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COMMENTARY Nicol谩s Maduro's criminal electoral fraud cements his place in Venezuela's gallery of notorious dictators 鈥� and destroys once and for all the founding lore of his rotted socialist "revolution."
Venezuela officially has a new tyrant king 鈥� and we hereby proclaim him Catfish II!
There鈥檚 always been an eerie physical resemblance between 20th-century Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente G贸mez and 21st-century Venezuelan dictator Nicol谩s Maduro. The jet-black helmets of hair. The bulldog cheeks. And the bushy mustaches 鈥� the source of G贸mez鈥檚 nickname, El Bagre, or The Catfish.
But now the political likeness is complete as well.
There鈥檚 the medieval brutality: G贸mez was a homicidal degenerate who collected torture methods instead of stamps. Today, Maduro is accused by the U.N. of crimes against humanity.
There鈥檚 the magical realist orgy of corruption: G贸mez stole so much of Venezuela鈥檚 oil wealth, and Maduro has through the country, that one was and the other is among the world鈥檚 criminally richest men.
And 鈥� as Maduro confirmed unequivocally this week 鈥� there鈥檚 the monstrous rape of democracy: G贸mez ruled Venezuela for 27 years. Maduro, who came to power 11 years ago, threatens to rule for at least another six now that he and his mafioso regime have engineered the most Neanderthal electoral fraud the western hemisphere has seen in more than a generation.
READ MORE: Venezuela's Maduro tells us to accept the results of an election he may steal
Venezuela had other despicable dictators before Maduro. Cipriano Castro. Marcos P茅rez Jim茅nez. And Maduro has sealed his place in that ghastly gallery.
But the G贸mez comparison matters most. That鈥檚 because much of the aura of the socialist 鈥渞evolution鈥� Maduro heads relies on the ancestral claim of its founder, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Ch谩vez. He insisted his great-grandfather was the llanero, or cowboy, Pedro P茅rez Delgado, aka Maisanta 鈥� who led a guerrilla campaign against G贸mez鈥檚 dictatorship.
This week Maduro desecrated that people's lore like a dog hiking his hind leg over a Caracas fire hydrant.
He is G贸mez, not the guerrilla.
The resemblance between 20th-century dictator Juan Vicente G贸mez and 21st-century dictator Nicol谩s Maduro is now undeniably political as well as physical.
How else to describe Maduro鈥檚 obscenely brazen theft of last Sunday鈥檚 presidential election? His utterly implausible declaration that he somehow defeated opposition challenger Edmundo Gonz谩lez, 51% to 44% 鈥� when every credible exit poll showed him losing to Gonz谩lez by a landslide of 30 points or more, after every credible voter poll had showed him losing to Gonz谩lez by 40 points or more?
How else to characterize his refusal to provide the opposition and the international community with any legitimate proof of his illegitimate victory? His withholding of the precinct-by-precinct tally of Sunday鈥檚 vote 鈥� his middle finger flashed at every country and that鈥檚 calling out his scam, which is so knuckle-dragging it makes ogrish ballot burglaries like Mexico鈥檚 in 1988 and Panama鈥檚 in 1989 look sophisticated?
Thug military
How else to cast his threats to arrest not only Gonz谩lez but opposition leader Mar铆a Corina Machado, whose overwhelming popularity with voters caused him to bar her from running in Sunday鈥檚 election? His thug military鈥檚 attacks 鈥� and those of his thug street enforcers known as colectivos 鈥� on Venezuelans who鈥檝e taken to the streets to protest his G贸mez-ish despotism?
It's sad but unsurprising that Latin America's more retro and spineless leftists 鈥� led by Brazilian President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador and Colombian President Gustavo Petro 鈥� gave their ideological bro Maduro a pass this week by abstaining from an Organization of American States vote to demand he cough up the actual election data. (The resolution failed as a result.)
Still, genuinely 21st century-minded Latin American leftist like Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Guatemalan President Bernardo Ar茅valo aren't buying Maduro鈥檚 appalling, 20th century-style lie.
So maybe 鈥� just maybe 鈥� conscientious leftists in the Americas are coming to the gut-wrenching realization this week that unconscionable leftists like Maduro are clubbing leftism鈥檚 image to a bloody pulp and kicking it into a ditch to die.
Maybe 鈥� just maybe 鈥� it鈥檚 dawned on them that Latin American leftism today doesn鈥檛 evoke cowboy lionhearts like Maisanta but rather caudillo losers like Maduro.
Maybe 鈥� just maybe 鈥� they鈥檙e shamed by the fact that even reactionary autocrats like G贸mez presided over economic growth, while a 鈥渞evolutionary鈥� like Maduro has engineered the worst humanitarian crisis in modern South American history. An emergency that鈥檚 forced a quarter of Venezuela鈥檚 population to emigrate in the past decade.
Even so, unfortunately that doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檒l shame Catfish II into giving up power 鈥� because, like Catfish I, he had no shame to begin with.
