For Venezuelan comedian, having to listen to Maduro’s speeches is worthy of a statue
The day Venezuelans get to confront the late Hugo Chávez in the afterlife, well-known stand-up comedian Luis Chataing says he’ll be among those in line seeking answers.
And not for the obvious reasons: because he was censored in his country or had to move to Miami with his family or even because he misses the warmth of his people and doing things as simple as stopping at a gas station and engaging with fellow Venezuelans.
Chavismo, the political ideology implemented by Chávez and still followed by the Nicolás Maduro regime, determined the course of Chataing’s profession in a way he had not planned.
“I started in this job 27 years ago on the radio under the premise of making apolitical humor, absolutely as universal as I could,” he said. “But Hugo Chávez came to power and I had to get aboard to tackle things that were happening in our country and I took on the political issue, with irony, sarcasm, tools that would keep me on the side of the people who listened to this kind of humor.”
The comedian, who comes from a prominent family of architects in Venezuela, defines himself not only by what interests him — “I am opinionated, I’m a father and I am Aries,” he says — but also by what he is not: “I am not an athlete, I am not indifferent.“
Asked how he connects with the public, Chataing said: “Politics is a very important link between the people who follow me and for me, it is a commitment with my country as a Venezuelan. The bond I’ve created with the people who listen to me, watch my show or read me, is really important both for me and for them.”
This commitment makes him feel useful, he said. But it comes with a price. Every morning he spends four hours writing the scripts for the program “Conectados,” which he broadcasts on social networks, especially on his YouTube channel, which has almost 240,000 subscribers.
“I have to listen to all the rhetoric that is produced from the official platforms in Venezuela, all the speeches of Maduro, all the programs of Diosdado Cabello [the No. 2 in the Maduro regime],” he said, adding that it is “an absurd intensity” that leaves him feeling “like a human wreckage that crawls across the floor screaming for help.“
Chataing has promised himself that when things finally change in Venezuela, he will purchase a statue of himself to place in his garden. “I’ll salute myself for what I suffered all this time listening to all that crap,” he said, adding that while unmasking the representatives of the dictatorship through humor has its rewards, he also yearns to work with universal themes.
He hopes to return to Venezuela when there is a change of government because he would like contribute to his country.
“The transition will be difficult, and it will require that we all have the enthusiasm to participate and to encourage others to participate. At the same time, we have to understand that change will not happen just around the corner,“ he said.
“The scenario that these assassins are leaving us is truly apocalyptic and I think, I am not exaggerating, but the will is there and the idea of getting rid of them is exciting,” he said, noting that interim President Juan Guaidó represents hope for a significant sector of the population.
The three words he uses to define Venezuelans: cheerful, constant and persevering.
This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 5:49 PM.