%0 Journal Article
	%A Hugo Antonio Pérez Hernáiz
	%D 2008
	%J International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
	%B World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
	%I Open Science Index 20, 2008
	%T The Uses of Conspiracy Theories for the Construction of a Political Religion in Venezuela
	%U https://publications.waset.org/pdf/8753
	%V 20
	%X This article analyses conspiracy theories as part of the
wider discourses of missionary politics. It presents a case study of
Venezuela and describes how its leaders use conspiracy theories as
political tools. Through quotes taken form Venezuelan president
Chavez-s public speeches and other sources, and through a short
analysis of the ideological basis of his discourses, it shows how
conspiracy theories are constructed and how they affect the local
political praxis. The article also describes how conspiracy theories
have been consistently used as an important part of the construction of
a political religion for the New Man of the Bolivarian Revolution. It
concludes that the use of conspiracy theories by political leaders
produces a sense of loss of political agency.
	%P 970 - 981