Homophobia and Birther Paranoia Take Venezuelan Politics by Storm
Venezuela just launched a campaign to revive its moribund tourism industry. And the timing couldn’t be worse. The country is suffering one of the world’s highest inflation rates — topping 40% last month — and South America’s worst violent crime. But the nation’s unhinged politics aren’t exactly the stuff of travel agency brochures, either. Despite Venezuela’s sublime natural attractions, any tour guide would have trouble hiding how ugly and volatile the civic scene keeps getting inside the western hemisphere’s most oil-rich nation.
Social polarization has sharpened in Venezuela since its leftist strongman president, Hugo Chávez, died in March and his hand-picked successor, Nicolás Maduro, eked out a disputed victory in a special presidential election in April. In May a mass brawl broke out inside the National Assembly. But this past month has turned particularly absurd. A glaring example is the homophobic smears that Chávez’s United Socialist Party (PSUV) is hurling at opposition pols in an attempt to portray them as corrupt. (In macho Venezuela, being branded gay apparently calls your probity into question as well.)
The PSUV, in fact, seems to have decided that questioning the sexual orientation of unmarried opposition leader Henrique Capriles — who still insists he defeated Maduro in April — is the best way to distract Venezuelans from the government’s utter inability to solve the country’s economic and security debacles. PSUV National Assembly Deputy Pedro Carreño last week brandished what he said were photos of one of Capriles’ top aides dressed in drag and cavorting with drug dealers and prostitutes. Carreño’s real target was Capriles, whom he called out on the Assembly floor with gay slurs: “Respond to this, homosexual! Accept the debate, maricón (faggot)!” Maduro piled on by accusing Capriles, who is governor of Miranda state adjoining Caracas, of holding orgies that “prostitute youths.”
But Capriles and the opposition have managed to sully their own image as well. In spite of the myriad national crises that have dropped into their political laps of late, including a currency collapse and chronic shortages of basic consumer goods, they’ve chosen this summer to become Venezuela’s version of “birthers.” Their claim that Maduro was born in Colombia and therefore ineligible to be President has instead generated public sympathy for the sitting President — and made pundits wonder if they’re reverting to the kind of notorious political incompetence that helped keep Chávez in power for 14 years.
http://news.yahoo.com/homophobia-birther-paranoia-venezuelan-politics-storm-173433188.html