Versión Español
by Angelo Florez de Andrade
A responsible government must report transparently on its actions. In Sweden, for example, the citizens have the right to read their Prime Minister’s email. In the aforementioned Nordic country, Deputy Prime Minister Mona Sahlin was removed from office due to purchases of candy with government credit cards. In Venezuela, on the other hand, the Bolivarian government is loathe to assume responsibility for any its mistakes. Few governments in the world have created such extravagant conspiracy theories as those of Maduro and Chavez.
But Venezuelan governments are not alone in inventing conspiracy theories. Their key ally Evo Morales has also created several theories without foundation in reality. In the PanAm Post we present the seven most extravagant conspiracy theories invented by politicians of the radical Latin American left. In a forthcoming issue we will also present the top 7 of conspiracy theories of the Latin American nationalist right.
- Read More: How Maduro Plans to Stay in Power in Venezuela without Elections
- Read More: Venezuelan Opposition Cuts off Dialogue with Maduro after Broken Promises
7. “Inflation does not exist in real life” Venezuelan Minister
In the context of the evident economic problems of Venezuela, the Maduro regime routinely presents several conspiracy theories.
In 2016, Luis Salas, a university professor and defender of the Venezuelan radical left was lauded by Nicolás Maduro in the government publication “Productive Economy”. In 2015, the university professor published the booklet “22 Keys to Understanding and Combating Economic Warfare”. In this publication, the Venezuelan sociologist affirms that “inflation does not exist in real life”. For the Venezuelan professor, the real cause of price increases is economic warfare and economic speculation by rivals of the revolution. Salas also states in his pamphlet: “Inflation is the economic correlate of political fascism.”
The Venezuelan academic lasted less than two months in his post, after which he was moved to another place within the Bolivarian bureaucracy.
6. “Chavez Was Intentionally Infected With Cancer” Nicolás Maduro
In 2013, President Nicolas Maduro said that Hugo Chávez was killed by US politicians. According to Maduro, the US government “intentionally infected him with cancer”. In Maduro’s mind, Chávez was assassinated in the same way as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
According to different sources consulted by the PanAm Post this option is highly improbable. For the more radical leaders of Chavismo, it seems impossible to assume that their leader could have died from natural causes.
5. The Crossword Puzzles of Chavismo
In 2012, Miguel Perez Pirela, a television presenter of an official Venezuelan channel, denounced the existence of hidden messages in certain crossword puzzles. According to the chavista presenter, psychologists and mathematicians intercepted death threats against Hugo Chávez’s brother, Adan.
Pérez Pirela found, among others, the words “assassins”, “shots”, “Adan”. The journalist assumed it was a death threat.
Neptalí Segovia, author of the above-mentioned crossword, was interrogated by Venezuelan security forces. A well-known Venezuelan opposition newspaper, published a crossword as a mockery of the situation.
4. Conspiracy Theories About 9/11 According to Hugo Chávez
In 2012, when Hugo Chavez was president, he said he doubted the official account of the September 11 terrorist attacks. According to Chavez, it was unclear as to who was responsible for the monumental attacks that the United States suffered. However, the Venezuelan leader hinted that he believed that the attacks could have been planned by the Bush administration. For Chavez, the US government used the attacks as a pretext to “unleash the most savage imperialist aggression in the history of mankind.”
3. Mars, Capitalism and Conspiracy Theories of Hugo Chávez
In 2011, former President Hugo Chávez said that years ago there was water and even civilization on Mars. The Bolivarian leader assured that he would not be surprised that the process of desertification of the red giant could have been caused by the capitalism.
Chavez didn’t seem to care that his opinion was based on a mountain of unproven “facts”. There is no proof of the existence of any civilization on Mars. Much less so the existence of capitalism on the red giant. Finally, there is also no evidence that the desertification of Mars was caused by capitalism.
2. Baldness and Genetically Modified Foods
According to Bolivian president Evo Morales, in Europe “almost all” citizens are bald. According to Morales, baldness is a “disease” caused by the consumption of transgenic foods. As an argument to defend his position, Morales said that baldness is not frequent among indigenous peoples.
For Pere Puigdomènech, a molecular biologist and research professor at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSI), using these kinds of arguments discredits those who use them. According to the expert, a simple historical analysis is enough to show that Morales’ claim is false. Baldness is not a phenomenon of modernity. Baldness has existed since long before the emergence of genetically modified foods.
1. The Correlation Between Eating Chicken and “Loss of Masculinity” Evo Morales
According to Morales the poultry industry has injected female hormones into their chickens. That is why, according to the Bolivian president, men who consume chicken present symptoms of “loss of masculinity”. The Bolivian president did not clarify what he meant when he said that there were “symptoms of loss of masculinity.” For Morales, this is proof that the West creates “poison and more poison.”
Prior to the 1960s some poultry farms used synthetic estrogen hormones called DES, with disastrous results. The cost of using these hormones was high, and they were proved to cause disease in chickens and humans, leading to their discontinuation. Morales’ claims of linkages between chicken consumption and threats to masculinity are completely false.
