Nicolás Maduro apparently has solved all of Venezuela’s problems, so now he’s watching soap operas, and he’s not amused (video in Spanish):
Produced by Sony Pictures Television, El Comandante premieres this week throughout Latin America and in the spring will be broadcast in the US by the Telemundo network.
Conceived by a staunch Chávez critic, the 60-episode series aims to retell the leftist leader’s improbable rise to power from his roots in poor, rural Venezuelawhile showing how the former tank commander’s authoritarianism laid the groundwork for the country’s current economic mess.
Former Venezuelan trade minister Moisés Naim said he came up with the idea after spending years trying to explain Chávez’s hold over Venezuelans to friends in Washington, where he now lives.
Sixty episodes. Yikes. Andrés Parra, who played Pablo Escobar, is cornering the villain market.
Hardly surprising, the new series is banned:
. . . in Venezuela, the National Telecommunications Commission banned the series and launched a campaign Tuesday urging Venezuelans to “report any cable channel that insults Hugo Chavez’s legacy by broadcasting the series ‘El Comandante.'”
Adán, Hugo’s real-life brother and Maduro’s Minister for Culture, announced not only new propaganda shows documentaries on Hugo but also
that two new Venezuelan productions would faithfully retell Chavez’s story: a film called “Chavez, El Comandante” and a series called “Chavez de Verdad” (The True Chavez).
It makes you wonder how they’ll be paying for all this.
Due to Venezuela’s #hyperinflation, the 100-bolívar note is worth about 2.8 American cents. Essentially, the note is worthless. @nytimes pic.twitter.com/x2ujBb0WZP
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 1, 2017
In other Venezuela news from Prof. Hanke,
Maduro appoints military officials with no oil experience to PDVSA board, #Venezuela needs this tyrant out https://t.co/L71vsB0Xvx
— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 2, 2017
No matter what, El Comandante Will Not Be Televised.