venezuela 2013: nicolás maduro’s political pr campaign after chávez’s death

Venezuela 2013: Nicols Maduros PR political campaign after Chvezs death 1

Venezuela 2013: Nicols Maduros political PR campaign after Chvezs death

Public Relations: Strategic Planning Model

Katherine Da Silva

Hult International Business School


Abstract

In April 2013, with only one month of political campaign, Maduro won the Venezuelan presidency in

a close election against the opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles. The government had a clear

strategy with incredible marketing and public relations (PR) work. This campaign was advised by Joao

Santana, a Brazilian PR master well-known for his accurate campaigns, who had accomplished

simultaneously running and winning campaigns for three Latin American presidents: Danilo Medina

- in the Dominican Republic -, Hugo Chvez - in Venezuela -, and Jos Eduardo dos Santos - in Angola.

Although the results were unreliable, and the difference between both candidates' votes was

extremely small, the main objective of the present work is to point out the PR strategy behind

Venezuelas presidential elections in 2013. It was based on the legacy of a leader: a campaign built to

manipulate, using peoples loyalty to Chvez; and the slogan Chvez I swear, my vote is for

Maduro

Keywords: Nicols Maduro, Chvezs legacy, Venezuelan elections 2013, PR political campaign in

Venezuela 2013.


BACKGROUND

Hugo Chvez: Bolivarian Revolution

Hugo Chvez, president of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, was the creator and leader of the Socialism

of the 21st Century: ideology based on the implementation of social reforms in Venezuela for the poor

people. Brian A. Nelson (2013) explained: Chvez styled himself as the leader of the Bolivarian

Revolution, a socialist political program for much of Latin America, named after Simn Bolvar, the

South American independence hero. Although the focus of the revolution has been subject to change

depending on Chvezs goals, its key elements include nationalism, a centralized economy, and a

strong military actively engaged in public projects. His ideology became known to many as simply

chavismo.

Since the very beginning of Chvezs regime, many people criticized him. They claimed he appeared

unprofessional, unprepared, and extreme. For 13 years, the public judged him on his constant insults

to international and national leaders, economical and social regulations, and the international public

relations he had built with socialist countries.

Many Venezuelans had supported Chvez as the outsider to the previous two-party system that had

ruled the country since 1958. However, others have formed a group - the opposition - against Chvezs

radical way of leading the country.

Chvezs excess of charisma, made him gain the support of Venezuela's population; from which 70%1

is considered poor. He touched the feelings of the neglected social classes that past governments have

left aside.

Hugo Chvez: Terminal Cancer

After 13 years of what he called a revolution, in February 2012, it was announced that the President

required surgery for a likely to be a malignant tumor. Two months after, an exclusive report from the

journalist Dan Rather exposed that the presidents condition was worse than expected. However, it

wasnt until November 2012 that Venezuelans found out from official sources about the Presidents

condition. It was hard to think that Chvez would allow someone else to be his successor, since he had

governed the country for so long and had just been elected for another six-year term.

On December 9, 2012, Chvez announced that he would travel to Cuba for another surgery. For the

very first time, he spoke out openly about his condition and his successor: Vote for Nicols Maduro

as President of Venezuela. I beg you from the bottom of my heart

Nicols Maduro: from bus driver to Chvezs successor

1 Stadistics based on: http://goo.gl/c62Qva


Nicols Maduro served under President Hugo Chvez as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to

20132, and as Vice President from 2012 to 2013. When Chvez died on March 5, it was Maduro who

made the announcement to the country: we received the hardest and most tragic information that

we could announce to our people.3 At that moment, as an interim president, Maduro ran a snap

campaign against the opposition leader Henrique Capriles for the presidential election on April 14,

2013.

BUSINESS GOAL

Political campaign: to win the 2013 presidential election and continue Chvezs legacy in Venezuela

through the candidate Nicols Maduro, after the death of Hugo Chvez.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM OR OPPORTUNITY

One of the things the last presidential campaign in Venezuela will be remembered for, is the short

period of time in which it was developed: one month of preparation, and only ten days of formal

campaign.

Back to March 5, 2013

CARACAS, Venezuela President Hugo Chvez of Venezuela died Tuesday afternoon after a struggle

with cancer, the government announced, leaving behind a bitterly divided nation in the grip of a

political crisis that grew more acute as he languished for weeks, silent and out of sight, in hospitals in

Havana and Caracas. (Neuman, 2013)

Half of the country was devastated with the news, and crowds congregated at a main square - Plaza

Bolvar - of Caracas; people were crying in sadness and fear about what would come next.

According to the constitution, in this kind of situation, the country should proceed to national elections

after 30 days. Maduro, designated for Chvez as his political successor, was to run a campaign against

Henrique Capriles Radonski, a state governor with a lot of political experience in the country, who had

just lost - five month ago- on the presidential elections against Chvez.

