Pro-regime self-proclaimed Evangelical Christian pastors in Venezuela declared socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday the “protector” of the family according to the “original design” of the Bible.

The regime brought the pastors out at a religious event in the national capital, Caracas.

The Maduro regime has long maintained a contradictory attitude towards Christianity, repressing the nation’s Christian opposition to socialism and instigating violent gang attacks on churches but using Jesus in its socialist propaganda. In more recent years, it has attempted to improve ties with smaller Evangelical Christian groups at the expense of the Catholic Church, proclaiming them “the true church of God” in January 2023.

The political embrace of Evangelical Christians, local experts have explained in the past, is part of Maduro’s plan to garner sympathizers and rehabilitate his tarnished image. Venezuela is an overwhelmingly Catholic country. As of 2020, 71 percent of its population is Catholic, while some 13 percent identify as Evangelical Christians.

In the event on Wednesday — titled the “March for Life, Family, and Faith” — the Evangelical leaders claimed that Maduro had set an “example as a family man” by showing himself together with his wife, Cilia Flores, in official events. The Maduro regime has granted Flores the title of “First Combatant,” a made-up term to elevate her above “first lady” status.

“When I see his [Maduro’s] walks, always next to his wife, I say that is the constitution that God made of the original design of the family,” Pastor Luis Rodriguez, president of the Assembly of God Council of Venezuela Evangelical organization, said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro dances next to his wife, Cilia Flores, during a pro-government demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela, on February 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

The Evangelical pastors also praised Maduro for his alleged “loyalty and commitment to Christian values for the sustenance of the Venezuelan family.” They did not address Maduro’s long history of human rights abuses against his own people, including presiding over violence against Christian members of the opposition.

Maduro accepted the Evangelical pastors’ designation and claimed that he would be the “protector of the Venezuelan family forever.”

“I am very clear that Venezuela’s path from now on is to become the world example of the re-foundation of the family and a new civilization of love, equality, sharing, and solidarity,” Maduro said.

Maduro assured that he “can swear his commitment” to the country and claimed that he is a “president who will never be seen as weak in the face of evil and perversion.”

“I am not a weak, manipulable, lazy, and powerless president. I am a president determined to re-found the value of the Venezuelan family as the basis for the union and the creation of a new civilization for the next generations,” Maduro said.

The socialist dictator continued by stating that the basis of the new civilization that he will allegedly lead will be the “defeat [of] the anti-values of the West,” asserting Venezuela must have a “courageous, Christian, determined, biting president with a solid family.”

Maduro also declared May 15 a new national holiday in “honor of the family” that will be allegedly dedicated to the “union in Christ, family union, encounter, hope, and life.”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro greets supporters during a march by evangelical Christians in defense of the original family model, marking Family Day in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Maduro was accompanied by his son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, who is the vice president of religious affairs of the ruling Venezuelan United Socialist Party (PSUV) and the de facto liaison between the ruling socialists and sympathizing Evangelical Christian groups.

The Maduro regime has offered several concessions to Evangelical leaders recently in an attempt to create a pro-faith image for the PSUV. In March, Maduro ordered the elimination of all taxes relevant to the construction of Evangelical churches in the country. Maduro also raised the number of beneficiaries of the “Good Shepherd” bonus, a direct $14 monthly monetary stipend issued to Evangelical leaders. The leaders receive the money through the regime’s Fatherland System, a platform inspired by China’s Social Credit Score and built with the assistance of Chinese technology company ZTE.

The ruling socialists have repeatedly weaponized the Christian faith in the past. In 2014, the Maduro regime rewrote the Lord’s Prayer to worship late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez, who is posthumously referred to as the “Supreme and Eternal Commander of the Revolution.”

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.