Having nationalized a large number of domestic and international businesses, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has moved on to nationalizing Christmas. The socialist government of Venezuela released an official Youtube Christmas carol this week urging businesses to lower the prices of goods and celebrating Maduro.
The carol, clumsily titled “Knock Knock– Who Is It? People Of Peace, Lower Those Prices, Nicolás Is Here,” is designed to excite people about President Maduro’s new decree powers and his crusade to lower the prices of goods to bankrupt the middle class after calling for state-sponsored looting of stores. The title is meant to play on the President’s name–giving something like the effect of “Saint Nick is here!” without actually calling him Venezuela’s new Santa Claus–and it delivers on the heavy-handed, North Korea style government propaganda.
“Justice for the people/who have always governed,” sing the chorus, praising Maduro’s “success” at lowering the prices of goods (most notably this week, cars). Somewhat surprisingly for the culture surrounding Maduro, this carol does not mention his most lucid spiritual assertions–like when he claimed Hugo Chavez came to him in the form of a small bird after his death, or the more seasonal claim that Jesus Christ was famous for “multiplying the penises.”
Under Maduro, Venezuela’s government has become so dangerous to opposition on the ground and publicly absurd that it is difficult to look at this sort of propaganda and not laugh. It becomes increasingly difficult to resist the urge to think of Sacha Baron Cohen when Maduro blames “right-wing fascist saboteurs” when he cannot keep the lights on in his own capital, despite running an OPEC member nation. It was like this under Chavez as well, when his TV show featured a constant stream of self-parody like his stints with Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona and meetings with Sean Penn.
Yet as much as we may enjoy the ridicule that the Venezuelan government inflicts and has inflicted on itself for the better of two decades–listening to this should remind us of Venezuela’s soaring murder rate, its needless destitution, Maduro’s persecution of small businessmen, students, and anyone who raises their voice against his Cuban regime-sponsored tyranny. The plight of the Venezuelan people is hardly a laughing matter, even when their leader’s attempts at coming off as pleasant and beloved are nothing but.
Listen to Venezuela’s latest holiday hit below– English translation of the lyrics below the video:
Knock knock– who is it? People of peace
Lower those prices, Nicolás is here
This Christmas, Maduro governing
He succeeded in adjusting to fair prices
And now his people are shopping
Knock knock– who is it? People of peace
Lower those prices, Nicolás is here
Justice for the people
Who today continue to govern
And see that, like never before
Their [traditional Christmas box with presents] yields
Knock knock– who is it? People of peace
Lower those prices, Nicolás is here
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