In Venezuela, a comedian could face off with Maduro
Many strange political trends have unfolded across the world in recent years. One underlooked current has been success for comedian candidates.
In Slovenia, comic-turned-mayor Marjan Šarec was briefly prime minister of the country after his party secured a second-place finish back in 2018. In Italy, comedian Beppe Grillo championed his “Five Star Movement” to disruptive heights, despite being banned from serving in parliament himself. And of course, in Ukraine, this trend came to an explosive head with the emergence of Volodymr Zelensky in 2019, who ran an outsider campaign against incumbent Petro Poroshenko and landed with over 70% of the run-off vote.
Now, in Venezuela, a similar phenomenon has appeared on the horizon. Comedian Benjamín Rausseo, known as the “Count of Guacharo,” is now a “pre-candidate” to lead opposition to Maduro after erupting in primary polls. Most still see him behind opposition heavyhitter María Corina Machado, but one has Rausseo neck-and-neck.
This is not Rausseo’s first turn at Venezuelan presidential politics. All the way back in 2006 he ran for the top job, but ended his campaign before the vote, citing a promise to drop out if he wasn’t polling at least second place. Now he’s back, despite never holding elected office within the intervening period.
Rausseo’s message may ring familiar to other “celebrity” campaigns. He recently claimed that he sees Venezuela as a “great company,” with its citizens as “shareholders.” He also admits he “[doesn’t] have much experience,” but pledges to “learn” on the job.
Global media has been slow to pick the story up, but Rausseo’s campaign has only come into focus recently. In the event he is selected as the opposition candidate, it would certainly generate international waves to see a comedian positioned as the main force against Maduro.
His candidacy has its detractors among the opposition. Henrique Capriles, former opposition candidate who himself appears in primary polls, slammed Rausseo as absent in the fight against Maduro. According to the Delphos poll, Capriles is around 10 points behind Rausseo in support among the opposition.
The opposition primary is slated to be held on October 20th, so there’s still around half a year of campaigning to go for Rausseo. Some among the opposition have expressed hope for an opening of the electoral environment in time for 2024, but anticipated reforms remain to be seen.
In a year filled with major elections- in India, the US, South Africa, and Mexico, to name a few- the opportunities for global disruption are numerous. Given recent political developments, observers would be remiss to ignore Rausseo here.
Postscript
Beyond recent polls, there are reasons to take Rausseo’s chances among the opposition seriously. On Instagram, for example, he outpaces Machado by over 500K followers, with a total of 2.7M on his account. The photo featured at the top of the article has over 360K likes- stunning numbers for anyone familiar with political social media.
Zelensky boasted a similarly massive audience, with engagement to match. When judging the strength of “outsider” candidates, who often lack institutional support, social media impact sometimes- though certainly not always- separates real contenders from the overhyped. And support for candidates drawing from this resource can sometimes be understated, until their network is “activated” and aimed squarely at the political goal.
Given the very recent emergence of the Rausseo campaign, polling will be worthwhile to watch to see if the effect is replicated.