After seven days of mourning

The future of Chvez's policies was a mystery. No one really knew or thought about what could happen

after, but for the government, this was an opportunity to take advantage of the adoration of poor

Venezuelans for their leader. On the other hand, opponents saw a light at the end of the tunnel:

Chvez was dead and they had a strong leader in charge, Capriles. The days to come promised a new

path for Venezuelans future.

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro 3http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/americas/hugo-chavez-of-venezuela-

dies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


Elections right around the corner

Capriles campaign focused exclusively on the person of pro-Chvez candidate Nicols Maduro,

seeking to separate him from the image of Hugo Chvez. He claimed several times that Maduro does

not have the same popular support as Chvez, and that he is an unprepared politician. Hiding behind

Chvezs image, Maduro called himself the son of Chvez, maintaining his predecessors love for

conspiracy theories, he claimed that Chvezs cancer was caused from poisoning by dark forces

abroad4: an smart way to continue Chvezs legacy and empathise with his people, and manipulate

their commitment to the Revolution.

Bolivarian propaganda

Bolivarian propaganda has been used in Venezuela to promote Chvez's Bolivarian Revolution, and to

promote Maduro as the chosen successor to allow Chvezs legacy to continue. They used emotional

statements to gain attention, exploit populations fears, create enemies by blaming them of internal

and external situations, and produce nationalism within the population. They wanted to make people

feel that if they decided to support the opposition, they were betraying Chvez, the Revolution, and

the country. (Manwaring (2005), p. 11.)

RESEARCH

Jorge Rodrguez - Venezuelan politician and psychiatrist - was Maduros Campaign Director having the

Brazilian PR Master adviser, Joao Santana as his counselor. His team needed to verify where the

Chavistas were located in terms of popularity. As we will explain with more detail in the key audiences

section, the target audience was people at the lowest social levels, who were loyals to Chvez and to

the Revolution. Moreover, they needed to touch peoples feelings after Chvezs death.

Broom & Sha mention in the book Effective Public Relations: public relations is about building and

maintaining relationships between organizations and their stakeholders publics. In contrast with only

communicating a message to an audience. In that way, the plan was to introduce Maduro on an

emotional level, to connect with people using Chvezs legacy as the best speech, and to maintain this

new relationship. On the other hand, advisers were constantly checking the popularity that Capriles,

the opposition leader, was gaining; and analysing the possible reasons for it.

They used the latest GIS XXI poll that showed that most Venezuelans want to continue Chvezs

project. Their survey was conducted between March 18th to the 23rd, and they surveyed 1,500 people

on the publics response to Chvezs death. The results showed that 55.3% of Venezuelans will likely

vote for Maduro in the next elections (April, 2013).

4 More information: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/12/us-venezuela-election-

idUSBRE92B0MM20130312


The director of GIS XXI said: Theres no scenario where the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles

could win. In the best of cases he could get 46% of the votes.

With only ten days of campaign, their primary research was based on short interviews and polls made

by several agencies:

Qualitative: they visited several towns on what they called a house by house operation,

interviewing people and searching for the populations pains and concerns - short-Interviews. They

found out that in the minds of Venezuela's poor majority, Chvez will be remembered as someone

closed to a saint.

Quantitative: surveys were conducted all around the country since March. From the opinion polls

made on April, the results showed5:

Pollster Date Maduro Capriles Note

Datamtica April 7 34.9 39.7 3.000 people were interviewed by phone.

Datamtica April 11 30.6 42.1 2100 people were interviewed by phone.

Datanlisis April 11 54.8 45.1 1.300 people were interviewed

DatinCorp April 9 44 41 2.272 people were interviewed.

The surveys were done before and during the campaign. As the date of the election approached,

Capriles was closing the gap, and polls on Sunday - the day of the election - were really closed.

SITUATION ANALYSIS (SWOTS)

Strengths:

Venezuela has rich oil reserves managed by the government through PDVSA, the only oil extractor

and refiner in the country.

Unlimited monetary resources: since Chvez was the president, chavismo progressively took over

the administration of every sector of the economy, having access to capital from several sources

of production.

All national media is controlled by the Government - TV channels, radio, and newspapers.

The government controls all public branches: Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Citizens, and

Electoral. The influence they have over the Electoral Council, which is responsible for the

organization of all national elections at every level, gave them an obvious advantage.

Chvezs won presidential election 2012 with a 10% margin: his popularity was a fact.

5 Statistics from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,_2013


Elections are the only democratic way to choose a representative; the government knows how to

manipulate the process, and has managed to win 12 out of 14 national elections.6

Weaknesses:

The country had an inflation rate of 22%, a thriving black market, and crime rates at a high record.

