opposition unleashed terrorism on the Venezuelan people and it led to hunger and unemployment. Thanks to the new PDVSA, PDVSA is for all of us, all of us are PDVSA". VTV would also alter images of pro-government rallies to make them appear larger and used outdated videos to attack opposition members or former supporters.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
=== Internet === {{Quote box | width = 250px | align = right | quote = The Internet can't be just for the bourgeoisie; it's for the ideological battle as well ... | source = Hugo Chávez<ref name=MOROZOV1/> }} In a chapter titled ''Hugo Chávez Would Like to Welcome You to the Spinternet'' in the book ''The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom'', Morozov explains how the Internet was originally supposed to make individuals "less susceptible to propaganda from politicians" according to one scholar in 1997, though Chávez and others proved that the prediction was wrong.<ref name=MOROZOV1/> Hugo Chávez's government then "hired contingents of government-funded but technically independent online commentators" to help spread and defend his message.<ref name=MOROZOV1/>
====Social media==== President Chávez, similar to other authoritarian regimes, was initially opposed to Twitter calling it a site "for spoiled brats to criticize him".<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> According to Morozov, when the censorship of the Internet becomes "impractical, politically indefensible, or prohibitively expensive, governments begin to experiment with propaganda".<ref name=MOROZOV1/> As the use of Twitter by his opposition increased and since Chávez could not easily censor Twitter, he chose to become a user in order to place his own ideology on the social media website.<ref name=MOROZOV1/> In April 2010, President Chávez created a Twitter account and had 500,000 followers within a month, adding it as "part of the presidential choreography".<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/><ref name=MOROZOV1/> Chávez's popularity on Twitter was not only attributed to his charisma, but to also his use of his government's resources, with Chávez announcing in a televised address that he would use hundreds of publicly funded staffers to "help him win the Twitter war".<ref name=MOROZOV1/> Hundreds of state workers then helped Chávez manage his Twitter account.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> Twitter eventually grew to be the most popular social media site in Venezuela, with Venezuelans being some of the largest Twitter users in the world.<ref name=APtwitterPROP>{{cite news|last1=Dreier|first1=Hannah|title=Venezuela ruling party games Twitter for political gain|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6dc3715e0dd3442fbc6067ccfdc188c1/venezuela-ruling-party-games-twitter-political-gain|access-date=19 December 2015|agency=Associated Press|date=4 August 2015}}</ref>
Under President Maduro, the Venezuelan government used tens of thousands of Twitter bots to disseminate their propaganda and ideology for support.<ref name=BItwitter>{{cite news|last1=Garfield|first1=Leanna|title=5 countries that use bots to spread political propaganda|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/political-bots-by-governments-around-the-world-2015-12|access-date=19 December 2015|agency=Business Insider|date=16 December 2015}}</ref> Oxford Internet Institute's Computational Propaganda Research Project found that Venezuela often uses bots to disseminate social media posts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-17/government-cyber-troops-manipulate-facebook-twitter-study-says|title=Government 'Cyber Troops' Manipulate Facebook, Twitter, Study Says|date=2017-07-17|work=Bloomberg.com|access-date=2017-07-18}}</ref> Another study by the Utah State University Data Science Lab finding such activity, with professor Kyumin Lee stating that findings "conclude that there is a bot alliance".<ref name=APtwitterPROP/> Twitter has deactivated about 6,000 bots used by the Venezuelan government.<ref name=BItwitter/> Since 2014, the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information has sent out messages to be repeated by supporters, state media workers, ministries and other governmental institutions.<ref name=APtwitterPROP/> The Venezuelan government also created a mobile app that automatically retweets President Maduro's tweets.<ref name=APtwitterPROP/>
On 31 January 2019, Twitter deleted thousands of fake accounts linked to the governments of Iran, Russia and Venezuela, stating that the accounts would work in unison to influence international policy. Approximately 2,000 fake accounts from Venezuela were deleted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/ciencia-tecnologia/facebook-twitter-eliminaron-cuentas-vinculadas-venezuela-iran-rusia_269051|title=Facebook y Twitter eliminaron cuentas vinculadas a Venezuela, Irán y Rusia|date=2019-02-01|website=El Nacional|language=es|access-date=2019-02-04}}</ref>
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 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/29/technology/facebook-disinformation.html|title=Ahead of 2020, Facebook Falls Short on Plan to Share Data on Disinformation|date=2019-09-29|website=The New York Times|language=es|access-date=2019-09-29}}</ref>
=== Print === 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}
In September 2014, days after it was reported that some private newspapers stated that their paper reserves had been depleted,<ref>{{cite news|title=Se agotan las reservas de papel periódico|url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/09/07/se-agotan-las-reservas-de-papel-periodico/|access-date=10 September 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=7 September 2014}}</ref> President Maduro announced the creation of two state newspapers that he said the "Vice President of Advertising will activate a set of propaganda brigades move out to the street, to the public". Along with the two proposed state newspapers, the Venezuelan government publishes four other newspapers, ''Correo del Orinoco'', ''Ciudad Caracas'', ''Ciudad Valencia'' and ''Ciudad Petare''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maduro anuncia la creación de un periódico del Psuv (a que no le faltan los dólares)|url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/09/08/maduro-anuncia-la-creacion-de-un-periodico-del-psuv-a-que-no-le-faltan-los-dolares/|access-date=10 September 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=8 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Morales|first1=Maru|title=Presidente Maduro "aprobó" crear dos nuevos impresos pro gobierno|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Presidente-Maduro-aprobo-impresos-gobierno_0_479952127.html|access-date=11 September 2014|agency=El Nacional|date=9 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911012350/http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Presidente-Maduro-aprobo-impresos-gobierno_0_479952127.html|archive-date=11 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2014, the Vice President of The Commission of Propaganda, Agitation and Communication of the PSUV, Ernesto Villegas announced the Venezuelan government's acquisition of ''Diario VEA'', where President of the National Assembly Diosdado Cabello commented on the acquisition stating "having our own media is one of the goals for this year. God willing, in the following days we could have a newspaper, for which we are already doing everything relevant to occur."<ref>{{cite news|title=Partido oficialista tendrá su propio periódico para propaganda tras comprar Diario Vea|url=http://www.ntn24.com/noticia/psuv-tendra-su-nuevo-periodico-para-propaganda-tras-comprar-diario-vea-30247|access-date=8 November 2014|agency=NTN24|date=3 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108170535/http://www.ntn24.com/noticia/psuv-tendra-su-nuevo-periodico-para-propaganda-tras-comprar-diario-vea-30247|archive-date=8 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Billboards and murals === [[File:PDVSA Towers in Maracaibo Center.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chavez seen on the Zulia headquarters of PDVSA despite a constitutional ban of political propaganda on public buildings<ref name=FTpdvsa/>]] 250px|thumb|Propaganda is often incorporated with public housing provided to citizens. Images of Chávez and Maduro, as well as President Maduro's painted signature, cover this government-supplied housing facility. In Venezuela, Chávez's face can be seen on tens of thousands of billboards, posters and buildings throughout the country, usually accompanied by accomplishments of "socialist reforms".<ref name=VenezuelaBans/> The images are "meant to inspire ideological fervor, political loyalty, and reverence".<ref name=VOAaug2010>{{cite news|last1=Bowman|first1=Michael|title=Venezuelan Muralists, Cartoonist, Paint Different Pictures of President Chavez|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/venezuelan-muralists-cartoonist-paint-different-pictures-of-president-chavez-100578974/164033.html|access-date=2 December 2014|agency=VOA|date=11 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214174010/http://www.voanews.com/content/venezuelan-muralists-cartoonist-paint-different-pictures-of-president-chavez-100578974/164033.html|archive-date=14 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Venezuelan government requires the "name, image or figure" of Hugo Chávez to be authorized before being applied to public spaces.<ref name=VenezuelaBans/> At the PDVSA headquarters in Caracas, large banners of Chavez appeared on the building despite the constitutional ban on political propaganda on public institutions.<ref name=FTpdvsa>{{cite news|last1=Mander|first1=Benedict|title=Venezuela: Up in smoke|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e0cdedba-fe4e-11e1-8228-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3MgKtncKV|access-date=23 December 2014|agency=Financial Times|date=16 September 2012}}</ref> According to ''BBC'', there are dozens of pro-Chavez groups that apply graffiti in Venezuela with most of them being government-sponsored.<ref name=VenezuelaBans/> Government-sponsored works in imagery are prominent in Caracas that link liberators, revolutionaries, and leftist icons to socialist ideals.<ref name=VOAaug2010/> Individuals included in the government imagery are Simon Bolivar, Che Guevara, and Hugo Chávez.<ref name=VOAaug2010/>
During the 2012 Venezuelan presidential elections, the eastern region of Venezuela had Chávez propaganda covered the region with articles such billboards and banners, supposedly due to the lost support of the Venezuelan government in the area due to oil refinery incidents and other environmental hazards.<ref name=CSMoct2012>{{cite news|last1=Bodzin|first1=Steven|title=Chávez reelection at risk as Venezuela's oil heartland moves on|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/1006/Chavez-reelection-at-risk-as-Venezuela-s-oil-heartland-moves-on|access-date=2 December 2014|agency=The Christian Science Monitor|date=12 October 2012}}</ref>
