Venezuela’s president says right-wing opponents have unleashed a new weapon in their push to destabilize his government and demoralize his supporters: an imitation of Hugo Chavez’s voice.
An audio recording widely circulated on social media purports to be the late Venezuelan leader saying he’s still alive.
The recording comes nearly seven months after authorities announced Chavez’s death from cancer and just a few months before municipal elections in the politically polarized South American country.
President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that the recording implying that Chavez has been kidnapped is fake, and he isn’t taking it lightly.
“These people have no ethical limit, they have no moral limit, they have no scruples,” Maduro said in televised remarks at a United Socialist Party of Venezuela event.
The recording purports to be an excerpt from a phone conversation between Chavez and his brother. A voice that sounds like Chavez says he is recovering, that his death was a lie and that he is “more alive than ever.”