Benjamin Rausseo

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Benjamin Rausseo
Born	January 26, 1961 (1961-01-26) (age 47) Musipán, Monagas State

Benjamín Rausseo (born 1961) is a Venezuelan artist, stand-up comedian and career humorist best known for his character Er Conde del Guácharo (translation: "The Count of Guacharo").

1 Biographical Information
2 Presidential Aspirations
3 External links
4 Notes

[edit] Biographical Information

Benjamín Rausseo was born into poverty in the rural community of Musipán in the state of Monagas. His infancy saw many hardships as his father, a miner, left home and Rausseo became responsible for his five younger brothers. He ceased attending school at the age of eleven to go into the labor force.

He became a shoeshiner and sold food at a pit stop on the main highway near his home. He was orphaned at fourteen and moved his brothers with him to Caracas. In the nation's capital he finished his schooling at a parochial Roman Catholic diocese and became a taxi driver and waiter. He began taking acting classes at night.

He pursued university studies as an actor and, in 1981, presented as his graduation thesis a comedic monologue "el Conde del Guácharo." The "Conde" or Count became a TV personality and made Rausseo one of Venezuela's most successful stand-up comedians. Beyond comedy he was also a dare-devil and stunt performer in the television variety show Sabado Sensacional.

In 2006 Rausseo was studying law and was one semester from graduating with a JD from the Universidad Santa María de Caracas. He had joked that he always wanted to become a lawyer because he "wanted to know how it felt to be such a cold-hearted bastard". Rausseo speaks Portuguese and English.

Rausseo owns a theme park in Isla Margarita called Musipán, which makes fun of larger initiatives like Disney World or Jurassic Park with sarcasm and irreverence, which are common traits of Venezuelan humor.

[edit] Presidential Aspirations

In July 2006, he publicly announced on the Globovisión television network that he is running for president under his newly-formed "Piedra Party". His campaign slogan is "Vota Piedra" (literally "Vote Stone") and is a play on words. In Venezuelan Spanish the verbs 'votar' (to vote) and 'botar' (to throw) sound very similar, so the same phrase can also be understood as "Bota Piedra" (literally "Throw Stone"). "Bota Piedra" is a common expression to indicates one's state of frustration or anger. The sentence (slang) "Está que bota piedra" translates as "he's (or she's) really pissed off".

Thus, in the current political context the catchphrase "Bota Piedra" plays on words that relate directly to the feelings of frustration and disappointment towards politics felt by Venezuelans during the controversial presidency of Hugo Chávez.

Rausseo challenged the Chavez candidacy using his broad popular appeal and instant name recognition. He frequently underlines his humble origins and his understanding of poverty.

Rausseo's campaign frequently mentioned the need to repair relationships within Latin America that have suffered under the strain of the foreign policy of Hugo Chávez which Rausseo described as "aggressive" and "unproductive."

Three weeks before the election, in accordance with a campaign pledge he had made earlier (to stand down if not placed first or second in the opinion polls), he withdrew his candidacy without endorsing either Chávez or Rosales, telling his supporters to vote for either.^[1]