By 2022, a Bloomberg article stated that "spaces once littered with Chavista propaganda" were being replaced by a shift to more capitalist advertising.<ref>{{cite news |title= Venezuela Dismantles Chavez Propaganda in Capitalist Makeover| url= https://finance.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-dismantles-chavez-propaganda-capitalist-120022850.html|author= Fabiola Zerpa and Ezra Fieser |date= 17 August 2022 |work= Bloomberg |access-date= 16 October 2023}}</ref>
=== Film === [[File:Flickr - nicogenin - 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) Hugo Chavez - Oliver Stone.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Chávez with Oliver Stone in 2009]] Villa del Cine, a state-owned film and television studio started in 2006, has also been criticized as a "propaganda factory", according to Nichols and Morse<ref>Nichols and Morse (2010), p. 326.</ref> and independent film makers.<ref name= Ingham>{{cite news |author= Ingham, James |url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7070799.stm |title= Venezuelan cinema, Chávez style |work= BBC News |date= November 1, 2007 |access-date= April 26, 2012}}</ref> Chávez said that Villa del Cine would help break the "dictatorship of Hollywood".<ref name=Ingham/>
The Irish documentary ''The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'' "became an influential advocate overseas for Chávez's version [of the coup], casting him as a romantic hero".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=82–83}}</ref> Advocacy groups of the Bolivarian government, such as Global Exchange<ref name=NYTrevTEL>{{cite news|last1=Forero|first1=Juan|title=Visitors Seek a Taste of Revolution in Venezuela|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/international/americas/21venezuela.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&|access-date=12 April 2015|agency=The New York Times|date=21 March 2006}}</ref><ref name=BBCrevTEL>{{cite news|last1=Grainger|first1=Sarah|title=Venezuela bids to beat bad image to win over tourists|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19492200|access-date=12 April 2015|agency=BBC News Online|date=6 September 2012}}</ref> and the Venezuela Information Office,<ref name=TCHchavez>{{cite book|last=Schoen|first=Douglas|title=The threat closer to home : Hugo Chávez and the war against America|date=2009|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1416594772|edition=Free Press hardcover|author2=Rowan, Michael|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781416594772}}</ref><ref name=ACclark>{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=A.C.|title=The revolutionary has no clothes : Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian farce|url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionaryhas0000clar_q1q2|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=Encounter Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1594032592}}</ref><ref name=JJmiller>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=John J.|title=Friends of Hugo|journal=National Review|date=27 December 2004|volume=56|issue=24|pages=36–37}}</ref><ref name=HEortiz>{{cite journal|last1=Ortiz|first1=Ana Maria|last2=Vadum|first2=Matthew|title=Marxist Hugo Chavez Calls on Friends in America|journal=Human Events|volume=64|issue=10}}</ref> showed it at events.<ref name=SCHILLER>Schiller (2009), p. 494.</ref> The Bolivarian government also used it to build support for Chávez and the film is often seen in Venezuelan television broadcasts or is used during "contentious political conjunctures".<ref name=SCHILLER/>
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. Stone hoped the film would get the rest of the Western world to rethink socialist policies in South America, particularly as it was being applied by Hugo Chávez. Chávez joined Stone for the premiere of the documentary at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2009.
== Conspiracy allegations == According to ''The Economist'', "Media conspiracies have been a staple of government propaganda" since Chávez was briefly ousted in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|title=News that's fit to print; A crackdown in Venezuela|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21588083-nicol-s-maduro-continues-hugo-ch-vezs-campaign-against-media-news-thats-fit-print|access-date=27 July 2014|agency=The Economist|issue=8858|publisher=The Economist Intelligence Unit|date=19 October 2013}}</ref> After the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, conspiracy theories by the Venezuelan government and supporters were pointed at an alleged involvement of the United States in the coup.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Marquez|first1=Myriam|title=Oas Should Bite Bullet, Confront Venezuela's Chavez|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2002/04/21/oas-should-bite-bullet-confront-venezuelas-chavez/|access-date=27 July 2014|agency=Orlando Sentinel|date=22 April 2002}}</ref> ''Foreign Policy'' states that "such rhetoric can be vital to propagating the siege mentality that is the main remaining source of legitimacy for the socialist regime Chávez built".<ref name="FPexorcism">{{cite news|last1=Lansberg-Rodríguez|first1=Daniel|title=Why Venezuela Needs an Exorcism|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/03/03/why-venezuela-needs-an-exorcism/|access-date=5 March 2016|agency=Foreign Policy|date=3 March 2016}}</ref>
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". During Chávez's tenure, there were 63 alleged assassination and coup plots while in the first 15 months of Maduro's presidency, he has denounced dozens. Conspiracy theories by the Venezuelan government rarely involved evidence.<ref name=APconspiracy/><ref name=REUTERSjan2013>{{cite news|last1=Wallis|first1=Daniel|last2=Buitrago|first2=Deisy|title=Venezuela's vice president says he's target of assassination plot|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSBRE90M1EM20130123|access-date=27 August 2014|work=Reuters|date=23 January 2013|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903100551/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/23/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSBRE90M1EM20130123|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref name=APconspiracy>{{cite news|last1=Dreir|first1=Hannah|title=Venezuelan Conspiracy Theories a Threat to Critics|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuelan-conspiracy-theories-threat-critics|access-date=27 July 2014|agency=Associated Press|date=23 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402133150/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/venezuelan-conspiracy-theories-threat-critics|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> During the 2014 Venezuelan protests, President Maduro also alleged that the protests were "orchestrated and directed by political and financial elites in the United States" and were a coup in progress.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romo|first1=Rafael|title=Venezuelan president sees conspiracies|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-accusations/|access-date=27 July 2014|agency=CNN|date=24 February 2014}}</ref>
The Associated Press notes that although to foreigners "the allegations can seem far-fetched", "the charges don't seem that wild" to government supporters. The reason for these beliefs of government supporters provided states that Venezuelans are "well-versed" about the United States' involvement against leftist governments during the Cold War and how the United States endorsed the 2002 coup. According to critics, the conspiracies brought forth by the Venezuelan government take attention away from domestic problems, such as a high inflation rate, high murder rate and shortages.<ref name=APconspiracy/><ref name=REUTERSjan2013/> Gregory Weeks, a political science professor specializing in Latin America at the University of North Carolina said that conspiracy theories are "one way that the Maduro administration has added extra paranoia to its strategy" and that "Chavez went after local opposition, too, but he didn't feel the need to use conspiracy theories to do so."<ref name=APconspiracy/>
== Education == {{see also|:es:Decreto 1011}} 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".<ref name=Nelson5>Nelson (2009), p. 5.</ref> 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.<ref>Nichols and Morse (2010), p. 230.</ref> The Venezuelan government released 35 million books to primary and secondary schools called the ''Bicentennial Collection'', which have "political content" in each book, that over 5 million children had used between 2010 and 2014.<ref name=INFOjune2014>{{cite news|last1=Clarembaux|first1=Patricia|title=Denuncian adoctrinamiento chavista en la educación infantil|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/06/24/1575521-denuncian-adoctrinamiento-chavista-la-educacion-infantil|access-date=14 December 2014|agency=Infobae|date=24 June 2014}}</ref> According to Leonardo Carvajal of the Assembly of Education in Venezuela, the collection of books had "become a vulgar propaganda".<ref name=INFOjune2014/> Venezuelan historian {{ill|Inés Quintero|es}} stated that in all social science books, "there is an abuse of history, ... a clear trend favoring the current political project and the political programs of the Government".<ref name=INFOjune2014/> According to ''Reuters'', the first page of each of the newly implemented textbooks for children reads, ''"Hugo Chávez: Supreme Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution"''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ore|first1=Diego|title='Chavista' school books stoke passions in Venezuela|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-education-idUSKBN0ED1OM20140602|access-date=3 June 2014|work=Reuters|date=2 June 2014|archive-date=3 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603180254/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/02/us-venezuela-education-idUSKBN0ED1OM20140602|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2007, the Venezuelan government announced plans of a new curriculum for education. The journalist Andrea Montilla claimed in ''El Nacional'' that the new curriculum "seeks to impose socialism as the only ideology in the schools".<ref name= ENHhistory/><ref name=ENedu/> In 2014, the government made a new effort to implement the proposed curriculum. In April 2014, the government had students answer questionnaires with questions such as "How do you would like your school?" and other questions involving teachers. There were also questions asking about the "teaching or learning of how to help achieve the objectives of ''Plan de la Patria''". The Venezuelan Chamber of Private Education refused to take part in the proposed plan, with their education specialist, Mariano Herrera, warning that the project "has political bias".<ref name=ENedu>{{cite news|last=Montilla K.|first=Andrea|title=Hoy se inicia consulta nacional para el currículo educativo|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/sociedad/Hoy-consulta-nacional-curriculo-educativo_0_395960640.html|access-date=24 April 2014|newspaper=El Nacional|date=23 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424094406/http://www.el-nacional.com/sociedad/Hoy-consulta-nacional-curriculo-educativo_0_395960640.html|archive-date=24 April 2014}}</ref> Orlando Alzuru, president of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM), said that "the new Bolivarian curriculum is also biased and is being used to worship the figure of Chávez" and continued saying "[we] see with astonishment that the government is forcing teachers to sing the ''Patria Querida'' hymn".<ref>{{cite news|last=Obregon|first=Walter|title=Federación de Maestros: "Nuevo currículo busca rendirle culto a Chávez"|url=https://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140424/federacion-de-maestros-nuevo-curriculo-busca-rendirle-culto-a-chavez|access-date=25 April 2014|newspaper=El Universal|date=24 April 2014}}</ref>
