A fascist plot to discredit the memory of Chávez

Yesterday Nicolás Maduro wrote several tweets alerting of an ongoing “discrediting campaign carried on by fascist groups against the memory of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chávez.” (according to a note by AVN)

Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) wrote this sequence of tweets during the afternoon:

“People on the alert! The fascists have now begun a campaign against the memory of our supreme comandante in order to destroy him.”

“They want to destroy the noble sentiments and the loving memory of Hugo Chávez held by the fatherland. I call on all patriots to defend his dignity.”

“We have to defend Chávez’s dignity. They could not destroy him during his life time and we will not allow them to debase his memory now. Let´s defend his legacy.”

“Hugo Chávez is the Supreme Comandante of a revolution and he will continue the road of independence towards a new fatherland. He is the undefeated comandante of Venezuela.”

The President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, also seconded the President on twitter (@dcabellor):

“The fascist murderer Capriles attempted to trivialize [banalizar] the memory, dignity and honor of our Eternal Comandante. Chávez was too big for you mafioso [Capriles]”

The tweets were a reaction to declarations by Capriles earlier during the day in which he criticized the way government leaders and state media have been referring to Chávez a “Comandante Supremo,” and “Comandante Eterno.” Capriles argued: “it is wrong to use the name of a person to manipulate. (…) Supreme Comandante, Galactic Comandante, what’s that all about? Nobody is going to come back from beyond and solve our problems. (…) The only supreme chief is God. I only kneel to God and the people.”

To understand the process of consecration of Chávez’s figure in Venezuela read the following posts published in Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights: Civil Religion and the Transfer of Charismatic Authority in Venezuela and From Bolívar to Chávez to Maduro: Transfer of Charismatic Authority, Part II. For the link between these political religious phenomena and conspiracy theories read my previous post in this blog: Secular Theodicies and Some Political Consequences of Conspiracy Theories.