Venezuela’s socialist regime on Sunday debuted the latest episode of Súper Bigote (“Super Mustache”), dictator Nicolás Maduro’s superhero alter ego, inviting Venezuelans to celebrate Holy Week by “building socialism” with “God’s blessing.”
Super Mustache is the Venezuelan regime’s attempt to replace what it calls “capitalistic” superheroes and is a blatant ripoff of America’s iconic superhero Superman. Much like his predecessor, late socialist dictator Hugo Chávez, Maduro has personally blamed Spider-Man and other U.S. comic book heroes for causing Venezuela’s rampant crime and violence. Maduro reached that conclusion after watching Spider-Man 3 on television with his wife Cilia Flores in 2013, he announced at the time.
The “idealized” superhero version of Maduro is often used to push socialist indoctrination propaganda to children. “Super Mustache” has his own show, line of toys, school supplies, and comic book serialization depicting Maduro fighting against the “enemies” of Venezuela.
The villains in the comic series range from politicians to the “inflation monster” to individuals critical of the socialist regime such as foreign social media influencers and Elon Musk.
Catholics worldwide commemorate the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ during Holy Week. In Venezuela, Holy Week is a national weeklong vacation period in which most commercial establishments, schools, and public offices close.
The latest episode of “Super Mustache,” debuting on Palm Sunday through its official TikTok channel and Maduro’s Telegram channel, is centered around the Catholic festivity and features cartoon versions of Maduro and Cilia Flores. The episode begins with Maduro, who does not voice his cartoon persona, saying that Jesus Christ “inspires us to continue building a free, sovereign and deeply united country” and calls to fight against opponents of its socialist rule.
@superbigoteoficial ¡Súper Bigote! Disfruta del nuevo capítulo de ‘SuperBigote’, donde se nos habla del Señor Jesucristo, permanente inspiración para la construcción de una Patria libre, soberana y solidaria. Que esta Semana Santa sea propicia para renovar los valores del amor, la Paz y la justicia. Disfrutemos con responsabilidad de nuestra hermosa Venezuela.
♬ sonido original – Super Bigote
“Just as Christ confronted the powerful of his time, we confront the elites and the people of the surnames [Venezuelan opposition leaders], who try to bend our will,” the cartoon Maduro, holding a glowing crucifix, told the audience while driving. “But we do not give up because we know that faith and revolution walk together.”
The episode continues with Maduro holding a Bible and walking with Flores towards an image of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández, a renowned Venezuelan doctor and soon-to-be Venezuela’s first saint.
“The cross we carry is not only a symbol of sacrifice, but also of hope and victory. May this Holy Week be a time to renew our commitment to the values of love, peace, and justice,” Maduro said.
“Let us enjoy healthy recreation in the most beautiful places of our beloved Venezuela. But let us do so with great responsibility and judgment,” the narration continued in the episode. “Let us go forward, with God’s blessing and the strength of the people, building the Bolivarian socialism we dream of.”
The cartoon Maduro, after donning the Super Mustache costume, concludes by proclaiming, “Long live Christ the Redeemer, Long live the Revolution, Long live the Venezuelan people, Hand in hand with God, we will always overcome.”
The Venezuelan socialist regime has an extensive track record of hijacking the Christian faith to further its socialist agenda while at the same time maintaining a violent hostility towards the Venezuelan Catholic Church, whose bishops Maduro once accused of being “devils in cassocks.”
In 2014, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) “rewrote” the Lord’s Prayer to worship late dictator Hugo Chávez, the “Supreme and Eternal Commander of the Bolivarian Revolution,” who died from an undisclosed form of cancer in 2013.
For the past several years, Maduro has forced Venezuela to celebrate Christmas in October, going against the traditions of Christianity, which marks the Christmas season in a four-week period in December known as Advent to celebrate the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth on December 25, Christmas Day. Maduro’s repeated rescheduling of Christmas has been criticized by the Venezuelan Catholic Church, which rejects the continued political use of Christmas.
The Super Mustache character has inadvertently become part of local Catholic traditions as Venezuelans often burn effigies of the dictator’s alter ego during Easter Sunday’s Burning of Judas celebrations.
Although the Venezuelan socialist regime is actively belligerent towards the nation’s Catholic Church, Maduro has made extensive efforts in recent years to foster friendly ties with the Venezuelan Evangelical Christian community, which Maduro declared as “the true church of God” in 2023. Venezuelan Evangelical pastors responded to Maduro’s approach by proclaiming him the “protector of the family, according to the original design of the Bible” and praising Maduro’s alleged commitment to “Christian values for the support of the Venezuelan family.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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