Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is ready to find out what all the hype surrounding this “internet” thing is all about. Chavez announced on his weekend variety show Aló Presidente yesterday that he is about to expand his media empire to include a blog, or a “battle trench,” as he called it, where he could speak freely and openly about the issues that concern him. Funny, since last week he was railing against those who have mistaken the internet for a place “where you do and say whatever you feel like.”
It’s good timing for the authoritarian leader to go into writing. Now that an opposition (and a nation) ravaged by arrests, corruption, and mysterious disappearances has been mostly tamed, he won’t have to face competition from smarter or more competent writers. Chavez described his new website as “candanga”– literally “the devil,” but he probably meant “awesome”– and warned that he would be using the page to both express his feelings and “communicate with the enemy– let them hit me; I’ll hit back.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member