“Authoritarian powers use fear to control the population”: Venezuelan comedian Laureano Márquez

The Venezuelan comedian, political scientist, academic, writer and screenwriter Laureano Márquez defends that “humor is food for the soul” and supports it with explanations that range from the philosophical perspective to the anatomical effect produced by laughter, which he is in charge of provoke in the spectators who attend their presentations.

This renowned Venezuelan comedian recently toured the East Coast of the United States, where an avid audience, made up mostly of Venezuelans and members of other Latin American diasporas, packed theaters in Washington DC and Virginia to see his latest production: “The fear”.

And fear – he explains to the spectators during the show in a monologue format – “loosens up” and being “dribbled with fear” can become literal, he says, making the audience laugh.

And if it is extrapolated to the political life of a country like his, he explains, fear has historically been used by “authoritarian powers to dominate the people.”

“Venezuelan society is frightened [por sus gobernantes]”, he adds.

His reflections also lead him to explore other paths of human nature such as hatredand the effect that it produces both individually and collectively when “hate dominates the public space”, he says, at some point they must sit down for a reconciliation and in the worst case scenario it can lead to internal conflicts like the many reflected in the annals of the history of the peoples.

Laureano Márquez, who divides his facet as a humorist with his role as an academic as part of his training in political science, speaks with the voice of america at his stop in Washington DC. He reflects on the democratic Venezuela, which many young people do not recognize, fertile ground for comedians and creators, and dreams of that democratic Venezuela that is everyone’s task to recover.

And in the most difficult times, he adds “comedy has been an element of resistance in Venezuela.”

Márquez is the author of books such as: ‘SOS Venezuela’, ‘My darling’, ‘The bochinche code’ Y ‘You suffer but rejoices’, in addition to titles co-authored with other writers. He states that in terms of his work, just as he has a troop of followers in his country and abroad, there are detractors, especially “the regime’s characters have never liked the type of humor that I do.”

However, he says that from his position he is very tolerant of criticism and respects freedom of opinion, and that many insults come among the criticisms, but also those well-crafted ones that have arguments: “In those cases I like to answer it with the same I respect what they have been done, and even if they have been a little disrespectful, but they have an argument, I try to respond with respect, because I believe that one should teach a lesson in behavior”.

In any case, he says that as a free thinker he is very respectful of all criticism, but “when there is intolerance with humor, that denotes the character of the people, and especially of the leaders.”

During the interview Márquez explains how in the Latin American countries institutional weakness and the convulsive processes have led to confusion in society, and how the powers in turn use history biased to their own interests.

“That is a very Latin American phenomenon and in Venezuela and many of our countries we confuse the state with the government, that is, we don’t have such institutional differentiation,” he says, which has complicated the situation of the peoples.

If Laureano Márquez is asked how a comedian lives, he answers between laughs: “the life of a comedian is kind of boring”, but he says that he tries to bring joy to the things he does and that the people around him are always happy.

Reflect on the dimension of time, and how to enjoy that existential space that is the only treasure we have in life and the one that should be used to the maximum, especially valuing it in times of hyperconnection to information technologies, such as the networks that absorb much of life.

For Márquez, it was his university classmates who pushed him to dedicate himself to the profession of comedian. He says that they laughed at his comments, which is why they urged him to follow a path in which “the energy of the public fills”.

However, he says, to get here he had to overcome some fears such as speaking in public, one of the first to learn how to do it and say it to the public.

Regarding Venezuela, to which he hopes to return soon to continue working from within his country, he says that he has no doubt that he will see it flourish because “Venezuela is a land that will always be promising, of hope.”

“I am sure that you will once again find paths of peace, paths of democracy and justice,” he concludes.

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