Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez recently attacked Sony’s Playstation 3 and video games in general, accusing the console of leading children down a “capitalist road to hell”.<\/p>\n
During his weekly radio – television show ‘Alo Presidente’ Chavez encouraged Venezuelan manufacturers to develop indigenous toys and dolls to replace capitalistic versions such as Barbie which “have nothing to do with our culture”
As part of expansion of western toys and games (Chavez has previously attacked Nintendo for promoting “selfishness, individualism and violence”) the infamous leader turned his sights towards Sony’s PS3.<\/p>\n
“Those games they call ‘PlayStation’ are poison. Some games teach you to kill. They once put my face on a game, ‘you’ve got to find Chavez to kill him.’”<\/p>\n
In addition Chavez revealed that any game in which players “bomb cities or just throw bombs” are sold by western countries to promote an air of violence so they can “later sell weapons”<\/p>\n
Such games “promote the need for cigarettes, drugs and alcohol so they can sell them. That’s capitalism, the road to hell,” he added.<\/p>\n
In addition to this Venezuelan lawmakers passed a bill in October which bans the sale of ‘bellicose’ games in the country. This term refers to titles which are promote violence and hostility. Contravention can result in five years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Hugo Chavez, who assumed power in 1999, is a former military commander responsible for the planning of a failed coup in 1992. He is heavily influenced by communistic, Marxist ideals and socialism and often deeply criticises the west (largely the United States of America) in the media.<\/p>\n