Patricia Andrade, president of the NGO Venezuela Awareness, said that the new books involved in the governments new curriculum "contain a high load of ideological doctrine of socialism" and that "the books eliminate critical thinking of children and create the basis for indoctrination into a single ideology, which is the ideology of the Bolivarian Revolution". Math books have "frequent references to social benefit programs introduced by Chávez". In history books, there is only one page explaining Venezuela's last 40 years of democracy while there are over twenty pages devoted to Chávez. 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". Other books also include anti-capitalist attitudes and show "economic sectors of the country and the U.S. as the great enemies of the country". One text "ensures economic groups launched a coup with the help of United States sent ships to invade Venezuelan waters".<ref name= ENHhistory>{{cite news|title=El chavismo reescribe la historia de Venezuela para adoctrinar a los niños|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/04/25/1734043/el-chavismo-reescribe-la-historia.html|access-date=25 April 2014|newspaper=El Nuevo Herald|date=25 April 2014|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426110953/http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2014/04/25/1734043/el-chavismo-reescribe-la-historia.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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".<ref>{{cite news|title= Docentes estadales exigen aumento salarial y cese al adoctrinamiento|url=http://www.elestenoticias.com/audio-docentes-estadales-exigen-aumento-salarial-y-cese-al-adoctrinamiento|access-date=24 April 2014|newspaper=El Este Noticias|date=18 March 2014}}</ref>
The president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Private Education, María Teresa Hernández claims that Resolution 058 by the government is "unconstitutional" and that it "seeks for colectivos with political projects of the ruling to be directly involved in public and private schools" in Venezuela. She continued saying that schoolchildren are "very easy to manipulate" and need to develop political beliefs on their own.<ref name=COLECTIVOedu>{{cite news|title=Denuncian que colectivos con proyectos políticos quieren participar en colegios|url=https://globovision.com/articulo/denuncian-que-colectivos-con-proyectos-politicos-quieran-participar-en-los-colegios|access-date=13 April 2014|newspaper=Globovision|date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219213119/http://globovision.com/denuncian-que-colectivos-con-proyectos-politicos-quieran-participar-en-los-colegios/|archive-date=19 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Venezuelan military == [[File:Chavez Vive Militar.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Members of the Venezuelan armed forces carrying Chávez eyes flags saying, "Chávez lives, the fight continues".]] In ''Chávez's Children: Ideology, Education, and Society in Latin America'', Manuel Anselmi explains that "To get an idea of the importance of Bolivarian propaganda as a source of alternative political education one can use the testimony of Hugo Chávez himself". Chávez explained how he had "read the classics of socialism and of military theory and study the possible role of the army in a democratic popular revolt".<ref>{{cite book|last=Anselmi|first=Manuel|title=Chávez's children : ideology, education, and society in Latin America|date=2013|isbn=978-0739165256|page=44|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref>
== Elections ==
=== Chávez's electoral campaigns === The way Chávez designed the electoral system and the fast rate of elections assisted him since his opposition did not have the same amount of resources and funding that he had.<ref name=FPpeter/> During election campaigns, Chávez was portrayed in many ways; such as being an athlete.<ref>{{cite news|title=Propaganda electoral muestra a un Hugo Chávez atlético|url=http://www.larepublica.pe/21-08-2012/propaganda-electoral-muestra-un-hugo-chavez-atletico|access-date=29 April 2014|newspaper=La Republica|date=21 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430050410/http://www.larepublica.pe/21-08-2012/propaganda-electoral-muestra-un-hugo-chavez-atletico|archive-date=30 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> An advertisement promoting housing built by the government told the story of a man who received housing and made the statement: "First God, then my commander" (referring to Chávez with the latter).<ref name=REUTERSgod>{{cite news|last=Cawthorne|first=Andrew|title=Venezuela election ads glorifying Chavez irk foes|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-election-idUSBRE85P0Z520120626|access-date=29 April 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=26 June 2012|archive-date=30 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140430062203/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/26/us-venezuela-election-idUSBRE85P0Z520120626|url-status=live}}</ref> His "election propaganda" also involved murals, effigies and art representing Chávez's eyes.<ref name=NBCchavez>{{cite news|title=Hugo Chavez election propaganda fill Caracas streets|url=http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/06/14266884-hugo-chavez-election-propaganda-fill-caracas-streets|access-date=29 April 2014|newspaper=NBC News|date=6 October 2012}}</ref>
According to William J. Dobson, author of ''The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy'', "Chávez didn’t fear elections; he embraced them" because "[r]ather than stuffing ballot boxes, Chávez understood that he could tilt the playing field enough to make it nearly impossible to defeat him". Dobson continued saying that "Chávez’s campaign coffers were fed by opaque slush funds holding billions in oil revenue. The government’s media dominance drowned out the opposition."<ref>{{cite news|last=Dobson|first=William J.|title=The Ghost of Hugo Chávez|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/03/hugo_chavez_s_legacy_the_former_venezuelan_president_was_not_the_typical.html|access-date=29 April 2014|newspaper=Slate}}</ref>
=== Maduro's electoral campaigns === [[File:2014 Carnaval Maduro Signs.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Multiple signs of Nicolás Maduro from the 2013 presidential election]] According to the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Nicolás Maduro "has continued to use obligatory national radio and television broadcasts to transmit government messages" and that "the use of obligatory national broadcasts intensified during the campaign and in the days following the April 2013 presidential elections, on a number of occasions interrupting speeches or press conferences given by leaders of groups in opposition to the government".<ref name=OAS2013/>
Andrés Oppenheimer stated in a ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'' article that Maduro had a much larger advantage in the 2013 presidential elections saying that the elections were "one of the most uneven electoral contests anywhere in recent times". Oppenheimer said that when Maduro was acting as interim president, when he extended mourning for Hugo Chávez's death it gave "a huge propaganda advantage to Maduro". He also explained that Maduro had "a more than 10-1 advantage in television propaganda time", where Capriles was only allowed 4 minutes of advertising per day, Maduro had the same 4 minutes, 10 minutes for government public service ads and an unlimited amount of time for "obligatory national broadcast speeches".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Oppenheimer|first1=Andres|title=Rigging Venezuela's April election|work=News|agency=Pittsburgh Tribune – Review|publisher=Tribune-Review Publishing Company|date=24 March 2014}}</ref>
Following the 2018 presidential elections, President Maduro was observed on state-media waving to a supposed audience during a victory speech, though later footage showed that he was waving to an imaginary crowd in what was described as a propaganda stunt.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=11 June 2018|title=Not content with starving and killing Venezuelans, Nicolas Maduro had to insult them by holding a sham election|journal=National Review|volume=70|issue=11|page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Weddle|first=Cody|date=2018-05-21|title=Nicolas Maduro filmed victoriously waving to an empty plaza after 'sham' election|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/21/maduro-wins-rivals-call-new-venezuela-elections/|access-date=2020-06-05|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
