Tesla owner and Venezuelan president are at war. Elon Musk says he will put Maduro in Guantanamo and Mars. Maduro suggests a fight and says Musk funded protests.
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Since last Sunday’s Venezuelan presidential election, in which Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner, the question of possible electoral fraud has been raised around the world. Many do not recognize the result of the National Electoral Council and defend the victory declared by the opposition, as is the case in the United States. In this country there is one voice that refuses to stop criticizing Maduro: Elon Musk. And the questioned Venezuelan President has not stopped responding.
Over the past week, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has used his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), to comment dozens of times on the political situation in Venezuela. The first post was made last Saturday, the eve of the elections. Musk shared a post by opposition leader María Corina Machado, writing that “it is time for the people of Venezuela to have the opportunity for a better future.” “Support María Corina,” he appealed.
After the results were announced, the Tesla owner shared and commented on several videos of the protests against Maduro. In one video in which dozens of people tear down a statue of the President, he responded in Spanish “Goodbye dictator Maduro.” In another post he repeated that “Maduro is not a good guy. Venezuela deserves much better.”
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Online criticism even increased towards Nicolás Maduro’s statements on Tuesday, in which He considered Musk his arch-enemy and challenged him to a fightreferring to the challenges the American had already launched to Mark Zuckerberg and Vladimir Putin, threats that were never carried out. “Do you want to fight? Let’s do it, Elon Musk. As we say here: If you want, I want!” he proposed.
The next day, Musk replied: “I accept,” he wrote. From then on, his posts began to refer to the alleged fight, saying that if he won, he would “resign as dictator of Venezuela.” If the Venezuelan president won, the owner of SpaceX would offer him “a free trip to Mars.”
If I win, he will resign as dictator of Venezuela.
If you win, I’ll give you a free trip to Mars.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2024
From then on the messages became more absurd. First he said that “Maduro is a big guy and he should know how to fight, so this would be a real fight.” On the side of the Venezuelan president, accused Musk of financing the protests that are spreading from the capital to the rest of the countryThe criticism began with a report by the AFP agency, which claimed that “the protests began after a questionable re-election.”
“Protests? These are criminal attacks, criminal ambushes, prepared and financed by foreigners. [um termo jocoso para descrever americanos não latinos]“Elon Musk and Colombian drug trafficking,” Maduro corrected, after reading the news at a meeting with the food industry workers union.
The reference to Musk’s name did not go unnoticed by his fans and the white man quickly responded: “Please ask him what size he wants for the orange jumpsuit at Gitmo. [abreviatura para a prisão de Guantánamo]This was not Musk’s first mention of the notorious US prison in Cuba.
On Thursday, he had already responded to a video shared with a false caption about soldiers who supposedly received orders from Maduro to keep Musk away. Elon Musk’s response: “I’m coming, Maduro! I’ll take you to Gitmo on a donkey.“. The message includes a emojis of a spaceship and a bomb, given the insistence of the owner of SpaceX on sending the Venezuelan into space.
I’m coming for you Maduro! ?????????
Shall I take you to Gitmo on a donkey? https://t.co/RB5qltxsYI
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024
Among dozens of other posts, Elon Musk also suggests that Maduro is “drugged with his own drug supply”shares the results presented by the opposition as legitimate and reacts with satisfaction to the American recognition of them and a victory for Edmundo González.
While Musk is leaving messages on his social network, Maduro is holding press conferences at the presidential palace. On Wednesday, in addition to accusing him of financing the protests, he called him a “murderer.” “Whoever messes with me will be defeated,” the Venezuelan president threatened.
But after all, why would an American citizen, a technology magnate and One of the richest men in the world is so strongly defending democracy in Venezuela? “To score very easy political points,” an expert on political participation and disinformation told the New York Times.
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According to Eugenia Mitchelstein, Elon Musk is using the victory of left-wing forces in Venezuela to argue that all socialist and left-wing forces are contributing to destroying society as we know it. Before last Saturday, it was only possible to find a single post by Musk about Venezuela, the university professor points out.
Among the corrupt politicians who will cause the collapse of the economy, Elon Musk also counts Joe Biden. It was this pattern that led him to support Donald Trump as a presidential candidate for the American elections. The billionaire has already argued that Not voting Republican in November will leave the United States in the same political situation as Venezuela. That is why criticism of Maduro helps him build this argument, Mitchelstein explains.
*Text edited by Cátia Andrea Costa
Source: Observadora
