The political tensions between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and billionaire Elon Musk have recently intensified amid Venezuela's ongoing political crisis. Maduro's contested electoral victory has sparked a fierce exchange between the two.
Maduro, formerly a bus driver, now leads oil-rich but economically struggling Venezuela. His victory has been questioned by opposition figures and international observers, citing electoral irregularities. Independent polls had shown Maduro trailing his opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Maduro accused Musk of orchestrating a hacking incident at the National Electoral Council (CNE) to destabilize the election results. He claimed Musk, an ultra-capitalist and supporter of former US President Donald Trump, is part of a broader conspiracy involving "a global alliance of the far right, drug traffickers, and the imperialist US government." Maduro alleged Musk aims to take over Venezuela and control it from abroad.
Tech tycoon vs treacherous tyrant
Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of the social network X, has been critical of Maduro’s policies. Before the election, Musk supported opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. After Maduro's victory, Musk posted on X, calling Maduro a dictator and the election results a travesty, referencing US DEA charges against Maduro for drug trafficking.
In response, Maduro accused Musk of plotting to invade Venezuela, using his wealth and technology to control the country. He invoked the legacy of Venezuelan heroes Bolivar and Chavez, vowing to resist foreign interference.
The situation escalated when Musk responded to Maduro's accusations with a dismissive message in Spanish, saying, "An ass knows more than Maduro."
In a public address, Maduro fired back at Musk, saying in Spanish that he went “off the rails.” He also told Musk that they could settle their differences physically.
From the streets of Caracas
“I am not afraid of you,” he said in Spanish. “Let’s go at it. Wherever you want. As we say in Caracas in the neighborhoods, if you want it, I want it, Elon Musk.”
Musk accepted, but he doesn’t think this fight, like the one with Mark Zuckerberg, will happen either. “He will chicken out,” the Tesla CEO tweeted.
He continued to tweet about the situation, suggesting that he, Maduro, and Zuckerberg enter a ring with only one emerging. He even proposed stakes for the fight.
“If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars,” he said.