Hugo Chavez Turns to Governing via Twitter

Twitter
Rebecca Greenfield 249 Views Jul 22, 2011

While Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is far far away from his people, recovering from surgery he underwent last month in Cuba, he isn't about to let Venezuelans forget who's in charge and has continued governing via Twitter. His account, @chavezcandanga has over 1.8 million followers and for those who don't follow their leader's 140 character musings, his messages often show up on Venezuela's state television station, reports the AP.

Under normal circumstances, Chavez has a dominant media presence, appearing on TV often. However, given his current health condition he has resorted to other mediums to assert his dominance. "The Venezuelan leader took to Twitter to remain in the headlines because he wasn’t able to make his frequent television appearances," believes The Next Web's Matt Brian.

Some of his tweets are the mundane patriotic sort you'd expect from a world leader, like a recent message about a bad call during a Venezuelan soccer game, "In my modest opinion... THEY ROBBED US OF THE VICTORY GOAL! And I hope that with this I'm not offending anybody!"

But, he's also getting some virtual governing done. "In more than 40 messages this week on his "chavezcandanga" account, he has approved money for a Caracas trash collection project, praised plans for a new park and cheered on the national soccer team," reports the AP.

He doesn't allude to his illness often, but when does the messages are smothered in optimism, like the following tweet from this morning, which translates "Good Morning, World of the Living! Friday, Friday, ah, today is Friday! And, July 22 too! And this Will to Live is what grows inside me!

Buenos días, Mundo Viviente! Viernes, Viernes, ah, hoy es Viernes! 22 de Julio además! Y esta Voluntad de Vivir lo que hace es crecer en mí!less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply

 

While his tweets give the impression that Chavez is doing well, as we reported, his health condition has been fluctuating. 

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