==International== [[File:Chávez Plakat Kuba.jpg|thumb|A billboard in Havana showing the Cuban Flag and Chávez, including the quote, "We will make the dream of Bolivar and Marti a reality".]] [[File:World Festival of Youth and Students, Caracas in 2005 05.jpg|thumb|A banner held during the 2005 World Festival of Youth and Students featuring Chávez and Castro alongside Bolivar and Martí saying, "Bolivarians and Martinians".]] [[File:International Airport Santiago Mariño.jpg|right|thumb|Santiago Mariño International Airport, with pictures of Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chavez.]] In ''The Rhetoric of Soft Power: Public Diplomacy in Global Contexts'' by Craig Hayden, it is explained that Venezuela is "well positioned to develop strategic communication programs, given its oil-related revenues" and that Venezuela "invested considerable resources" in order to "amplify the possibilities of the 'Bolivarian Revolution' for regional integration".<ref name=HAYDENsp /> The Bolivarian government would also use "supportive statements from allied regimes" while the such regimes would "routinely back each other up publicly, adding credence to their propaganda and jointly discrediting Western media outlets and unallied foreign governments in order to minimise the impact of future criticism".<ref name="LIbeyond" /> The Bolivarian government would also use the support of "heads of state and left-leaning international celebrities, such as Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover, and Sean Penn" for propaganda purposes.<ref name="LIbeyond" />
In 2001, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Peter F. Romero stated that "Bolivarian propaganda" of both Chávez and then defense secretary José Vicente Rangel was not just verbal, that there were "indications that the government of Chávez has supported violent indigenous movements in Bolivia, and in the case of Ecuador, military coup members" and called both individuals "professional agitators."<ref name=EP2001>{{cite news|last1=Jesus Aznarez |first1=Juan |title=EE UU sospecha que Chávez intenta exportar su proyecto bolivariano |url=http://www.elpais.es/p/d/20010211/internac/chavez.htm |access-date=18 January 2015 |agency=El País |date=11 February 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010212093135/http://www.elpais.es/p/d/20010211/internac/chavez.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2001 }}</ref>
===Brazil=== In November 2014, the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil accused Elías Jaua of taking 26 children from Brazil since 2011 "in order to be indoctrinated in the Bolivarian revolution" and were allegedly used for Venezuelan government communication brigades.<ref>{{cite news|title=Elías Jaua habría "reclutado" niños brasileños desde 2011 hacia Venezuela|url=http://ntn24web.com/noticia/fiscalia-brasilena-pide-explicaciones-por-supuesto-envio-de-ninos-a-venezuela-31867|access-date=20 November 2014|agency=NTN24|date=18 November 2014|archive-date=22 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122025433/http://ntn24web.com/noticia/fiscalia-brasilena-pide-explicaciones-por-supuesto-envio-de-ninos-a-venezuela-31867|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=17 November 2014|title=Fiscalía de Brasil pide explicar participación de niños en brigadas en Venezuela|url=https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/brasil-fiscalia-explicacion-ninos-venezuela.html|access-date=2020-06-05|website=El Comercio}}</ref>
===Ecuador=== In an ''El Nuevo Herald'' report, former Venezuelan intelligence officials from SEBIN presented evidence that the Venezuelan government allegedly worked through both the Patriotas Cooperantes and Mission Barrio Seguro programs to "promote their revolutionary ideology" through members of the programs.<ref name=ENH23nov2014 /> Former SEBIN officials also stated that some members of the program were also "providing information on potential enemies of the revolutionary process".<ref name=ENH23nov2014>{{cite news|last1=Maria Delgado|first1=Antonio|title=El chavismo opera red latinoamericana de informantes|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/venezuela-es/article4083045.html|access-date=24 November 2014|work=El Nuevo Herald|date=23 November 2014}}</ref>
===Mexico===
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.<ref name=LCH7march2006>{{cite news|last1=Reséndiz|first1=Francisco|title=Operan grupos bolivarianos 10 centros logísticos en DF|url=http://www.cronica.com.mx/notas/2006/230028.html|access-date=18 January 2015|work=La Crónica de Hoy|date=8 March 2006}}</ref> Bolivarian Circles were reportedly formed and received "economic support, logistic advice and ideological instruction from activists trained by the Venezuelan government" and had links according to intelligence reports with FARC, the Popular Revolutionary Army and the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo Insurgente ({{ill|Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo Insurgente|es}}).<ref name=LCH7march2006 />
===Palestine=== In November 2014, Palestinian students who aspired to be doctors were accepted into Venezuela through the Venezuelan government's Yasser Arafat Scholarship Program to earn medicine degrees. Months later in July 2015, dozens of students had already left Venezuela and began to drop out, stating that the Venezuelan government program "consisted only of Spanish language lessons and indoctrination about Venezuela’s 16-year-old socialist revolution". The departure of the students resulted in the freezing of the program.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dreier |first1=Hannah|title=Palestinians given scholarships to train in Venezuela are quitting over claims it's just socialist propaganda |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/world/palestinians-given-scholarships-to-train-in-venezuela-are-now-quitting-over-claims-its-just-socialist-propaganda|access-date=6 March 2016|agency=Associated Press|date=16 July 2015}}</ref>
===Spain===
In Madrid, former Foreign Minister Elias Jaua introduced a cultural center that would tell the history of Venezuela and allegedly promoted the cult of personality of Chavez.<ref name=ABCnov2014>{{cite news|last1=Vinogradoff|first1=L.|title=La propaganda chavista extiende sus tentáculos hasta España|url=https://www.abc.es/internacional/20141110/abci-cultura-venezuela-madrid-201411071732.html|access-date=27 January 2015|agency=ABC|date=11 November 2014}}</ref> In a November 2014 conference, photos of Hugo Chávez surrounded the audience and accused the Spanish Crown of destroying the Venezuelan economy.<ref name=ABCnov2014 />
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".<ref name=ABCnov2014 /> ''ABC'' states that TeleSUR, which is primarily sponsored by Venezuelan state funds, spread the Bolivarian ideology throughout Spain since it was introduced in 2007.<ref name=ABCnov2014 /> TeleSUR partners with Spanish channel Tele K, which is also home to Pablo Iglesias Turrión.<ref name=ABCnov2014 /> Iglesias was then quoted by Enrique Riobóo, founder and director of Channel 33 for Tele K, as a supporter for the creation of an independent TeleSUR channel for Europe and cooperation of media between Venezuela and Spain.<ref name=ABCnov2014 />
===United States=== Between 2004 and 2009, Venezuela spent about $1 billion on propaganda directed towards the public in the United States and Western countries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chavez and the War Against America|last1=Schoen|first1=Douglas|last2=Rowan|first2=Michael|year=2009|pages=186–188}}</ref> Gustavo Coronel, writing in ''Human Events'', said that Chávez has a costly and "intense propaganda machine" operating via the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States that attempted to tell Americans "that Hugo Chávez is universally loved by Venezuelans while the United States is bitterly hated".<ref name=Coronel>{{cite web |url=http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/misreading-venezuela |author=Coronel, Gustavo | title=Misreading Venezuela | work=Human Events |publisher=Cato Institute |date=August 15, 2007 |access-date=April 26, 2012 |quote=The intense propaganda machine installed by Chávez in the U.S. (that costs the Venezuelan Embassy well over a million dollars per year) is trying to sell U.S. public opinion on the idea that Hugo Chávez is universally loved by Venezuelans while the United States is bitterly hated.}}</ref> A 2005–2009 <ref>{{cite news|title=BBC News Americas: Venezuela suspends US fuel aid|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7813215.stm|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=6 January 2009|access-date=2 November 2016}}</ref> Citgo program to donate heating oil to poor household in the United States was seen by critics "as a propaganda stunt."<ref name=HeatingOil>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7817267.stm |title=Venezuela resumes fuel aid to US |date=January 8, 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=April 26, 2012 |quote=Venezuela will continue to donate heating oil to some 200,000 low-income US households, reversing a decision to suspend supplies, officials say. ... When the scheme began four years ago, critics decried it as a propaganda stunt by President Chávez, aimed at annoying the Bush administration, and criticised Mr Kennedy for taking part.}}</ref>
====Global Exchange==== {{Main|Global Exchange}}
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.<ref name=TOURISM>{{cite book|last=Schoen|first=Douglas|title=The Threat Closer to Home: Hugo Chávez and the War against America|date=2009|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4165-9477-2|edition=Free Press hardcover|author2=Rowan, Michael|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781416594772/page/36 36–37]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781416594772/page/36}}</ref> The Venezuelan government called upon the advocacy group Global Exchange to attract citizens from the United States with discounted travel packages.<ref name=TOURISM /> According to the Capital Research Center, Global Exchange had been "spearheading much of Venezuela's U.S. propaganda campaign" offering what were called "reality tours" to Americans.<ref name=CRC>{{cite web|last1=Ortiz |first1=Ana Maria |last2=Vadum |first2=Matthew |title=The American Friends of Hugo Chavez: Dial 1-800-4-TYRANT |url=http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pdf/v1204310378.pdf |website=Capital Research Center |access-date=12 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528233325/http://www.capitalresearch.org/pubs/pdf/v1204310378.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2008 }}</ref> The tours were described as being Potemkin-like by a European diplomat, being "planned down to the last detail" in order to promote the Bolivarian Revolution and anti-American sentiments to the tourists.<ref name=TOURISM /> The tourists saw the PDVSA headquarters for choreographed meetings, experienced trips to various Venezuelan government facilities, visits to missions against poverty or socialism groups and a meeting with the electoral commission.<ref name=TOURISM /> ''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''.<ref name=NYTrevTEL /><ref name=BBCrevTEL />
====Venezuela Information Office (VIO)==== {{Main|Venezuela Information Office}}
[[File:Deborah James.jpg|thumb|Deborah James, who was the longest serving director of the VIO, is involved with Global Exchange and CEPR.]]
