Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s Daughter Poses With Justin Bieber, Contradicting Regime’s Socialist Rhetoric

Rosinés Chavez is no different than your average 14-year-old, except that she is the daughter of the supposedly anti-capitalist president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. That’s why the minute singer Justin Bieber landed in Caracas, she rushed to the airport and posed next to the teen idol for a typical fan photo.

But in a country plagued by inflation, crime, and decade-long shortages of food and medicines, the first daughter's “Biebermania” raised a few eyebrows. Especially since the constant deprivation of electric power, cooking oil, and toilet paper has been accompanied by relentless government propaganda that decries the inequalities of “evil” capitalism while exalting the supposedly egalitarian nature of Chavez’s “21st Century Socialism.”

Adding insult to injury, Ms. Chavez recently uploaded a different controversial photo to her Instagram profile. The image shows the teenager flaunting a fistful of dollars, another affirmation of the Venezuelan first family‘s lavish lifestyle. The image is particularly angering to Venezuelans because Chavez has kept a decade-long foreign exchange control which limits the amount of dollars citizens of the country can use for traveling and importing essentials (Venezuela produces only oil and imports everything else).

Hugo Chavez, who was criticized himself for bypassing Venezuela’s crumbly hospitals to receive cancer treatment in Cuba last year, has yet to address his daughter’s online faux pas. Instead, he’s been busy threatening banks and landowners, as well as reforming Venezuela’s Supreme Court via executive power in order to secure his 2012 reelection.  

In the meantime, Rosinés Chavez’s Maria Antoinette-esque behavior (at age 7, she’s said to have redesigned Venezuela’s coat of arms) has set off an online tsunami of mockery. Similar to Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s “Tebowing” fever, Twitter users have now created a hashtag to parody miss Chavez’s infamous fistful dollar picture, using food and other scarce items instead (#Rosinesing).

In a country where independent mainstream media is constantly harassed by the government, Twitter has been an outlet to Venezuelan users frustrated with a widening gap between the common folk and the out-of-touch "socialist” elites.

The trend has even originated a parody music video entitled, “Rosinés: Yo Quiero Ser Capitalista” (which translates to “Rosines: I Want to be a Capitalist”), in which the young Chavez is mocked by a male singer. Lyrics include, “I’m so tired of being a socialist, when I want to be a capitalist.” The clip superimposes “Rosinesing” images with additional shots of Hugo Chavez’s daughter in the company of other global celebrities such as Miley Cyrus.

Watch the video below. Do you think Rosinés Chavez’s behavior contradicts Hugo Chavez’s socialist rhetoric?

 Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons