Woman who flung a mango at Venezuelan president Maduro gets reward

(YouTube screenshot)

A piece of fruit thrown at a politician would normally be interpreted as an act of treason but not, apparently, in Venezuela.

Last week, while President Nicolás Maduro was driving a bus during a political rally in the central state of Aragua, a woman named Marleny Olivo flung a whole mango through the driver's side window and struck Maduro on the left ear.

A video, which has gone viral in Venezuela according to BBC News, shows the president lowering his head when he is hit. But rather than responding angrily, he picks up the mango and shows it to the crowd.

Olivo, 54, who currently leaves with her mother, two children, a nephew and a granddaughter, told El Pitazo TV that her dream is to have her own place.

According to reports, she had written a message on the fruit – “If you can, call me” – with her name and number, and as the president’s caravan approached, she got as close to it as possible.

Olivo said she didn't have paper on hand to send the president a message.

“All I had was the mango which I was about to eat because I was hungry,” she said. “We had been waiting a while, I saw a house that had mangoes, and I asked the gentleman if he would give me one because I was hungry.”

Olivo said that when she saw the president’s caravan approach, she quickly asked for a marker to write down her information.

Maduro later displayed the offending fruit on his regular live TV broadcast.

“She had a housing problem, right? And, Marleny, I have approved it already, as part of the Great Housing Mission of Venezuela, you will get an apartment and it will be given to you in the next few hours,” said Maduro, according to the BBC. “Tomorrow, no later than the day after tomorrow, we will give it to you.”

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