Zika virus is an imperialist conspiracy

Epidemics are one of the favorite themes of conspiracy theories. Sometimes these theories become dangerous and can even hamper medial relief efforts. Several conspiracy theories about the origin and transmission of the Zika virus can be now found in the internet.

Here is a recent piece published in the web site Apporrea.org titled “Zika: a bomb against the South.” The main argument of the author is that the Zika virus is part of a plot to destroy the south’s coming “demographic bonus,” and thus to keep it as a dependent territory.

Because the link between the Zika virus and microcephalia has not been conclusively proven, and the symptoms from the virus rarely become more serious than those of a normal flu, the author concludes that the emergency around Zika is a scam created by the Empire. The author recommends “patriotic governments and sovereign people to not recognize the Zika humanitarian crisis that the imperialists want to impose.”

Aporrea however is an independent chavista web portal and not an official media of the Venezuelan government. No Venezuelan government official is known to have publically subscribed to this theory.