Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died a year ago, but his presence still looms large in the South American nation, according to a story by The Associated Press.
Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, an associate professor of public relations in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, said even Chavez’ successor, President Nicolas Maduro, frequently alludes to the late leader.
“Maduro, even though he was hand-picked by Chavez, he doesn’t have the charisma, the ability to engage audiences with him that Chavez had,” said Acosta-Alzuru, a native of Caracas, Venezuela.”So he repeats, invokes Chavez, calls himself the son of Chavez as much as he can.”