President Nicolás Maduro Blames Spiderman For Violence in Venezuela

During an interview with Bolivian daily La Opinión on Wednesday, Sept. 18, the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolás Maduro, claimed superhero Spiderman is to blame for youth violence in the country. The Huffington Post reported that superhero idolization contributed to a "factory of antivalues."

"This kid, at 14 years old, carries a 9mm with a mind filled by thousands of hours of shows where people are killed," Maduro told La Opinión, according to a Post translation.

"I start to think how many thousands of hours of violence that kid will have consumed, in the end, stimulated by consumerism and violence when he grabs a 9 mm and goes to kill," said the Bolivarian leader.

Maduro explained he connected youth violence with superhero idealization after watching "Spider-Man 3" with his wife. "That's the trouble, from the beginning until the end there are more and more dead. And that's one of the series small children love most... because it's attractive, it's from comics that are attractive, the figure, the colors and movements... so much so that we finished watching it at four in the morning," explained the Venezuelan President.

According to Agence France Presses, a recent wave of violence made Venezuela one of the most violent countries in Latin America. Government statistics inform that, during 2012, more than 16,000 murders were recorded in Venezuela, with another 3,400 in the first quarter of 2013.

Last week, Maduro suffered an accident when he fell from the bicycle during a ride through the city of Caracas in a celebration of the 5 years of the political organization, Youth of the United Social Party of Venezuela.

Website Hoy Noticias detailed that President Maduro was riding in the 8-km-long route, and Maduro himself spoke of the incident.

"We finished very fast, I felt it was very fast (...) and since I was talking with Jorge (Rodríguez, mayor of Caracas) I let go of the handlebar and we crashed, but just like we crashed, we got back up, with laughter. He who falls must rise, and he who rises must move on."