Venezuela’s propaganda machine lashes back with jokes, cartoons and sarcasm as US pressure ramps up

By Max Saltman, Isa Cardona, CNN

(CNN) — It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…not Superman?

No, it’s Super Mustache, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s cartoon alter-ego, here to save the South American country from peril.

“Super Mustache,” which has aired on Venezuelan state TV since 2021, is just one piece of the country’s propaganda push as US warships amass near the Venezuelan coast and US President Donald Trump muses about sending troops to depose Maduro.

In a September episode of “Super Mustache,” aired shortly after Trump began his campaign of airstrikes on alleged drug boats off the Venezuelan coast, the cartoon superhero doffed his usual costume in favor of a military uniform, wielding a sheathed sword and declaring that Venezuela doesn’t have a “warmongering culture.”

Yet despite Super Mustache’s new look, the Venezuelan government has sent mixed messages since tensions increased with the US, simultaneously urging citizens to prepare for action while insisting that everything is fine.

The dissonance between the gravity of the crisis in the Caribbean and the regime’s messaging is visible on the streets of Caracas. Unlike in previous nationwide campaigns, CNN teams in Venezuela have not seen any billboards, banners, murals, or graffiti in the national capital calling for support for the regime’s war footing, even in neighborhoods considered government strongholds.

Different strategies

Maduro, who prior to August was more commonly seen in enclosed spaces, has been making speeches and public appearances almost daily since tensions began to rise with the United States, often seen surrounded by a significant security detail, according to Venezuelan researcher and journalist Andrés Cañizález.

Maduro hasn’t taken on the job of projecting Venezuela’s military might in the face of Trump’s threats. He has instead portrayed himself as a peacemaker, even singing John Lennon’s song “Imagine” at a public event, urging Trump to come to the table for talks face-to-face. As he waded through the crowd at a rally on November 13, Maduro told CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon that the US should unite with Venezuela for peace in the Americas.

Cañizález believes the Maduro government’s communication strategy has gone through different stages: initially, tensions with the US were downplayed, but as the US military presence in the Caribbean increased, the discourse shifted “to a more threatening, more retaliatory tone.”

Maduro’s counterpoint in Venezuela’s propaganda machine is Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister and host of one of the country’s most popular talk shows on state TV – “Con el Mazo Dando,” Spanish for “Hitting it with a Club.” In a typical four-hour episode, Cabello meanders between attacking opposition politicians, telling jokes and promoting the government’s position.

Chief among those positions is that US actions in the Caribbean have nothing to do with drugs, despite what the Trump administration insists.

“There are no tensions here between Venezuela and the United States. Here there is an aggression by the United States against Venezuela,” Cabello declared on his episode last week. “And the aggression has nothing to do with drugs, or terrorism, or criminal gangs, it has to do with taking control of Venezuela’s natural resources.”

On every episode, the interior minister reads out criticisms of the Maduro government, usually from Republican politicians in the US, then responds with a recording of the late President Hugo Chavez daring the United States to try and invade Venezuela.

Political scientist Javier Corrales, who often writes about Venezuelan politics, told CNN that Cabello has long cultivated an aggressive reputation as part of the regime’s old guard.

“He’s a bully,” Corrales said. “There is a certain aspect of Cabello that we recognize in other autocracies, the need to have somebody not just praising the president, butpresident but trashing the opposition – and Cabello is amazing.”

In recent weeks, Venezuela’s military has also posted numerous videos on social media showing soldiers preparing for war, usually set to dramatic music. Footage shows troops conducting shooting drills, anti-tank fortifications in Caracas, and militia members posing with weapons.

Going easy on Trump

Yet, in their different approaches, Maduro and Cabello share one feature: a reluctance to criticize Trump too harshly. Both men have a lot to say about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In Cabello’s telling, Rubio, whom the interior minister often calls “the Crazy Cuban,” is intent on leading a reluctant Trump to declare war on Venezuela.

“This move to seek a change of government in Venezuela isn’t even to satisfy the interests of…Trump or MAGA, but rather those of Rubio and the Cuban American mafia,” Cabello announced to his live studio audience during last week’s episode.

Corrales explained that Rubio is a perfect foil for the Maduro regime, being perhaps the most prominent critic of Latin American leftism in the US government. The secretary’s Cuban heritage and Florida origins also provide fodder for Cabello, who often claims that Rubio is aiming to please an electorate of anti-communist Cuban exiles in Miami.

Cañizález told CNN that while Trump might be criticized, Rubio is a useful “external enemy” for the regime’s most loyal supporters.

Rubio “is presented as the direct enemy of the revolution,” Cañizález said. “This tactic seeks to sow divisions in US domestic politics and reinforce the idea of a personalized external enemy, useful for uniting the Chavista base.”

Even after Trump ordered strikes on alleged drug boats directly off the Venezuelan coast in September, Cabello claimed in his show on September 3 that Rubio is “leading Trump to the slaughter, because Rubio is trying to fracture Trump’s MAGA base and…sell himself as a new hawk within the Republican Party.”

CNN has reached out to the US State Department about Cabello’s claims.

Even though Cabello often talks about preparing for all scenarios, including possible military conflict, he occasionally downplays Trump’s announced actions against Venezuela. Shortly after Trump publicly authorized the CIA to conduct covert actions in the country, Cabello mocked as ridiculous the idea that the CIA had ever been inactive in Venezuela.

“Yes, (the CIA) has been formally authorized to act,” Cabello said sarcastically. “It never acted here before.”

Herein lies the dilemma for Venezuela’s leadership: mobilizing support against external enemies while avoiding the panic of a country under siege. If worse comes to pass, will Super Mustache unsheathe his sword?

The-CNN-Wire
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