Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has lashed out at YouTube after his official channel was taken down, claiming that the platform’s owners are “imperialist imbeciles” doomed to “fail” given that his speeches continue to be broadcast through other accounts.
“The owners of YouTube have failed. People keep watching me on YouTube. Take down all my accounts you want, imperialist imbeciles,” he asserted in a series of statements broadcast on the VTV network.
In 2020, YouTube suspended the channel’s main account, Venezolana de Televisión. It later closed the account of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello’s program, despite having 100,000 subscribers. Maduro had 233,000 subscribers.
“The more censorship, the more the message gets across. Keep up the censorship, you imperialist YouTube morons. I congratulate those who made the decision. A productivity bonus for morons, everyone,” Maduro stated ironically.
The channel’s suspension comes as tensions between the United States and Venezuela increase, especially in the wake of attacks by US forces against vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
These attacks have led to increased tensions even at the national level in the United States, where some congressmen have argued that the country is not facing a direct threat from Caracas and lacks sufficient legal grounds to bomb the vessels since they are not “military targets” and the countries involved are not at war.
