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Protesters
clash with riot police during a rally to demand a referendum to
remove Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas,
Venezuela, September 1, 2016.
Thomson
Reuters
Caracas (AFP) — Venezuelans are running short of food, medicine
and patience, but fear not: President Nicolas Maduro is here to
cheer them up — by dancing salsa.
Grinning under his black mustache, the burly, towering socialist
swivels his hips and twirls his wife Cilia Flores in front of the
cameras.
«People say I’m crazy for dancing salsa,» he said on one recent
broadcast.
«Hands up everybody who dances salsa! Admit it, we’re all crazy!»
With hunger and violent crime gripping the country and the
opposition calling for his head, this is Maduro’s new strategy
for winning hearts and minds. That is an uphill battle; most
Venezuelans would like him to leave power.
Wednesday was a case in point as Maduro celebrated his 54th
birthday with a live performance by old-school salsa greats El
Gran Combo de Puerto Rico.
«What a surprise!» the president exclaimed before taking the
first lady for a spin, dancing to the classic «Me libere.»
‘Ridiculous’
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro dances during a
radio program in Caracas on November 1, 2016
© Venezuelan Presidency/AFP/File Marcelo
Garcia
A former bus driver, Maduro has often sung and danced at campaign
rallies.
But his continued capering amid the crisis, and his recent launch
of a dedicated salsa radio show, seem like bad taste to some
weary citizens.
«He is ridiculous. It’s offensive. He is laughing at the people,»
said Euro Bermudez, 62, coming out of a bank in Caracas after
collecting his pension.
«Instead of spending money on television programs, he should be
bringing us medicine.»
Spoof photo «memes» of Maduro online have shown him dancing in
various inappropriate settings: at the scene of a crime or in a
long queue for food.
People
line up to buy food and other staple goods inside a supermarket
in Caracas, Venezuela, June 30, 2016.
REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
But truck driver Orlando Zacarias, 49, said he saw Maduro’s
dancing as a necessary means of continuing the «socialist
revolution.»
«Little by little, he is reaching out to each and every
Venezuelan to transmit his message,» Zacarias said.
Salsa time
Maduro launched his radio show «Salsa Hour» late last month on
the same day that opposition lawmakers called for a political
trial against him.
They say mismanagement and corruption in his government have
plunged the country into crisis.
The opposition won control of the legislature in elections a year
ago.
Now Maduro is using salsa’s popular beats to reach out to
ordinary Venezuelans who deserted him in that vote, says social
psychologist Ricardo Sucre.
«He wants to show himself to be confident and relaxed, not
as though his government is about to fall.»
Supporters
of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro shout slogans in front of
Venezuelan National Guard members, outside the National Assembly
building during a session in Caracas, Venezuela October 27,
2016.
REUTERS/Marco
Bello
Maduro himself brands the crisis a US-backed capitalist
conspiracy. He casts his programs as a counterweight to media
that he says are out to discredit him.
Dancing through scandal
The last edition of his television program «In Touch With Maduro»
lasted four hours and featured a live salsa band.
With his long broadcasts, Maduro is carrying on a tradition of
his late mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Chavez’s weekly television show «Alo Presidente» was an outspoken
and unpredictable spectacle.
Maduro lacks Chavez’s charisma, Sucre says, but all the same
«Chavez chose him as his successor because he could get through
difficult times without looking nervous.»
Judge
James Cott, attorneys John J. Reilly, center, and Rebekah J.
Poston, right, with defendants Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, right
foreground, and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, center
foreground, at a hearing in New York, November 12,
2015.
Thomson
Reuters
Maduro weathered a scandal last week when a US jury convicted two
of his wife’s nephews of plotting to smuggle cocaine.
But the following Sunday, the presidential couple were on
television dancing for the nation.
«Are you still dancing now?» said senior opposition leader
Henrique Capriles. «The country is waiting for you to face up to
things.»
‘Indestructible’
Maduro’s «Salsa Hour» lasts two hours, with the leader chatting
to listeners about the artists as well as social issues.
He dedicates songs sarcastically to his opponents.
One tune goes out to the opposition leader of congress, Henry
Ramos Allup. «You’re crazy, crazy,» goes the song by Roberto
Roena. «And I am cool.»
Ramos is one of the leaders of efforts to drive Maduro from
office. Maduro has staunchly resisted. He has the public backing
of the army and control of key institutions.
As his own personal theme tune, Maduro has adopted a Ray Barretto
salsa classic: «Indestructible.»
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