Dozens of drones draw the face of Nicolás Maduro in the night sky of Maracaibo, the oil capital of Venezuela, often without electricity. Despite the dry finances of a bled-dry country, the outgoing president is not skimping on campaign resources for Sunday’s election.
Mr. Maduro, who is seeking a third six-year term against Edmundo González Urrutia, a former ambassador who is leading the polls, is using all the means of the state for propaganda that is already omnipresent in normal times, but which has multiplied before the presidential election.
TV and radio advertisements, billboards, murals, screens on toll booths, social networks, country tours, songs, comics, reality TV shows… The arsenal is as impressive as it is varied and inventive.
In Maracaibo, the drones then draw a rooster, Nicolás Maduro’s new symbol, then images of former President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013). On a huge stage worthy of a rock star concert, Mr. Maduro gives speeches promising prosperity after years of crisis that have plunged the country into poverty.
On stage, the 61-year-old man with the thick moustache doesn’t hold back and sings, dances and jumps during a well-rehearsed show.
This “saturation” of the public space allows him to remain in people’s minds, “especially by boasting of being the heir to Chávez”, which “persists in the collective imagination”, explains to AFP León Hernández, member of the Institute for Research on Information and Communication at the Andrés Bello Catholic University.
A campaign-show
The government uses all the strings to secure the votes.
“I activate the button,” the president says at an event in Caracas, and immediately, credits for small businesses are transferred from state accounts. A woman jumps when she receives a message on her cell phone confirming the transaction!
Nicolás Maduro now describes himself as a “fighting cock.” The president’s communications experts created the new nickname to emphasize the president’s good shape compared to his opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, 74, who has more difficulty moving.
Power also often dictates priorities. It has thus revived the issue of the Essequibo territory, in dispute with Guyana for months.
Mr Maduro’s presence on state television is constant, with broadcasts several times a day from his campaign rallies across the country. He boasts of having been to 250 cities during the campaign.
Nicolás Maduro also appears as a cartoon superhero under the character of “Super-bigote” (Super-moustache), which depicts him fighting Superman-style against the country’s enemies, caricatured monsters such as opponents or former US President Donald Trump.
The head of state, a former bus driver in his youth, also often appears at the wheel of a pick-up truck, chatting with his wife, Cilia Flores, ministers and civil servants, as if he were the star of a reality TV show.
A film about his life was previewed in an emblematic theater in Caracas, along with a biographical book. A music competition was broadcast over several weeks to select his campaign songs.
“Hours of television, hours of advertising,” Mr. Hernández emphasizes.
Omnipresent on social networks
The press, for its part, denounces the blocking of certain information portals on the Web, while more than 400 media outlets have been closed in 25 years of Chavist power, according to NGOs defending journalists.
Although Nicolás Maduro claims to be “censored” on social media, state propaganda, both clips in his favor and videos critical of the opposition that are sometimes defamatory, is relentless on platforms such as YouTube.
We can see the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, declared ineligible, with a “puppet” in the image of Mr. González Urrutia, or the opposition “giving away” Venezuelan oil to the United States or fomenting violent plots.
Military high command figures released a video showing Mme Machado and Mr. González speaking to university students, with a blackboard in the background showing proposals for privatizing the state oil company PDVSA and education.
AFP verified that the video had been doctored and that the painting was in fact empty.
And while posters with Mr. Maduro’s face cover the streets and avenues of Caracas, the image of Edmundo González Urrutia seems banished.
Mr. González has given few interviews in the national media, in a climate of self-censorship. In an attempt to counter the propaganda, the opposition is focusing its energy on social networks, where it is calling for people to turn out to vote.