Venezuela’s dictatorship includes Maduro dolls in Christmas gifts distributed to children

In addition to balls, carts and bicycles, the Venezuelan dictatorship distributed other toys as gifts this Christmas: the dolls Súper Bigote (Super Mustache) and Cilita, inspired by the leader of the regime, Nicolás Maduro, and the first lady, Cilia Flores.

According to the number two of the Venezuelan regime, Delcy Rodriguez, almost 13 million toys were given to children, including dolls that reproduce muscular characters wearing red clothes and a superhero cape —Súper Bigote also wears a worker’s helmet and has a iron hands, in reference to the catchphrase adopted by the dictator against opponents.

“Another gesture of deep love from President Nicolás Maduro to our people. Together, let’s continue to defend peace, prosperity and the future of our beloved Venezuela,” Rodriguez wrote on social networks along with a video with records of gifts being delivered.

Maduro’s PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) highlighted on its website that children living in communities and in need of medical care received the gifts. “They were [entregues] balls, dolls, the Super Mustache, phones, legos, little houses and cars”, says the publication.

The action was criticized by opponents and even supporters of the regime, who question the personality cult of their leaders and the use of public resources in the initiative. “It seems innocent, but this is serious. That’s where the nation’s few resources go: for advertising. And they are aimed at the little ones”, wrote the user Alejandro Dumont on Twitter.

The character Súper Bigote was launched last year as a cartoon on Venezuelan state TV. In the animation, he fights the American empire and other enemies, including opponents represented as chickens. In the premiere episode, the hero had the mission to save Venezuelans from the US leader, represented as a blond character who resembles former President Donald Trump.

The name Súper Bigote was mentioned publicly by Maduro for the first time in 2019 – the dictator has been in power since 2013 and is facing an economic crisis. Last month, a study released by the Venezuelan Catholic University Andrés Bello indicated that extreme poverty in Venezuela fell from 2021 to 2022, but that the country still has the greatest social inequality in Latin America.

In recent months, the Venezuelan dictatorship has resumed dialogue with the opposition after a year of suspension of talks, in a negotiation in which the election is the central theme. Opponents claim the regime offers guarantees of a free and fair process and allows it to be independently overseen by the international community.

In response to the resumption of talks, the US has eased sanctions and announced that it will again allow the oil company Chevron to import oil and derivatives produced in Venezuelan territory, as long as the country’s state-owned giant, PDVSA, does not benefit financially.

Oil is the central pillar of the resumption of talks between the regime and the Venezuelan opposition, which seek to reinforce the country’s role in the international market. It is also of interest to major world potentials, especially after the geopolitical changes brought about by the War in Ukraine forced the search for alternatives in terms of oil and energy.