Maduro looks Chavez in the eye to win votes

The elections were announced for March 5 (the date of Hugo Chavez’s death) and the presidential elections for July 28 (the date of his birth), with campaigning starting in 70 cities to commemorate the late Venezuelan president’s tenure until Maduro in the rain Similar to the previous article Meeting Portrait of Chavez on Bolivar Avenue in Caracas. An entire movement revolves around the so-called father of the Bolivarian Revolution, a movement whose goal is July 28; let those who have eyes see.

Although Nicolás Maduro once wanted to break away from the image of his predecessor and remove the symbol of Chavez’s eye from public office, the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Psuv) once again relies on his political father in this election. race.

While driving along the capital’s famous Francisco Fajardo highway, you can see small images of Chávez on billboards for candidates from the Pueblo. He no longer occupies the position he did in 2013, but the figure of the commander remains, as if the ruling party is calling out the slogan: “In case of emergency, use Chávez.”

“What they are trying to do at this stage of the campaign is to use the image of Chavez to regain lost ground, which is why they set the election date for that day, they are standing on Chavez’s shoulders, which means that Maduro’s own leadership strategy has failed,” said Carmen Beatriz Fernández, an expert on political campaigns.

For Benigno Alarcón, director of the Center for Political Studies at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (Ucab), Maduro has never enjoyed a leadership similar to that of his predecessors.

“There is no doubt that Maduro is digging into Chavez’s leadership, it’s called Chavismo for a reason, he appeals to desire and loyalty, an identity he knows is not his, and that’s why the campaign is not going well.”

Marialbert Barrios, a former deputy to the National Assembly, insisted that Maduro’s tactics were not new.

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A decade of searching for an alternative to Chavez

For Fernández, the creation of the “Super Bigot” is, among other things, Maduro’s attempt to appear affable, approachable and cheerful: “In recent years he has tried to create a unique image and a leadership of his own, because” this makes Chávez’s little eyes disappear from all the government furniture.

Barrios believes it is logical that Maduro would want to move on from Chavez’s role at some point.

“Because for political campaigns, personal image is an asset, but in this campaign, it is clear that it cannot take off on its own, this government is responsible for the deterioration of the country, and the public’s discontent is palpable,” he argued.

In Alarcón’s view, Maduro’s problem is that he has poor leadership skills: “He can’t get rid of the image of Chavez, which is why he returned to her.” “Maduro alone has 9% support, and in the best case scenario it could reach 30%.”

Fernández noted that Chavismo’s popularity reached an all-time low in this election.

“The polls show Maduro’s approval rating between 12 and 16 percent, which coincides with the fact that Chavismo currently has a higher approval rating than Maduro, that is, one in four people still supports Chavez,” he noted.

No promised activities

For Alarcón, Chavismo offers nothing; its main commitment is to maintaining the status quo.

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Barrios said he was not aware of Chavezmo’s main proposals in this campaign.

“They always resort to the presence of an external enemy that does not allow them to do their job. The fact is that Maduro wants to address the youth and popular groups through social networks and using state resources, but this has no real effect, there is a lot of disillusionment in the ranks of Chavismo, “it” cannot be solved by motorcycle stunts,” he said.

Fernández, for his part, explained that unlike other Chavista campaigns, in this one the lack of resources is palpable: “Before they were offering white goods, now they are offering a raffle to win white goods.”

Barrios said that although the government has more resources than the democratic opposition, its campaign performance has not been successful so far.

“Maduro’s strategy of wanting to connect with young people and look like a brave man, rather than someone more balanced like Edmundo González Urrutia, will not have an impact on the electoral trend, as the country’s voting intentions are clear.”

Fernandez said the strategy of harassing and persecuting dissidents to spread fear and despair, and trying to divide the opposition, had not worked against Chavismo this time. However, some opponents doubted whether there would be a change of government.

“Some people still don’t believe it because they suffer from anthropological trauma, a kind of post-traumatic syndrome, but they are willing to fight for this change to happen,” Alarcon said.

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Screenplay by Francisco Zambrano