The Venezuela Information Office (VIO) was a Washington, D.C.–based lobbying agency<ref name=NYTvio>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EFDD1538F933A0575AC0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 |title=Venezuela's government seeks to show that its oil riches are well spent |last=Forero |first=Juan |work=The New York Times |date=30 September 2004 |access-date=2009-02-09}}</ref> that had a stated mission that was "to prevent US intervention in Venezuela" and to "improve the perception of Venezuela by the American people by managing the communication process through the media".<ref name="FARAUSDOJ">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fara.gov/docs/5609-Exhibit-AB-20040227-HVRFJZ04.pdf|publisher=US Department of Justice|title=FARA US Department of Justice|access-date=2009-02-07}}</ref> Founded in July 2003 by the Venezuelan government<ref name=CPI>{{cite web|last1=Bogardus|first1=Kevin|title=Venezuela head polishes image with oil dollars|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2004/09/22/5963/venezuela-head-polishes-image-oil-dollars|website=Center for Public Integrity|date=22 September 2004 |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=globe300106>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/01/30/venezuelan_oil_marks_chavezs_latest_bid_to_win_over_us/ |title=Venezuelan oil marks Chavez's latest bid to win over U.S. |last=Melia |first=Michael |work=The Boston Globe |date=30 January 2006 |access-date=2009-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228204203/http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/01/30/venezuelan_oil_marks_chavezs_latest_bid_to_win_over_us/ |archive-date=February 28, 2007 }}</ref> the VIO was funded by the Venezuelan government and therefore registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.<ref name=FARA04>Foreign Agents Registration Act – [http://proveo.org/viofara0804.pdf Venezuela Information Office – FARA fillings 29.08.04]</ref> 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".<ref name=CPI /> In 2004, a former Global Economy Director for Global Exchange, Deborah James, became the executive director of the VIO.<ref name=CPI />
Critics of the Venezuelan government state that the VIO was used for propaganda in the United States, stating that the VIO was used for one of Hugo Chávez's "modern propaganda techniques" and that they "distributed pro-Chávez flyers at anti-globalization rallies, arranged for delegations of activists to embark on 'reality tours' of Venezuela, and encouraged art-house theaters to show a propaganda movie on Chávez called ''The Revolution Will Not Be Televised''".<ref name=TCHchavez /><ref name=ACclark /><ref name=JJmiller /><ref name=HEortiz />
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<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/09/18/decade-under-ch-vez|title=A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela|last=Holland|first=Alisha|author2=Brett, S. |author3=Taraciuk, T. |author4=Wilkinson, D. |author5=Fillippini, L. |author6=Loxton, J. |date=22 September 2008|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2009-03-13}}</ref> on Venezuela.<ref>Venezuela Information Office, ''Monthly Review'', 22 September 2008, [http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/venezuela220908.html The Truth Suffers in Human Rights Watch Report on Venezuela] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921032350/http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/venezuela220908.html |date=2009-09-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/19/venezuela.humanrights|title=Human Rights Watch condemns Chávez's decade in power|last=Carroll|first=Rori|date=9 September 2008 |newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2009-03-12}}</ref> According to public records the VIO spent $379,000 on lobbying the US Congress in the years 2004 to 2007<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?lname=Venezuela+Information+Office&year=2004 opensecrets.org, Venezuela Information Office entry]</ref> and received about $4,308,400 from the Venezuelan government between May 2004 and August 2008.<ref name=ACclark /> In 2004, the VIO also contracted public relations company Lumina Strategies' Michael Shellenberger, a former Global Exchange employee, to improve the image of Hugo Chávez and of the Venezuelan government in the United States, supporting and coordinating the media relations work of the VIO.<ref name="Lumina Strategies' filing to US DoJ Foreign Agent Registration Unit">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fara.gov/docs/5624-Exhibit-AB-20040520-HYN72M04.pdf|title=Lumina Strategies' filing to US DoJ Foreign Agent Registration Unit|publisher=United States Department of Justice|access-date=2009-02-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Collier|first1=Robert|title=Venezuelan politics suit Bay Area activists' talents|work=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Hearst Communications Inc., Hearst Newspapers Division|date=21 August 2004}}</ref>
==== Venezuelanalysis ==== {{Main|Venezuelanalysis}}
[[File:Gregory Wilpert.png|thumb|Gregory Wilpert, founder of Venezuelanalysis]]
Venezuelanalysis is a pro-Bolivarian website set up in 2003 following the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, with the website being founded with the assistance of the Bolivarian government.<ref name=NYTlr>{{cite news|last1=Rohter|first1=Larry|title=Oliver Stone's Latin America |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/movies/26stone.html?_r=3|access-date=22 September 2015|work=The New York Times|date=25 June 2010|author1-link=Larry Rohter}}</ref> The website is headed by Gregory Wilpert, with the ''GlobalPost'' describing Wilpert as "perhaps the most prominent Chavista", while dubbing him as a "Chavez defender".<ref name=ChavezDefender>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpost.com/passport/newsmaker-interview/091124/gregory-wilpert-chavez-defender |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101113160421/http://www.globalpost.com/passport/newsmaker-interview/091124/gregory-wilpert-chavez-defender |archive-date=13 November 2010 |title=Gregory Wilpert: Chavez defender |author=Devereux, Charlie |date=2 December 2009 |work=Global Post |access-date=13 May 2015}}</ref> According to Brian Nelson, author of ''The Silence and the Scorpion'', Wilpert, according to individuals in the Venezuelan government, was "an integral part of Venezuela's propaganda complex and key to their foreign service mission in the United States", with Wilpert working with Global Exchange, the Venezuelan Information Office (VIO) and his Venezuelanalysis.com website.<ref name=BNva>{{cite web|last1=Nelson|first1=Brian|title=Response to the Venezuelan Government's Attacks on The Silence and the Scorpion|url=http://www.brianandrewnelson.com/RebuttalWilpertReview.html#DamageControl|website=brianandrewnelson.com |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> Nelson also states that Venezuelanalysis "tried to discredit virtually every independent human rights study" during Hugo Chávez's tenure whenever the Bolivarian government was criticized.<ref name=BNva />
==Hugo Chávez's cult of personality== {{main|Hugo Chávez's cult of personality}}
[[File:Centro Financiero Confinanzas Chavez Vive 2014.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Centro Financiero Confinanzas, the third tallest building in Venezuela draped with banners saying "Chávez Lives" while featuring Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro.]] In Venezuela, a cult of personality has been created around the late-President Hugo Chávez, where his supporters venerate him.<ref name="HuffPoAPVen">{{cite news |last=James |first=Ian |date=24 January 2013 |title=Hugo Chavez Personality Cult Flourishes In Venezuela |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/hugo-chavez-personality-cult_n_2545064.html |newspaper=Huffington Post |access-date=7 September 2014 }}</ref> Chávez largely received his support through his charisma and by spending Venezuela's oil funds on the poor.<ref name=VICEstrange>{{cite news|last1=Strange|first1=Hannah|title=Saintly Hugo Chavez Replaces God in Socialist Lord's Prayer|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/saintly-hugo-chavez-replaces-god-in-socialist-lords-prayer/|access-date=12 December 2015|agency=Vice News|date=4 September 2014}}</ref> Since his death, followers known as "Chavistas"<ref>{{cite news |last=Rueda |first=Manuel |date=14 October 2013 |title=The Cult Following of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez |url=http://fusion.net/leadership/story/venezuelas-hugo-chavez-cult-created-18070 |newspaper=Fusion |access-date=7 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908000052/http://fusion.net/leadership/story/venezuelas-hugo-chavez-cult-created-18070 |archive-date=8 September 2014 }}<br />{{cite news |last=Taylor |first=Guy |date=25 March 2014 |title=Pro-Chavista 'paramilitary' active in Venezuela, jailed opposition leader says |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/pro-chavista-paramilitary-active-venezuela-jailed-/ |newspaper=The Washington Times |access-date=25 March 2014 |quote=Mr. Maduro continues to enjoy widespread support from Chavez followers — known as “Chavistas” — who’ve countered the recent opposition rallies in Caracas with massive pro-government demonstrations of their own. }}</ref> refer to his death as a "transition to immortality", commonly calling Chávez "the Giant", "the Eternal One", "eternal commander" and "El Comandante".<ref name="LIbeyond"/><ref name=FUSIONgray>{{cite news|last1=Gray|first1=Kevin|title=Hugo Chávez still rockin' the cult of personality, 2 years after his 'transition to immortality'|url=http://fusion.net/story/60368/hugo-chavez-still-rockin-the-cult-of-personality-2-years-after-his-transition-to-immortality/|access-date=11 December 2015|agency=Fusion|date=7 March 2015|archive-date=30 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230092223/http://fusion.net/story/60368/hugo-chavez-still-rockin-the-cult-of-personality-2-years-after-his-transition-to-immortality/|url-status=dead}}</ref> There have been parallels between the veneration of Chávez to that of Evita Peron in Argentina<ref name="HuffPoAPVen"/> and Kim Jong Il of North Korea.<ref name=ABCcult>{{cite news|last1=Rueda|first1=Manuela|title=The Cult Following of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez|url=https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/venezuelas-hugo-chavez-cult-created/story?id=18186070|access-date=11 December 2015|agency=ABC News|date=11 January 2013}}</ref>
Tomas Straka of Andres Bello University, explains that Chávez's cult of personality began following the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts which Chávez led, with Straka explaining that some Venezuelans "saw no solution to their most fundamental problems and they saw in Chávez a savior, or an avenger of those groups that had no hope".<ref name=ABCcult/> Since the beginning of Chávez's tenure in 1999, the Venezuelan government manipulated the Venezuelan public with social programs depicting him as a great leader for the people.<ref name=ABCcult/> The struggles that Chávez endured throughout his presidency, such as the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, also drew compassion from his followers which boosted his support.<ref name=ABCcult/> 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. This is something that is quasi-religious".<ref name="HuffPoAPVen"/> Lupi's explanation of Chávez's cult of personality was similar to those of Juan Carlos Bertorelli, a marketing company creative director in Caracas and Larry Birns, the director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.<ref name=VICEstrange/> Carlos Bertorelli stated that the Bolivarian government created a cult of personality surrounding Chávez in order to "maintain a presence that legitimizes them"<ref name="HuffPoAPVen"/> while Birns stated that "For many in the movement, Chavez, or the movement of the Chavistas towards a religious stance, is less a matter of faith than it is a matter of strategy".<ref name=VICEstrange/>
===Religious image=== thumb|Images of Chávez and Simón Bolívar outside of a church, with such churches professing that "Chávez lives in us forever". [[File:Mural de Chavez y su Asunción al cielo.jpg|thumb|Mural of Chávez and his ascension into heaven.]] thumb|A mural of Chávez saying, "Death can not touch you, you are above time".
