Aló Presidente

{{Expand Spanish|topic=cult|Aló Presidente

|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Aló Presidente.png

| genre = Talk show

| presenter = Hugo Chávez

| starring = Hugo Chávez

| country = Venezuela

| language = Spanish

| location = Caracas

| cinematography =

| network = Venezolana de Televisión

| first_aired = {{Start date|1999|05|23|df=y}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2012|01|29|df=y}}

| related = Contacto con Maduro

}}

Aló Presidente (English: Hello, Mr. President) was a long-running, unscripted talk show hosted by Hugo Chávez, former President of Venezuela. It was broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio channels, including Venezolana de Televisión, on Sundays from 11:00am until mid/late afternoon. The show was used to promote Chavista socialist principles to supporters in Venezuela and beyond. Many editions were filmed outdoors before large audiences, commonly featuring a local farm, factory, school, hospital, housing project or other public investment. Although Chávez typically appeared on television several times a week, Aló Presidente was his opportunity to reach most families on their day off.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

The show was criticized for its lack of seriousness, due to low production values, spontaneous announcements, random contributions from audience members, colorful informality and often outright tedium.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/hugo-chavezs-totally-bizarre-talk-show.html|title=Hugo Chávez's Totally Bizarre Talk Show|last=Nolan|first=Rachel|date=2012-05-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-09-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Live footage of Aló Presidente would occasionally be broadcast simultaneously across all state and private television and radio in Venezuela, for any period determined by Chávez during the broadcast.

History

Beginning in 1999, Aló Presidente was a 1-hour show designed to give citizens a voice and put them in direct contact with Chávez. It was first broadcast on radio on May 23, 1999, about three months after Chávez took office.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ayT3Lv1UDWDk&refer=latin_america|title=Live From Caracas! It's the Hugo Chavez Show, Poems to Taunts|last=Wilson|first=Peter|date=September 15, 2006|access-date=January 9, 2012|publisher=Bloomberg}} The show did not air between June 5, 2011, and January 8, 2012, while Chávez was receiving cancer treatment in Cuba.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE8070J620120108|title=Chavez's "Alo Presidente" returns to Venezuelan TV|date=2012-01-08|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-09-30|language=en}} A total of 378 shows aired.{{cite web|url=http://www.alopresidente.gob.ve/transmisiones-anteriores/|title=Aló Presidente - Transmisiones Anteriores|publisher=Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information|language=es|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801075356/http://www.alopresidente.gob.ve/transmisiones-anteriores|archive-date=August 1, 2009|access-date=July 14, 2009}}

In 2007, Chávez took his desk to the beach and recorded a 7-hour episode including his views on what he called European imperialism in the Malvinas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/28/venezuela.rorycarroll|title=Aló Presidente - episode 291: When Chávez reclaimed Las Malvinas|last=Carroll|first=Rory|date=2007-08-28|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-09-30|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} During the March 2, 2008 airing, Chávez ordered a general to send ten battalions of troops to the border with Colombia in response to a bombing by Colombian forces inside Ecuador which killed Raúl Reyes, a FARC leader.{{cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_anderson?currentPage=all|title=Fidel's Heir: The influence of Hugo Chávez|last=Anderson|first=Jon Lee|date=June 23, 2008|newspaper=The New Yorker|access-date=March 6, 2013|author-link=Jon Lee Anderson}} The battalions were ultimately not deployed, but the declaration may have caused the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis. Chávez spent a large amount of time on the show denouncing capitalism, imperialism and foreign interference.{{cite journal |last1=Urbinati |first1=Nadia |year=2019 |title=Political Theory of Populism |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=22 |pages=111–127 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-050317-070753 |doi-access=free}}

When segments were broadcast as a cadena nacional, citizens were compelled to either listen in or turn off their TVs or radios. Many Venezuelans tuned in because Chávez was known for unveiling financial assistance packages or other social benefits.{{Cite book |last=McCaughan, Michael. |title=Battle of Venezuela. |date=2010 |publisher=Seven Stories Press |isbn=9781609801168 |location=New York |oclc=697122361}} The show promoted the Bolivarian Revolution and allied governments, blaming Venezuela's economic and other problems principally on the United States, but also on internal economic and political enemies.{{cite news |last=Lakshmanan |first=Indira |date=27 July 2005 |title=Channeling his energies Venezuelans riveted by president's TV show |newspaper=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/07/27/channeling_his_energies/?page=1 |access-date=14 April 2012}} George W. Bush was referred to as "Míster Danger", the villain character in a famous Venezuelan novel, Doña Bárbara.

