Sawt Falasteen - Venezuela's Maduro launches new TV show, a year ahead of presidential poll

"We are starting a new stage of communications," the Socialist leader said, wearing a jacket and shirt with no tie as he introduced the new show called "With Maduro."

The Venezuelan opposition frequently criticizes the government's use of public media, complaining that it has very little access in the face of an omnipresent Maduro.

Maduro is following in the footsteps of his populist predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez, who was president from 1999 to 2013. He hosted a Sunday program called "Alo, presidente," a show with no fixed running time and could sometimes last for hours.

During the first broadcast of the program, Maduro presented a female artificial intelligence avatar nicknamed "Sira," a nod to "Siri" from Apple. The avatar appeared to be a jab at recent accusations that the government had used artificial intelligence in disinformation campaigns.

During the show, which was live and attended by much of the government, Maduro also took a call from a female viewer.

Maduro is no stranger to the small screen. In addition to his regular and frequent appearances performing presidential duties, between 2013 and 2017 he hosted a Sunday program called "Contact with Maduro."

It was renamed "Sundays with Maduro" in 2017 and then dropped the same year. The president also had a famous salsa show -- a popular musical entertainment in the Caribbean -- between January and December 2017. He would mix politics with music and even dance in front of the camera with his wife, Cilia Flores.

"They say that because I dance salsa, I'm crazy. Ah, but if Obama dances, we say 'He's not crazy, he's cool,'" he said at the time, alluding to the American president.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST