“Con El Mazo Dando”: The TV show that terrorizes Venezuelans
Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez turned his rule into a reality TV show. A tactic adopted by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who is in charge of repression in a Venezuela that makes no secret of its authoritarian tendencies.
Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., terror takes over Venezuelan television when the Minister of Internal Affairs, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, appears on screen.
Alone in front of the camera, he publicly berates his opponents during his program "Con El Mazo Dando," whether they be political opponents, journalists, simple critics, or even international figures like billionaire Elon Musk or Colombian President Gustavo Petro. No one escapes his wrath, notes Pares, the website of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation :
“He spends hours in front of the camera, like some kind of Orwellian leader, giving his opinion on everything, monitoring the regime’s enemies and threatening with his hammer anyone who contradicts his plans.”
And the "hammer blow," from which the program takes its name, is not just metaphorical, since it "often comes true," warns the independent media outlet Efecto Cocuyo . Broadcast on the national channel Venezolana de televisión and on YouTube, the program can sometimes last more than five hours.
“We will defeat you in the polling stations, we will defeat you in the streets and if you dare to resort to violence, you will have TUN TUN!” Cabello declared on May 24, 2025, one day before the regional elections.
Courrier International