Format

The format of the show changed over time. At first, it was mainly a call-in show in which Venezuelans expressed grievances and discussed politics with Chávez. Over time, Chávez became the attraction, serving as teacher, interrogator, entertainer and motivator. The show's content broadened to topics as diverse as geography, history, philosophy and pedagogy. Musical performances became common as the years went on.Frajman, Eduardo, "Broadcasting Populist Leadership: Hugo Chavez and Alo Presidente", Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 43, Issue 3, August 2014, pp. 501-526. Chávez usually broadcast from a new location each week.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/sep/25/venezuela.television|title=Government by TV: Chávez sets 8-hour record|last=Carroll|first=Rory|date=2007-09-25|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-09-30|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

Government ministers were often required to attend in person. They could be questioned by the president about anything, and sometimes policy — even military policy — was apparently decided live on the show.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/ |title=The Hugo Chavez Show |first=Ofra |last=Bikel |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |date=November 25, 2008 |access-date=November 26, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081201061125/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/| archive-date= 1 December 2008 | url-status= live}} Another topic the show frequently used to discuss was U.S. foreign policy.{{cite news |title=Chavez TV show marks anniversary |first=Will |last=Grant |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8066511.stm |work=BBC News|date=May 24, 2009 |access-date=January 9, 2012}} Once, the show sent an interviewer out into the streets, stopping passers-by at random to ask if they watched the show; without fail, they all said they did.

Style

File:Operemm-2.jpg

Rachel Nolan of The New York Times described the show as looking "for all the world like a 'Daily Show' parody" because of its "cheap" and "quirky" opening titles: a ribbon in the colors of the Venezuelan flag unfurls with a drum roll before the title appears on screen, followed by a trumpet call with dramatic block letters showing the words "humanity," "struggle," and "socialism." Nolan also notes the political imagery of Chávez' appearance in the title sequences; he was commonly dressed in a bold red shirt or in military uniform, often wearing a Che Guevara beret, and being swarmed by supporters.

Chávez also had a catchphrase on the show, akin to Donald Trump's "You're fired!" from The Apprentice. Chávez was commonly filmed expropriating property owned by rich people, which he dramatized by pointing at the building and shouting "¡Exprópiese!".

Influence

Aló Presidente spawned similar programs by leaders in other Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Ecuador, and El Salvador, led by presidents Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, and Mauricio Funes respectively. Some of these leaders had previously been featured on Aló Presidente. A later similar program, created by Paraguayan president Mario Abdo Benítez in September 2019, was delivered via WhatsApp.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hoy.com.py/nacionales/al-estilo-de-alo-presidente-abdo-crea-su-canal-digital-hola-marito|title=Al estilo de "Aló Presidente", Abdo crea su canal digital "Hola Marito"|website=www.hoy.com.py|language=es|access-date=2019-09-30}} Despite the international copies, Nolan opined that "with the exception of the logorrheic Fidel Castro, it's hard to imagine another political figure with the combination of manic exhibitionism and entertainer's stamina required to star in this sort of show".

It was suggested by historian Enrique Krauze that the show was somewhat enjoyed by Venezuelans because it gave them "at least the appearance of contact with power, through [Chávez'] verbal and visual presence, which may be welcomed by people who have spent most of their lives being ignored."

References

External links

{{IMDb title|1965332}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20051029232327/http://www.alopresidente.gob.ve/ Aló Presidente] {{in lang|es}} at the Internet Archive
{{cite journal|title=La enciclopedia del chavismo o hacia una teología del populismo|language=es|trans-title=The encyclopedia of Chavism or towards a theology of populism|last=Capriles|first=Colette|author-link=Colette Capriles|journal=Revista Venezolana de Ciencia Política|volume=29|date=2006|pages=73–92|institution=Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela)|url=http://www.academia.edu/download/9137145/articulo3.pdf}}{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{cite thesis|last=Constantini|first=Sunthai|year=2014|title=The Political Communication of Hugo Chávez: The Evolution of 'Aló Presidente'|institution=University of Kent|url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/48023/}}
{{cite journal|title=La relación interpersonal con la audiencia: El caso del discurso del presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez|language=es|trans-title=The interpersonal relation with the audience: The case of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez' discourse|last=Erlich|first=Frances|journal=Revista Signos|year=2005|volume=38|issue=59|pages=287–302|institution=Central University of Venezuela|url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-09342005000300002&script=sci_arttext}}
{{cite journal|title=Broadcasting Populist Leadership: Hugo Chávez and Aló Presidente|last=Frajman|first=Eduardo|journal=Journal of Latin American Studies|institution=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|volume=46|issue=3|pages=501–526|doi=10.1017/S0022216X14000716|s2cid=147426916 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271394864}}
{{cite thesis|title=The discourse of Hugo Chávez in "Aló Presidente": establishing the Bolivarian Revolution through television performance|last=Gualda|first=Ricardo José Rosa|year=2012|institution=University of Texas at Austin|hdl=2152/ETD-UT-2012-08-6047}}
{{cite thesis|title=A Corpus-Driven Discourse Analysis of Transcripts of Hugo Chávez's Television Programme 'Aló Presidente'|last=Smith|first=Dominic N. A.|institution=University of Birmingham|year=2010|url=https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/731/}}