The late Venezuelan dictator President Hugo Chavez will be the subject of a Spanish-language TV series produced by Sony Pictures Television.
Sony’s series, “El Comandante,” will chronicle the life of the deceased president, focusing on 30 central events, according to Variety.
Current socialists living in Venezuela, however, are angry over the series. Senior Venezuelan politician and former president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, called the TV project, “an attempt to damage the memory of the commander Hugo Chavez, now we must defend Hugo Chavez.”
The socialist leader was president of Venezuela from 1999 until 2013, when he died of cancer. Chavez got his start in politics as a military officer, and was even jailed in 1992 for launching an unsuccessful political coup.
Since the former dictator is dead, Cabello contends Chavez’s family should have been asked for their blessing of the project. The Associated Press reported Sony had no comment on the issue Thursday.
The series will consist of 60 episodes, each lasting an hour. Andres Parra, the actor portraying Chavez, is no stranger to playing controversial Latin Americans — he depicted the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in 2012 for Colombian television.
Venezuela is currently in the midst of a dual economic and political crisis. The OPEC member is struggling to keep the lights on with forced daily blackouts due to low global oil prices. Since conservative politicians won December 2015 elections for the country’s National Assembly, the equivalent of Congress, political gridlock has plagued the country.
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