[LUCIANNE] In Spanish there is an old saying that goes something like this: "Tell me what you brag about, and I´ll tell you what you lack." In today’s Venezuela, the folksy saying seems confirmed. While the socialist government officials often rant about "equality," "austerity" and "anti-imperialism," the expensive watches Chavistas flaunt, along with their travels, tell a whole different story about what their priorities are after hours. Launched in 2014, the blog Relojes del Chavismo (Chavismo´s Watches) has posted more than 150 pictures of high-ranking officials wearing all sorts of expensive watches, mostly Swiss made.The list of watch aficionados includes President Nicolas Maduro, Assemblyman Diosdado Cabello and Army General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who was recently appointed financial czar to try and rescue the country’s collapsing economy.
All together, the watches on the blog add up to more than $500,000, according to the site administrator.
"I decided to create the blog after reading an article published on The Telegraph about bloggers protesting in China," said the site administrator, who wouldn’t reveal his name for fear of government retaliation.
"Their way of protesting was genius. They just exposed the dubious wealth of public officials by posting pictures," the blogger told Fox News Latino.
Something very similar is what the Venezuelan group is trying to accomplish in the South American country ‐ they hunt for pictures of recognizable Chavistas wearing noticeable watches and then go search those brands online and find out their retail prices.
One of the watches on the website is an IWC Pilots watch valued at $12,700 worn by Padrino Lopez. Two other photos show President Nicolas Maduro wearing different Tissots, one valued at $975 and the other at $595.