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This week, many Venezuelans celebrated what they saw as one of the few good news of the year: El Sistema organized a concert starring 12,000 members of the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choirs in the search for a new Guinness Record. The venue: the Military Academy in Fuerte Tiuna.
It was a moving show, but it generated both critical reactions and support from users on social media, in a controversy between those who say the concert took place in the country’s main military facility days after it was announced that the International Criminal Court is investigating crimes against humanity in Venezuela, and those who defend their right to see beauty in it and be proud of the young musicians.
Meanwhile, it was intensely promoted by institutions and agencies of Maduro’s government, as we could expect given its history with world records.
In 2015, Vox published an article about how Guinness World Records is no longer just a book company but a branded experience: “What do you do when all the good world records have been set? Hire Guinness to help you invent some new ones”
“Guinness has a new business model (…) What does Guinness consulting look like? Basically, Guinness sends its judges (dressed in their official uniform, of course) to judge “records” set by various companies (like United Biscuits). These records, in turn, receive some media attention, a service that Guinness has valued at $330,000.” Vox’s research focuses on companies, but authoritarian governments like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Dubai and others have also used Guinness Records’ services for national propaganda and to achieve legitimacy. Opting for Guinness through the “priority request” can cost between $12,000 and $500,000 (there’s no evidence that the Venezuelan government paid to be taken into consideration).
Bread and Circuses: How Chavismo Took Advantage of the Concert
The Ministry of Information positioned five trending topics to promote the rehearsals and the concert making a direct reference to “The world’s biggest orchestra”:
According to the Probox team: “All the trending topics of the week were focused on this achievement, appealing to nationalistic pride, and highlighting that good things happen in Venezuela. After all, it’s a valuable piece of propaganda and they took advantage of it because it’s good news. It comes as a great propaganda campaign of the regime.”
Read the full article in the Caracas Chronicles’ website here.
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