The ''Associated Press'' states that "Chavez's legacy has taken on a religious glow in Venezuela" and that "[[Rosaries|[r]osaries]] adorned with Chavez's face, shrines and images depicting him with a Christian cross have become commonplace".<ref>{{cite news|title=Controversy in Venezuela Over Chavez Prayer|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/controversy-venezuela-over-chavez-prayer|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=Associated Press|date=5 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907082233/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/controversy-venezuela-over-chavez-prayer|archive-date=7 September 2014}}</ref> According to ''Foreign Policy'', such "quasi-religious veneration of Chávez by his comrades is not known for its subtlety", stating that followers of María Lionza as well as those who practice Santería began to venerate Chávez following his death.<ref name="FPexorcism"/>
In 2014, those involved in education and the government's opposition accused Venezuela's new educational curriculum of making Chávez appear "messianic",<ref>{{cite news|last=Mendez|first=Gustavo|title=Las escuelas bolivarianas y la resolución 058 fracasaron|url=https://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/140414/las-escuelas-bolivarianas-y-la-resolucion-058-fracasaron|access-date=1 May 2014|newspaper=El Universal|date=14 April 2014}}</ref><ref name=ANDESedu/> as the "liberator of Venezuela",<ref name=ANDESedu/> and like "the new God".<ref name=ANDESedu>{{cite news|last=Valderrama|first=Judith|title=Se vende la imagen de Chávez como mesiánica y de Libertador|url=http://diariodelosandes.com/content/view/250578/106231/|access-date=1 May 2014|newspaper=El Diario de Los Andes|date=28 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502033116/http://diariodelosandes.com/content/view/250578/106231/|archive-date=2 May 2014}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gluesing |first1=Jens |last2=von Rohr |first2=Mathieu |date=11 March 2013 |title=The Eternal Comandante: Hugo Chávez's Complicated Legacy |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-complicated-legacy-of-venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-a-888049.html |newspaper=Spiegel Online |access-date=7 September 2014 }}</ref>
Since Chávez's death, controversies surrounding his adoration have arisen including the recitation of the Committee on Communication and Propaganda of PSUV-Táchira's modified version of The Lord's Prayer at a PSUV gathering that was focused on Chávez.<ref name=RNV>{{cite news|title=La nueva inquisición arremete contra el "Chávez Nuestro" (+AUDIO)|url=http://www.rnv.gob.ve/index.php/la-nueva-inquisicion-arremete-contra-el-chavez-nuestro-audio|access-date=10 September 2014|agency=Radio Nacional de Venezuela|date=5 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140910023222/http://www.rnv.gob.ve/index.php/la-nueva-inquisicion-arremete-contra-el-chavez-nuestro-audio|archive-date=10 September 2014}}</ref> CNN reported that Christians in Venezuela were offended, saying that "the words of a prayer found in the books of ''Matthew'' and ''Luke'' in the Bible should not be changed for political propaganda or any other purposes".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romo|first1=Rafael|title=In Venezuela, a 'sacrilegious' Lord's Prayer|url=http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/03/in-venezuela-a-sacrilegious-take-on-the-lords-prayer/|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=CNN|date=3 September 2014|archive-date=29 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229052528/http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/09/03/in-venezuela-a-sacrilegious-take-on-the-lords-prayer/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Another domestic reaction came from the Venezuelan newspaper ''La Verdad'', who compared the act to something "from the mind of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda father".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Villalobos|first1=Cristina|title=El Chávez nuestro es una blasfemia|url=http://www.laverdad.com/zulia/59573-el-chavez-nuestro-es-una-blasfemia.html|access-date=9 September 2014|agency=La Verdad|date=4 September 2014|archive-date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908010921/http://www.laverdad.com/zulia/59573-el-chavez-nuestro-es-una-blasfemia.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Catholic Church of Venezuela criticized the modified version in a statement signed by head figures of the organization, saying that The Lord's Prayer is "untouchable", that whoever recited the modified version would be committing the sin of idoltry.<ref name=OURCHAVEZ>{{cite news|title=Obispos condenan versión chavista del Padre Nuestro (Comunicado)|url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/09/03/obispos-condenan-version-chavista-del-padre-nuestro-comunicado/|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=3 September 2014}}</ref> Monsignor Baltazar Porras, bishop of Mérida, said that this type of action "is nothing new" in the years following the Bolivarian Revolution and that the Venezuelan government wanted to "screw in the principles and values which the revolution wants to impose, a kind of secular religion".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Villalobos|first1=Cristina|title=El Chávez nuestro es una burla|url=http://www.laverdad.com/zulia/59716-el-chavez-nuestro-es-una-burla.html|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=La Verdad|date=6 September 2014|archive-date=7 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907095602/http://www.laverdad.com/zulia/59716-el-chavez-nuestro-es-una-burla.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Head of the Department of Latin America for Deutsche Welle, Uta Thofern, responded to the action saying that the "Bolivarian movement seems to stop being a political movement for the sake of becoming a cult fanaticism" and saying that since she was a German, she feared that the Bolivarian leaders "consciously used religious symbols and instruments, abusing the spiritual needs of people" in ways that were seen under "German dictatorships".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thofern|first1=Uta|title=Comment: "Our Chávez" rather than an unfortunate metaphor|url=http://www.dw.de/comentario-el-ch%C3%A1vez-nuestro-m%C3%A1s-que-una-met%C3%A1fora-desafortunada/a-17905691|access-date=8 September 2014|agency=Deutsche Welle|date=6 September 2014}}</ref> Ennio Cardozo, a political scientist at the Central University of Venezuela, states that acts like "Our Chávez" is the Venezuelan government's "effort to sustain its legitimacy".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rueda|first1=Manuel|title="Our Chávez, who art in heaven": Venezuelan leader now has his own prayer|url=http://fusion.net/leadership/story/chvez-art-heaven-venezuelan-leader-now-prayer-1007960|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=Fusion TV|date=2 September 2014|archive-date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908065006/http://fusion.net/leadership/story/chvez-art-heaven-venezuelan-leader-now-prayer-1007960|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Maria Uribe, the Committee on Communication and Propaganda of PSUV-Táchira member who recited the "prayer" responded to the criticism saying that the "prayer of the delegates" was to reflect on "what it meant to be like Chávez" who she called "an example of solidarity, love, commitment, humanity and honesty".<ref name=RNV/> President Maduro rejected the Catholic Church's response saying that they were trying to implement a "new Inquisition".<ref>{{cite news|title=Maduro defiende el "Chávez Nuestro" y llama "nueva inquisición" a quienes criticaron|url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/09/04/maduro-defiende-el-chavez-nuestro-y-llama-nueva-inquisicion-a-quienes-criticaron/|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=4 September 2014}}</ref> It was also encouraged by President Maduro for citizens of Venezuela to recite what he called a "poem" in order to follow the "values of Chavez".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Strange|first=Hannah|date=2014-09-04|title=Saintly Hugo Chavez Replaces God in Socialist Lord's Prayer|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/saintly-hugo-chavez-replaces-god-in-socialist-lords-prayer/|access-date=2020-06-13|website=Vice|language=en}}</ref> President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, also criticized the Catholic Church saying they should worry about more important matters.<ref>{{cite news|title=Diosdado arremete contra Urosa Savino por repudiar el "Chávez Nuestro"|url=https://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/09/05/cabello-rechaza-posicion-de-la-iglesia-ante-la-version-chavista-del-padre-nuestro/|access-date=7 September 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=5 September 2014}}</ref>
===Attack on image=== 150px|thumb|right|A statue of Hugo Chávez destroyed in Zulia on 5 May 2017 During the 2014–17 Venezuelan protests, Venezuelans in several states attacked the image of Chávez due to its symbolic representation of the ruling Bolivarian government.<ref>{{cite news|title=Derribaron estatua de Hugo Chávez en Zulia|url=https://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/politica/derribaron-estatua-hugo-chavez-zulia_180780|access-date=9 May 2017|work=El Nacional|date=5 May 2017|language=es}}</ref> A 2016 Alfredo Keller y Asociados survey found that 75% of Venezuelans disagreed with the use of Chávez statues as propaganda.<ref>{{cite web|title=KELLER 4to Trimestre 2016 DV|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/333719975/KELLER-4to-Trimestre-2016-DV|website=Alfredo Keller y Asociados|access-date=10 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> In the 2017 Venezuelan protests, citizens of La Villa del Rosario burned and tore down a statue of Hugo Chávez, a display of anger compared to the destruction of Saddam Hussein's statue in Iraq as well as other instances of statue toppling during times of popular unrest.<ref>{{cite news|title=Manifestantes derriban estatua de Hugo Chávez|url=https://es-us.noticias.yahoo.com/manifestantes-derriban-estatua-de-hugo-chavez-221526670.html|access-date=9 May 2017|work=Yahoo News|date=5 May 2017|language=es-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Otras caídas de estatuas y símbolos que representaron el final de una era|url=http://www.infobae.com/america/mundo/2017/05/06/otras-caidas-de-estatuas-y-simbolos-que-representaron-el-final-de-una-era/|access-date=9 May 2017|work=Infobae|date=6 May 2017|language=es-LA}}</ref> Days later in Santa Barbara, a locally made statue of Chávez was severely damage as protesters threw Molotov cocktails and other objects at the figure.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Boscán|first1=Hugo J.|title=Trataron de quemar figura de Chávez en el oeste - El Impulso|url=http://www.elimpulso.com/noticias/regionales/trataron-quemar-figura-chavez-oeste|access-date=22 May 2017|work=El Impulso|date=8 May 2017|language=es-es}}</ref>
