Conspiracy Corner – The death of Hugo Chavez

Every Thursday, about 8:15am, Matthew talks with Ethan and Zac on 95bFM’s “Breakfast Show” about conspiracy theories.

When it comes to Hugo Chavez, the former President of Venezuela, people are split as to whether he was a good president who succumbed to paranoia, a despot who hid his true intentions in his first term, an economic ignoramus or a man who improved the lost of the Venezuelan people. Chavez, during his tenure as president suppressed the Press, admitted to being a 9/11 Truther, ran what seemed to be fair elections (if the international observers are to be believed), restructured the country so political power was with his acolytes rather than qualified experts, was an ally of Iran and Syria, gave aid to Cuba and claimed the CIA was aiding the Opposition (but the Cablegate release seems to show America, quite reluctantly, weren’t).

Conspiracy theories about the how and why of Chavez’s cancer have been around for a while now, to the point where Chavez has, on occasion, joked about it. However, for some it was no joking matter; the Acting President of Venezuela (and former Vice President) Nicolas Maduro not only alleged that Chavez’s cancer had been induced, he also expelled the attaché to the American Embassy at the same time. This is in line with a rather interesting conspiracy theory that proposes that a number of South American leaders have been poisoned and subsequently developed cancer:

Russian Communist Party head Gennady Zyuganov today demanded an international investigation into the death of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, claiming it was “far from a coincidence” that six leaders of Latin-American countries who had criticized the U.S. simultaneously fell ill with cancer.

Zyuganov is accurate so far as his claim that six Latin-American leaders were diagnosed with cancer within a relatively close period of time, most notably Argentina’s President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in December 2012, although later analysis proved that she had never actually suffered from the illness.

Current Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Paraguay’s Fernando Lugo, and the former Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have all been hit with cancer in the last few years. In 2006 it was also reported that retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro was also diagnosed with cancer.

In this episode of “Conspiracy Corner with the Earl of East-Sheckley” Zac, Ethan and meself talked about the death of Hugo Chavez, was it induced, who might be responsible and the big question, “Why?”