Maduro did not have, the same popular support as Chvez; the majority of the population didnt

know about him as a public figure.

Maduro was not prepared to run a country as its President. It was Maduros first time

participating on a political campaign, and the time for preparation was really short.

National commotion due to Chvezs death: chavistas were going through tough times, and

elections were not a priority.

There was not a clear vision of who was the leader: it was Chvez all around the propaganda

campaign, but Maduro was the candidate.

The international media was not controlled by the Government, and social media was watching

governments corruption movements closely.

Opportunities:

Oil prices have surged to $103 a barrel, its highest price per barrel in history.

The revolution is a real movement that grew deep in Venezuela's minds, and part of the

population thinks that Chvez was the best thing that could have happened to the country.

Maduro was Chvezs chosen, to continue with his legacy.

Historically, Venezuela has enjoyed extremely high voter turnout.

Threats:

Not having their leader around them could create distrust within the party. There were

disagreements in regards to who would be their new leader, while everybody wanted to gain

power.

The socialist party had a quick loss of popularity.

International media could show different information from what the national media was showing.

PDVSA was no longer generating enough income to cover all campaign costs and finance its

commitments.

Strategic Implications:

Although Maduro was not the ideal candidate for the presidency, it was Chvezs election, and

followers will always respect his last word.

Venezuela's economy had precariously slipped from troubled to tumbling7. However, oil prices

surged to $103 a barrel.

6 Stadistics from http://goo.gl/k453VU 7 Source: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112920/venezuela-elections-2013-close-results-are-defeat-

chavismo


Chvez will be remembered as the one who delivered the highest share of oil wealth to

Venezuelan people; therefore, his personal legacy was likely secure.

COMMUNICATIONS GOAL

The communication goal was to persuade people - Chvezs followers - to vote for Nicols Maduro as

the best alternative to continue with Chvezs legacy, in a way that Maduro could finish the six year

period started by Chvez.

OBJECTIVES

Win the 2013 Presidential elections with a month of preparation and 10 days of official campaign.

Touch masses hearts by reminding them of Chvez's legacy.

Repetition of Chvezs Socialist Revolution.

KEY AUDIENCES

They were targeting the 70% of the poor and extremely poor people in the country, who had

supported Chvez since the very beginning. They were:

Venezuelans, males and females over the age of 18, who can voted. They should be registered in

the National Electoral Commission, CNE.

Citizens located in Venezuela, especially in very poor areas where people are easily influenced by

the majoritys way of thinking.

People with a low level of education and who perceives low incomes.

Those loyal to Chvez and his revolution.

Followers of left wing and socialisms supporters.

Those who believed in social programs, and in equity of opportunities.

STAKEHOLDERS

From the chavismo From the opposition

Nicols Maduro: candidate Henrique Capriles: candidate

Jorge Rodrguez: campaign director Armando Briquet: campaign director

PSUV: governments political party MUD: Democratic Unity Table

Other institutions: CNE: National Electoral Council of Venezuela, the Congress, and the national and

international media.

KEY MESSAGES


Nicols Maduro presented the same Government Plan that Chvez presented for the 2012 presidential

election. The plan called Plan for the country 2013-2019 has five key points8:

1. Defend the national independence by guaranteeing the Revolution and consolidating the union

between social classes.

2. Continue the implementation of the 21st century Socialism with a solid economic system.

3. Improve oil and gas production, expand and improve transportation infrastructure, and reinforce

relations with some countries.

4. Contribute with preservation and salvation of human life.

5. Guarantee the interplanetary peace.

However, the campaign was based on Chvezs legacy, the Plan for the Country will not change, and

Maduro was the man in charge of accomplishing it. The key message of the campaign was to highlight

that, the revolution continues with a new leader in charge.

STRATEGIES

The goal was to keep Chvez alive and position Nicols Maduro as the one who can follow the former

president's plan for the country. The strategies were:

Tactical: use slogans designed to be easily shouted by crowds - "We are all Chvez", Chvezs

heart is Maduro, "With Chvez and Maduro, the people are safe, and Chvez, I swear my vote

is for Maduro- , door by door operation, media relations, and marches.

Thematic: emphasize Chvez legacy in Maduros hands, the Bolivarian revolution continues, and

the masses - poor people - are taking into consideration in the Governments Plan.

Temporal: 10 days of formal campaign.

Tonal: aggressive, always attacking the opposition party and his candidate, Capriles. Take

advantage of poor peoples resentment.

Targets: Chavistas voters in Venezuela.

Testing: surveys and result of the election.

TACTICS

Media was a fundamental part of the campaign. Since the government control the national TV

and majority of the radio stations, those channels were used with political propaganda.

As the interim president, Maduro took advantage of the situation. He used the obligatory TV

broadcasts in a smart way to talk about Chvez and the work he ought to continue.

Media conspiracies was an important subject of the campaign. Maduro said that the government

had started an investigation to determine if someone inoculated Chvez with the cancer that

killed him9.

8 Plan for the country 2013-2019 here: http://blog.chavez.org.ve/Programa-Patria-2013-2019.pdf 9 More information: http://goo.gl/so4SVh


Maduro assured that Chvez appeared to him as a 'little bird' to bless him.10

The cult of personality has been used since Chvez. Maduros campaign also used it to create a

hero for his supporters to venerate him. At the same time, Chvez's legacy was seen on a

religious glow: Chvezs face was in catholics rosaries, and the Christian prayer (The Lord's Prayer)

was used changing the word Chvez instead of Father.

Chvez and Maduro - together- were everywhere: websites, t-shirts, posters, newspapers,

murals, billboards, and on the side of strategic buildings all around the country.

A catchy song supporting Maduros candidacy with a musical production and collaboration of

some of the top Venezuelan singers: Omar Enrique, El Potro, Hany Kauam, and Los Cadillacs.11

Personalized letters and phone calls to the masses to invite them to join the campaign and the

construction of the Socialism of the 21st Century.

Marches in the cities. They offered transportation, t-shirts, food, and alcoholic beverages.

EVALUATION The success of this campaign was measured by the presidential elections results in April 14th, 2013.

Maduro won the elections with 50.61% support versus 49.12% for Capriles, a difference of just

235,000 ballots, with a small margin of victory, 1.49%.12

TIMELINE

March 5, 2013 President Chvez died.

March 8, 2013 Ceremony of Vice President Nicols Maduro as interim president.

March 9, 2013 The CNE announced that elections for the new president would take place on April 14.

April 1, 2013 A march in Barinas, the city whereChvez was born.

April 2, 2013 First day of campaign. Official march in the State of Zulia. Lula Da Silva, Brazils ex-president, supported Maduros candidature, via TV.

April 3, 2013 Official march in Tchira. Presentation of the Presidential Plan.

April 4, 2013 Official march in Carabobo State.

April 5, 2013 Polls suggested that Maduro was most likely to win, as he has led Capriles by 10 %

10 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/nicolas-maduro-hugo-chavez-little-bird_n_3007965.html 11 Song available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq4P-6WFTSU 12 Source: National Electoral Commission http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/index.php


in most polls published during Aprils first week

April 6, 2013 Maduro visited the States of Amazonas, Delta Amacuro, and Bolvar; having an official march in Puerto Ordaz, State of Bolivar. Maduro said that there was an US plot to kill him during his election campaign.

April 7, 2013 Maduro visited Venezuelan Plains Los LLanos de Venezuela: States of Apure, Portuguesa, and Gurico.

April 8, 2013 Maduro visited the East region of the country: Monagas, Anzotegui, Sucre, and Nueva Esparta. He appeared driving a buss.

April 9, 2013 Maduro said in National TV that the results from the elections must be respected. He holds up a painting of Chvez in Catia La Mar, Venezuela.

April 10, 2013 Official march in Barquisimeto city.

April 11, 2013 Campaign closure, with an official march in the capital of Venezuela, Caracas. Argentina's ex-football player, Maradona, joined Maduro for his final speech in which he invoked the memory of Chvez.

BUDGET

Theres not official information about how much money the political campaign could have cost.

However, Carlos Berrizbeitia - opposition member of the National Assembly - estimated that Maduro

spend $1,300,00.00 per day in his political campaign, using the image of Hugo Chvez13. Representing

$13,000,000.00 total for the 10 days of official campaign. The campaign that lasted a month should

be much higher due to the following facts:

70 hours of propaganda transmitted on TV cost $8,253,371, which represents $825,396.82 per

day - in the 10 days of campaign. (Monitoreo ciudadano, 2013)

Maradona charged $2,000,000 for participating in Maduros Campaign. (ABC.es, 2013)

Marketing and PR strategy behind the campaign. The New York Times reported that Santana is

paid well into the millions of dollars. (The New York Times, 2013)

CONCLUSION

Although the difference between both candidates votes was extremely small, the main objective of the PR strategy behind Venezuelas presidential elections in 2013 was a success.They knew how to build and maintain a relation with Chvezs followers through the message of the legacy of their leader. It was an excellent PR campaign based peoples loyalty to Chvez.

13 Stadistics from: http://venezuela.diariocritico.com/noticias/nicolas-maduro/campana-electoral/1-millon-

300-mil-dolares/406929


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venezuela 2013: nicolás maduro’s political pr campaign after chávez’s death

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