{{pullquote | text = It is pretty symbolic that the citizens are venting their frustrations on the author of the Bolivarian revolution | source = Eric Farnsworth, vice president of Council of the Americas<ref name=CHIburn>{{cite news|last1=Sanchez|first1=Fabiola|last2=Dreier|first2=Hannah|title=Hugo Chavez's childhood home burned by protesters in Venezuela, lawmaker says|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-venezuela-protesters-burn-down-hugo-chavez-childhood-home-20170522-story.html|access-date=23 May 2017|agency=Associated Press|date=22 May 2017}}</ref> }}
On 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.<ref name=CHAVEZburns>{{cite news|title=Incendian la casa natal de Hugo Chávez luego de la muerte de dos estudiantes en Barinas|url=https://www.diariolasamericas.com/america-latina/incendian-la-casa-natal-hugo-chavez-luego-la-muerte-dos-estudiantes-barinas-n4122528|access-date=23 May 2017|work=Diario Las Americas|date=22 May 2017|language=es}}</ref><ref name=CHIburn/> Protesters in the area also destroyed five statues of Chávez in addition to destroying his childhood home.<ref name=CHIburn/>
Following multiple attacks on the image of Chávez, Venezuelan authorities were ordered to guard various representations of Chávez throughout the country.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cawthorne|first1=Andrew|title=Venezuela soldiers guard Chavez symbols in seething heartland|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-barinas-idUSKBN19A0FI|access-date=21 June 2017|work=Reuters|date=19 June 2017}}</ref>
==Themes== ''Bolivarianismo'' uses emotional arguments to gain attention, exploit the fears (either real or imagined) of the population, create external enemies for scapegoat purposes, and produce nationalism within the population, causing feelings of betrayal for support of the opposition.<ref name="Manwaring11" /> Whenever a problem was faced by Chávez, he would turn it to a narrative, holding Venezuela's attention and would increase efforts whenever he faced more problems.<ref name=CarrollSTRATEGY/> The images and messages promote ideological mobilization,<ref name=Turner14>Turner (2007), p. 14.</ref> including Chávez as a "liberator", the positive effects of the Bolivarian Revolution (including social reforms), and power deriving from the people.<ref name=Moloney/> The overall goal of the Bolivarian propaganda machine is to reflect society's wants and goals for an improved Venezuela.<ref name=Turner14/>
===Enemies===
====Capitalists==== Capitalism was attacked by the Bolivarian government with Chávez telling viewers on his program ''Aló Presidente'' that "'Love is socialism. Capitalism is hate and selfishness".<ref name=Channeling/> Chávez once speculated that if civilization had ever existed on Mars, capitalism and imperialism may have "finished [it] off" and said it could do the same to Earth.<ref name=ENDLESS>{{cite news|title=The endlessly quotable Hugo Chavez|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/130301/hugo-chavez-quotes|access-date=6 May 2014|newspaper=Global Post|date=5 March 2013}}</ref>
====Jews==== {{further|Antisemitism in Venezuela#21st century}} {{further|Tiféret Israel Synagogue attack}} In a 2010 report by Tel Aviv University titled ''Anti-Semitism Worldwide 2010'', in Venezuela, “anti-Semitic allegations are an integral part of the extreme anti-Israel propaganda of governmental and pro- Chavez circles”.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hartman|first1=Ben|title=EU anti-Semitic acts dropped 46% in 2010|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/EU-anti-Semitic-acts-dropped-46-percent-in-2010|access-date=5 June 2014|agency=The Jerusalem Post|date=1 May 2011}}</ref> During Chavez's presidency, the Venezuelan Jewish community made statements at a World Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem saying, "Where we live, anti-Semitism is sanctioned. It comes from the president, through the government, and into the media."<ref name=WJCchavez>{{cite web|title=Venezuela's oldest synagogue vandalized by armed men|url=http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/7835/venezuela_s_oldest_synagogue_vandalized_by_armed_men|publisher=World Jewish Congress|access-date=11 May 2014}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Summary of Contemporary Forms of Anti-Semitism|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/uploads/7/8/5/9/7859990/attachment_iii-_anti-semitism_2012.pdf|website=www.bnaibrith.org|publisher=B'nai B'rith International|access-date=5 June 2014}}</ref> According to the ''Antisemitism in Venezuela 2013'' report by the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations (CAIV), "distorted news, omissions and false accusations" of Israel originate from Iran's Press TV and Hispan TV, are repeated by the Russia's RT and Cuba's Prensa Latina, and Venezuela's state media, including SIBCI, AVN, TeleSUR, Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Alba TV, La Radio del Sur, Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV), YVKE Mundial, Correo del Orinoco and Ciudad CCS.<ref name=CAIV2013>{{cite web|title=Antisemitisim in Venezuela 2013|url=http://www.caiv.org/antisemitismo/ingles/2013/|website=Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations|access-date=13 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113131621/http://www.caiv.org/antisemitismo/ingles/2013/|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The CAIV continues, stating that the media accuses Zionism of being a "predator movement", that "anti-Semitic authors pretend to establish differences between Jewish religion and the Zionist movement" and that the Venezuelan government's media uses anti-Semitic themes.<ref name=CAIV2013/>
Writing in ''The Weekly Standard'' in 2005, Thor Halvorssen says that the United States Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's "Report on Global Anti-Semitism" noted that antisemitic leaflets "were available to the public in an Interior and Justice Ministry office waiting room."<ref name=Hurricane>{{cite journal|author=Thor Halvorssen Mendoza|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/903jhsjt.asp?pg=1|title=Hurricane Hugo|journal=The Weekly Standard|date=August 8, 2005|volume=10|number=44|access-date=November 20, 2010|author-link=Thor Halvorssen Mendoza|archive-date=May 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520091903/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/903jhsjt.asp?pg=1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2008, a radio host on the state-run Radio Nacional de Venezuela stated that "Hitler's partners were Jews… These were not the Jews murdered in the concentration camps. [Those killed] were working-class Jews, Communist Jews, poor Jews, because the rich Jews were the ones behind the plan to occupy Palestine".{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} In April 2011, Cristina González, a popular radio host from Radio Nacional de Venezuela, highly recommended her listeners to read ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', an anti-Semitic text created by the Russian Empire and was later used by Adolf Hitler.<ref>{{cite web|title=Venezuelan Jews protest promotion of 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion' on state radio|url=http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/10296/venezuelan_jews_protest_promotion_of_protocols_of_the_elders_of_zion_on_state_radio|website=www.worldjewishcongress.org|publisher=World Jewish Congress}}</ref> A year later in a 13 February 2012 opinion article by Radio Nacional de Venezuela, titled "The Enemy is Zionism"<ref name=ADL17022012>{{cite web |publisher= Anti-Defamation League |date= 17 February 2012 |url= http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/AntiSemitic-Article-Venezuela-021712.htm |title= Anti-Semitic article appears in Venezuela |access-date= 7 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120512005303/http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Semitism_International/AntiSemitic-Article-Venezuela-021712.htm |archive-date= 12 May 2012 |url-status= dead }} Includes English translation of Venezuelan National Radio article.</ref> attacked Capriles' Jewish ancestry and linked him with Jewish national groups because of a meeting he had held with local Jewish leaders,<ref name=ChavezRival>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/jewish-group-chavez-foe-a_n_1285507.html|title=Henrique Capriles Radonski: Hugo Chavez Foe A Target Of Anti-Semitism|work=The Huffington Post|date=17 February 2012|access-date=22 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=ChavezMedia>{{cite news |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-21/chavez-media-say-rival-capriles-backs-plots-ranging-from-nazis-to-zionists.html |title= Chavez media say rival Capriles backs plots ranging from Nazis to Zionists |author= Devereux, Charlie |publisher= Bloomberg |date= 20 February 2012 |access-date=21 February 2012}} Also available from [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/02/21/bloomberg_articlesLZJTP51A74E901-LZP8I.DTL sfgate.com]{{dead link|date=February 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name=JewishGay>{{cite news |url= http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10411964-chavez-allies-attack-new-opponent-capriles-as-jewish-gay?lite |title= Chavez allies attack new opponent Capriles as Jewish, gay |publisher= MSNBC |date= 15 February 2012 |access-date= 10 May 2012 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120502145240/http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/15/10411964-chavez-allies-attack-new-opponent-capriles-as-jewish-gay?lite |archive-date= 2 May 2012 }}</ref> saying, "This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents ... Zionism, along with capitalism, are responsible for 90% of world poverty and imperialist wars."<ref name="ChavezRival"/>
