"We at Fox TV know a good TV idea when we see it -and Hugo Chavez has come up with a real hit -and we look forward to him hosting the American version for Fox TV"
EJIDO, Venezuela — Every Thursday, the state-run television channel here presents a live national broadcast of what might be called “Extreme Home Makeover: Socialist Edition.” It is part reality TV, part game show and part full-throated campaign rally.
The programming features top aides to President Hugo Chávez
handing over new apartments and houses to down-on-their-luck
Venezuelans, who respond with telegenic tears and expressions of
gratitude to Mr. Chávez, who is running for re-election.
“I want to send a message to all the people in shelters, to have faith
and keep up hope,” said Ramón Rondón, 64, on a recent broadcast,
standing in the kitchen of his new apartment in a government-built
development called El Cobre. A white-haired pro-Chávez activist, Mr.
Rondón added, “This is a victory of the revolution.”
A short time later, Mr. Rondón’s wife, María Monsalvi, 54, relaxed in a
new armchair, part of the furniture, including a sofa, beds, a kitchen
table and chairs, provided by the government. Above Ms. Monsalvi’s head
was a photo of Mr. Chávez hung by the show’s producers. Because her
apartment was featured on television, she was given a deluxe
“presidential line” of furnishings. She marveled at her good fortune
after losing her home in a mudslide and then spending a year in a
cramped shelter. “I felt like I won the lottery,” she said.
He concluded: "And 'Average Housewife' Anne Romney has agreed to provide every winner with free Drissage lessons"
