Think Ch谩vez was paranoid? Venezuela's Maduro warns of US-funded biker gangs.
Since the day of Hugo Ch谩vez鈥檚 death, acting president and presidential candidate Nicol谩s Maduro and other top government officials have put forward a steady flow of conspiracy theories unmatched by any period in the Ch谩vez era, eight by our count.
March 5, acting President Maduro for 鈥渟earching for active military personal in order to propose conspiratorial plans to them.鈥�
March 5, Maduro, in the last public announcement before the passing of the President, suggests that Ch谩vez was 鈥渋noculated鈥� with cancer by foreign enemies (). He afterwards insisted many times on this theory, originally proposed by Ch谩vez himself, the latest on March 21. On that day he promised that after winning the elections, he would name a scientific commission in charge of investigating the issue. 鈥渢here are already a lot of articles on the internet on this. You only have to look them up. The Empire has created these types of experimental viruses since the 40s. They are methods of biological, bacteriological warfare.鈥�
March 6, there is a conspiracy led by Otto Reich and Roger Noriega to assassinate, not him, but the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, with the purpose of destabilizing the government. On March 17, in a TV interview with Jos茅 Vicente Rangel, Maduro insists on the existence of the plot. that he has proof of this plot and that he will make them public, but [that] proof has never surfaced. .
March 20, that the United States government has 鈥渙rdered鈥� the Venezuelan opposition to withdraw from the elections, generate 鈥渟ituations of violence,鈥� and cry foul once the electoral results are public.
April 5, in a meeting with supporters in Cojedes, Maduro declares that the opposition 鈥渢ook down the electricity of all the poor areas of Aragua on Wednesday night. There is no technical justification for this, so we have dismissed the Corpoelec [State electricity company] of Aragua and he is under investigation, and all the public officials that plot against the people will go to prison.鈥� the opposition of planning a total energy black out in the country.
April 6, in an interview for Telesur, Foreign Ministerthat 鈥渨e have filtered through our intelligence agencies' conversations from groups of the right referring to the inclusion of mercenaries from Central America in the destabilization activities in the country.鈥澛燨n April 7 Maduro elaborates this plot during a public meeting in Guayana. He denounces a plot of to kill him 鈥済enerate chaos, and sabotage the electric grid鈥�. He directly accused Armando Briquet, a top manager of the opposition campaign, of being the link between Capriles and 鈥渕ercenaries sent by the right from El Salvador鈥� that, , are already in Venezuela to carry out the plot. In these new plot denunciations, Maduro has assured [Venezuelans] that at first he though Capriles was not directly responsible for the wide ranging conspiracies, and that he was only being duped by 鈥渟ectors of the right鈥� (indeed in the previous version of the 鈥渕ercenaries plot鈥� Capriles was considered the potential victim of assassination attempts). Now he claims to have been forced by his sources to realize that Capriles, through Mr. Briquet, is directly behind the plots.
April 8, Minister of Penitentiary Services, 鈥渁 destabilization plan by a well-known NGO led by someone called Humberto Prado.鈥� 聽This NGO would promote violence in Venezuela麓s prisons in order to 鈥渞arify鈥� the electoral environment of the next days.
April 8, an opposition group of students protesting for 鈥渃lean elections鈥� in Chacao is violently attacked by motorbikers wearing pro-government paraphernalia. Six students are injured. : 鈥淚 have been informed of violent events in the Chacao Municipality, strange violent events involving a small violent group, financed by the government of the United States.鈥�
Of course, conspiracy theories can sometimes [hold an element of truth] 鈥� Watergate, Iran-Contra, Ch谩vez鈥檚 1992 coup, the opposition鈥檚 2002 coup 鈥� the list of actual conspiracies is endless.
And in a region in which the US has a long history of intervention, the population does not necessarily regard theories of foreign conspiracy as crazy and irresponsible but with a 鈥渃ould be鈥� attitude.
But they are also a political tool for unifying a population and silencing criticism. They essentially make dissent look out of place by pointing to an imminent threat that only those in power understand. They also deflect blame for administrative problems such as food shortages, power outages, and lack of security by suggesting that the problem lies elsewhere.
