Propaganda

Throughout the years, along with the development of media and technology, society has been bombarded by propaganda. Propaganda is not just posters and tv commercials, the term represents much more than that; it is interested in making you believe something, in selling and idea, in manipulating and shaping perceptions. I argue and attempt to arrive to a better understanding on how propaganda isused upon society in Venezuela by its government and its opposition, as well as its consequence. (abstaract)

( lit review) The government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and his Bolivarian Revolution are among the most controversial, discussed and debated issues in Latin America. Propaganda may be seen as a psychological tool that tries to sell an idea and make you believe in something. Many scholarshave tried to dissect the way propaganda is used by the main political parties in the country. The present paper will analyze the way scholars such as Carlos Branco, opponent of the Chavez government, agree with the idea that propaganda has been used to brainwash the minds of society to sell the idea of what the president defined as a Revolution of the Americas, while others, such as ElizabethGacksetter, propose the idea that propaganda is used by the high class of the country to distort the image and the acts of the Venezuelan president.
Throughout the last 10 years, since the president Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was elected, Venezuela had been socially divided into two main parties, Chavista and opposition. As it was formerly mentioned, many scholars had debated the way propaganda isused to their advantage in Venezuela for a political purpose. The major political parties in the country use propaganda as a psychological tool to propagate their views and influence public opinion. Carlos Branco in his book called “Revolucion y Desilusion”, discusses the way Chavez uses charisma and communication skills, constantly referring back to some of the most prominent figures ofindependence such as Simon Bolivar trying to portray himself as the savior of the country. The government uses media and propaganda in a deliberate way to brainwash the society and feeding their hopes for a better place with false promises. Chavez manipulates the information in the media to make society believe that the government is actually doing a good work, feeding them with false illusions thatVenezuela is improving. The red color was chosen to represent the government, it is constantly used in their propaganda to represent revolution, it has become an important symbol in the society. Media is used as a powerful political instrument to promote his cause, the Chavista propaganda is mainly directed towards the low classes, which constitutes more than the 60% of the country and always appeals totheir emotions and hope. On the other hand, the opposition takes advantage of the media as well, their purpose is to propagate the idea that Chavez government is destroying the country little by little, that corruption and delinquency grows as he stands on the presidency. Many of the opposition propaganda compares Chavez with Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba, the comparison is used to awaresociety that Venezuela could end up in a dictatorship such as the one imposed by Castro. Contrary to this, Elizabeth Gacksetter, on his book called Venezuela, argues that the powerful channels and newspapers of the country, had used the media in an organized and deliberate way to get people adopt a negative attitude towards the president. She believes that the high class of the country used to rulethe country and do to the fact Chavez is creating a more equal country, they are using media to distort his image.
The books Venezuela and Revolucion y Desilusion discuss and analyze the way propaganda is used to influence society by the two main parties, Chavistas and opposition. Carlos Branco, the author of Revolucion y Desilusion, argues against the government, saying that propaganda has...