====Opposition==== 250px|thumbnail|right|Political graffiti against Henrique Capriles from a Hugo Chávez speech saying "Ah, the stupid boy" Enio Cardozo of the Central University of Venezuela states that the Venezuelan government uses the same propaganda tactics against the opposition that were developed by Joseph Goebbels for Nazi propaganda.<ref name="ABCelection2013">{{cite news|last1=Rueda|first1=Manuel|title=How Maduro's Government Is Attacking Critics With Propaganda|url=https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/News/venezuelas-maduro-attacking-venezuelas-opposition-propaganda/story?id=19004948|access-date=25 February 2016|agency=ABC News|date=20 April 2013}}</ref> Such tactics would include "simplifying the enemy" by using labels, with the Venezuelan government attempting to polarize the public into thinking that the opposition were "the wealthy" were part of an "oligarchy", blaming the opposition for any of Venezuela's woes.<ref name="ABCelection2013"/> Another tactic would be using false stories in order to make large threats against the opposition.<ref name="ABCelection2013"/>
Hugo Chávez described "any opposition to his government as a 'Made in the USA' corrupt, terrorist, coup-mongering plot to topple his democratic government". The opposition was often linked to adversaries of the Venezuelan government and a "sovereignty card" was used linking foreign adversaries to the opposition. While covering opposition events, the state media would manipulate images to make gatherings look smaller.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
The Venezuelan government occasionally uses smear campaigns against the opposition, illegally phone tapping their conversations and playing them throughout state media. The Venezuelan government promotes the use of such recordings since they are "aimed mainly at discrediting opposition politicians", though recent phone tapped recordings used in state media are attributed to entities online instead of the Venezuelan government.<ref>{{cite news|last1=James|first1=Ian|title=Phone taps target Chavez opponents in Venezuela|url=https://news.yahoo.com/phone-taps-target-chavez-opponents-venezuela-092001239.html|access-date=10 June 2015|agency=Associated Press|date=19 August 2011}}</ref> One of Chávez's favorite state television shows, ''The Razorblade'', was mainly used to attack the opposition with such tactics, using photographs and audio recording to embarrass their politicians.<ref name=RAZOR>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|page=38}}</ref> The source of this content was presumed to be from the country's intelligence agency, SEBIN.<ref name=RAZOR/>
====United States imperialism==== [[File:Bolivarian mural against Imperialism & United States.jpg|thumb|Mural against American Imperialism that is marked with a Swastika and a McDonald's logo. It reads: "Against Imperialism: The unity of Our America"]] [[File:Antiimperialismo caracas.jpg|thumb|Anti-American Imperialism graffiti in a low class neighborhood of Caracas. It reads "Out to Imperialism: Only the People Saves the People"]] Chávez would blame problems experienced in Venezuela on the United States.<ref name=Channeling/> Hugo Chávez used "brash, often confounding remarks against the US, capitalism, and a bevy of other topics".<ref name=ENDLESS/> Chávez called former President of the United States George W. Bush a "drunkard", "donkey" and compared him to Adolf Hitler. Chávez also made claims that the 2010 Haiti earthquake was due to a "secretive US weapons test".<ref name=ENDLESS/>
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". He accused Bush of spreading imperialism saying "he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." He also criticized Israel due to the conflict it had with Lebanon. He then called the United Nations system "worthless" and that it had "collapsed". Chávez said that the United States promoted violence while Venezuela represented "dignity and the search for peace". After making his statements about seeking peace, Chávez asked for Venezuela to be on the United Nations Security Council saying, "Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council." He concluded saying that a new movement was being formulated in the south and even proposed moving the United Nations headquarters to Venezuela.<ref>{{cite news|title=President Hugo Chavez Delivers Remarks at the U.N. General Assembly|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000893.html|access-date=1 May 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=20 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mission of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela|url=https://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/venezuela-e.pdf|publisher=United Nations|access-date=1 May 2014}}</ref>
Diario VEA, a Venezuelan state newspaper critical of the United States,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Anthropology of News & Journalism: Global Perspectives|date=2010|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253221261}}</ref> often used multiple pages to discredit the United States government and shared conspiracies involving the United States and its supposed links to the Venezuelan opposition.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
===Values=== ====Democracy==== One strategy of the Venezuelan government's propaganda was to persuade "the Venezuelan people and the international community that Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution is the true democratic road to prosperity". A common message was that Chávez was "the legitimate, legal, democratically elected leader".{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} According to Corales and Penfold, "widespread use of elections is certainly impressive, and many consider it a sign of democratic vitality, even though electoral institutions have been openly manipulated".<ref name="DRAGONp2">{{cite book|last1=Corrales|first1=Javier|last2=Penfold|first2=Michael|title=Dragon in the Tropics: The Legacy of Hugo Chávez|date=2 April 2015|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0815725930|page=2}}</ref> Elections were in fact used as an "electoral majoritarianism" argument used by Chávez to consolidate more power into his hands.<ref name="DRAGONp2"/>
====Social works==== 250px|thumbnail|right|The slogan "Fatherland, socialism or death" on the side of a PDVSA facility.
The Venezuelan state media "regularly broadcasts government-sponsored activities" and "[p]romotional campaigns for Chavez's social missions" in order "to underscore the diversity of its supporters".{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Many Venezuelan's viewed Chávez's ''Aló Presidente'' program since it was known for unveiling new financial assistance packages every weekend to viewers.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Chávez repeatedly expressed successes on television which resulted in a large popular base of support.<ref name=Manwaring12/>
In 2013, the Venezuelan government created the ''Joint Chiefs of Communications'' with the objective to respond to keep "the people informed of everything that the Bolivarian Revolution is doing for the well-being of everyone".<ref name=OAS2013/>
== See also == * Bolivarian Army of Trolls * Bolivarianism * Censorship in Venezuela * Economy of Venezuela * ''The Revolution Will Not Be Televised''
==References== === Citations === {{Reflist |colwidth=30em}}
=== Cited works === * {{cite book|last=Anselmi|first=Manuel|title=Chávez's children : ideology, education, and society in Latin America|date=2013|isbn=978-0739165256|page=44|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }} * {{cite web |last= Manwaring |first= Max G. |title= Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Bolivarian socialism, and asymmetric warfare |year=2005|publisher= The Strategic Studies Institute | url= http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub628.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051113180609/http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub628.pdf |archive-date= 13 November 2005}} * {{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=John J.|title=Friends of Hugo|journal=National Review|date=27 December 2004|volume=56|issue=24|pages=36–37}} * {{cite book |author= Nelson, Brian A. |title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion|title= The Silence and the Scorpion |year= 2009 |publisher= Nation Books | isbn= 978-1-56858-418-8 |quote= It was in response to this 'Cubanization' that the opposition movement against Chávez was born: A group of mothers realized that their children's new textbooks were really Cuban schoolbooks heavily infused with revolutionary propaganda, with new covers.}} * {{cite book |author= Nichols, Elizabeth Gackstetter and Kimberly J. Morse |title= Venezuela (Latin America in Focus) |year= 2010 |publisher= ABC-CLIO |isbn= 978-1-59884-569-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq-5QRDNVDEC&q=Venezuela+Nichols+Morse}} * {{cite journal|last1=Ortiz|first1=Ana Maria|last2=Vadum|first2=Matthew|title=Marxist Hugo Chavez Calls on Friends in America|journal=Human Events|volume=64|issue=10}} * {{cite book|last=Schoen|first=Douglas|title=The Threat Closer to Home|year=2009|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4165-9477-2 |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781416594772|url-access=registration|quote=Schoen the threat closer to home.}} * {{cite book|last=Turner|first=Andrew|title=Propaganda in Havana: The Politics of Public Space and Collective Memory in the Socialist City|year=2007|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|location=Philadelphia}}
==Further reading== * {{cite news|work=The New Zealand Herald|date= 10 March 2010|title=Chávez in driver's seat as he silences his critics|type=via LexisNexis}} * {{cite news|url=http://tyglobalist.org/front-page/theme/the-danger-of-chavezs-rhetoric/|work=The Yale Globalist|title= The Danger of Chávez's Rhetoric|author=Lopez, Fernanda|date=October 11, 2007|access-date= April 26, 2012|quote=As long as Chávez’s propaganda pits poor against rich, he threatens the nation with an identity crisis that propaganda alone cannot solve.}}
== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Bolivarian propaganda}}
{{Hugo Chávez}}
Category:Anti-American sentiment in Venezuela Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Bolivarian Revolution Category:Hugo Chávez Category:Propaganda by topic Category:Propaganda in Venezuela