CARACAS, Venezuela – Nicolás Maduro launched 0800-BIGOTE (“0800-MUSTACHE”) this weekend, the socialist dictator’s new emergency response system named after his superhero alter ego Súper Bigote (“Super Mustache”).
The program, launched over the weekend in Carabobo state as a pilot, will seek to “dynamize everything that exists at the level of the public health system” according to Maduro, and will eventually be spread nationwide.
The emergency system reportedly features 100 ambulances, 40 of which will be destined for emergency patient transport and the rest for “preventive health.”
The ambulances feature the image of Maduro’s “Super Mustache,” who is seen in almost every part of the program’s infrastructure. The program’s operations center features pictures of “Super Mustache” dressed as a doctor.
Initially debuting as its own state media cartoon series in 2021, “Super Mustache” is Maduro’s superhero persona and a blatant ripoff of America’s iconic Superman that the socialist regime utilizes for propaganda. The creation of “Super Mustache” followed years of loud antagonism towards American superheroes — especially Spider-Man, who Maduro himself accused of being behind Venezuela’s violent crime.
The “Super Mustache” cartoon series depicts Maduro’s alter ego fighting Venezuela’s “enemies,” including the “inflation monster,” the Organization of American States (OAS), and members of Venezuela’s establishment “opposition.” The “opposition” appear as the henchmen of the “American Empire,” depicted in the form of a cartoonish rendition of former President Donald Trump named Mister Odio (“Mister Hate”).
The Maduro regime has spared no expenses to build an ubiquitous media presence for “Super Mustache” beyond the original cartoon series. The socialist superhero now boasts his own toy line, children’s school supplies, a theme song, and, now, an emergency hotline.
The emergency program also features a “Dracula bat,” which the socialist governor of Carabobo Rafael Lacava has long since co-opted as his own personal logo. Lacava, a close ally of Maduro, was portrayed in 2022 by the New York Times as a “cosmopolitan” technocrat.
The U.S Department of the Treasury sanctioned Lacava in 2019 for his involvement in corruption and the blocking of the entry of humanitarian aid into Venezuela.
The announcement of the 0800-BIGOTE program immediately drew criticism, with some denouncing Maduro’s new program as a way to politicize the right to health as Venezuela’s healthcare infrastructure lies in shambles under socialism.
Carmen Beatriz Fernández, a professor at the University of Navarra and an expert in political communication, told the Venezuelan news outlet Efecto Cocuyo on Sunday that, in her opinion, the new emergency health program is part of a campaign that seeks to “soften the image of Maduro” that could potentially backfire on him.
“There is an obvious risk of a boomerang [effect] when you associate your image with a health service that does not work,” Beatriz Fernández said. “Unless they are opening a miracle in Carabobo, one would say that 0800-BIGOTE is not going to work well. So, you are directly associating the collapse of the healthcare system with Super Mustache.”
Venezuela’s crumbling public healthcare infrastructure continues to face severe widespread problems. At least 40 percent of the nation’s hospitals report constant electrical failures as of the start of May.
By March 2022, 60 percent of hospitals reported not having access to running water. Hospitals reported shortages of 45 percent of basic items on their lists of necessary supplies; in emergency rooms, that shortage passed 70 percent.
In 2022, 218 deaths of patients in hospitals were attributed to blackout-caused electrical failures.
Beatriz Fernández also pointed out that Maduro “has an obvious problem of public affection,” which is why he is undertaking a campaign to rebrand as a superhero.
“It is not an electoral campaign, because he would have to make an express call to vote for him, but it is a campaign that seeks to improve his image because he is facing very low levels of acceptance,” she explained.
A poll released in early May showed Maduro among the least approved leaders in Latin America, with an approval rating of only 26 percent.
The mustache hotline faced accusations of violating of the socialist regime’s “anti-corruption” law, which states: “public officials and employees are at the service of the State and not of any political or economic partiality.”
“Consequently, they may not use public property or resources that make up the public patrimony to favor political parties or projects, or particular economic interests,” the law reads.
Elsewhere, Article 75 of this law stipulates that “the public official who, abusing his functions, uses his position to favor himself electorally or to favor or harm a candidate, group, organization, party or political movement, shall be punished with imprisonment from one to three years.”
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