Charlie Devereux

Charlie Devereux covers Venezuela for GlobalPost. He has written about Caracas' spiraling homicide rate, inflationary economies in Latin America, cult religions and the politicization of...

Read Full Bio >

September 22, 2009 15:34 ET | Updated: September 25, 2009 10:37 ET

Stewie Griffin promotes drug use for the US government, says Venezuela

It's a cause for controversy at home and has picked up a gamut of awards in the process, but now the popular cartoon show "Family Guy" has found itself caught in the middle of a spat between Venezuela and the United States about drug trafficking.

Venezuelan state TV today broadcast an excerpt from "Family Guy" as an example of how the U.S. promotes drug use. The clip features Stewie, the matricide-obsessed infant son of Peter and Lewis Lois Griffin, singing a song extolling the virtues of smoking weed.

"We can observe how [the U.S. government] promotes and incites the population to consume that drug there," said Tarek El Aissaimi, Venezuela's Interior Minister. "There's no subliminal message. It's an animated cartoon where you can observe perfectly how they promote consumption and moreover they foster the legalization of marijuana."

El Assaimi blames U.S. drug consumption for fueling drug trafficking in Latin America.

Venezuela took offense to a U.S. Congress report that concluded that Venezuela is undermining U.S. efforts to combat the drug trade in neighboring Colombia. Since then, El Aissaimi has been on a media blitz to prove how much effort the country is making to stamp out drug trafficking.

Watch the offending song here:

Comments:

4 Comments.

Login or Register to post comments

Posted by El Avila on September 25, 2009 16:24 ET

While I do support some of Chavez's policies, especially national ones. (That is, feed and educate the poor, don't let the rich get richer, do something about an unjust system where the rich rape the country as they have for years). I do find this pretty ironic from an interior minister because just a few years back Caracas held the World Social Forum and even legalized marijuana for the duration of the event.

Posted by Gonzobot on September 25, 2009 13:31 ET

Her name is Lois, not 'Louis'.

Idiot.

Also, it should be noted, that the Family Guy show has a long history of being too controversial for regular US TV stations too. How many episodes have they been unable to show over the air? At least three, I think? There is nothing in the show that comes from the government, however. The government wants to lock up potheads, remember? Why would they be promoting marijuana use (which isn't a drug, and definitely should not be a controlled schedule 1 substance) when they can't even admit that state law allows for legal use and possession in many states? Legal, law-abiding storefronts for collectives in California, to provide medical patients with their pain relief or appetite assistance, have been raided for years because they are illegal drug traffickers in the eyes of Capitol Hill. This hasn't even stopped with the new improved president Obama, despite his promises to specifically stop enforcing federal law on states that have their own laws.

Venezuela is just trying to be a whiny bitch and pick a fight. If they don't want Family Guy on their TVs, then don't let it into the country! These shows need to have licensing deals worked out for every country they hope to make money in. Deny them that privilege and quit your bitching.

Posted by FrayedKnotJeff on September 25, 2009 11:53 ET

Hey Venezuela! It's a cartoon for adults! Thank you and have a nice dictatorship.

Posted by peemmfivekay on September 25, 2009 08:42 ET

Her name is Louis Griffin, not "Lewis".