CARACAS (Reuters) – A Venezuelan website that has  poked fun at leftist President Hugo Chavez for two years has  become a roaring success on the Internet, where its authors set  up their satirical blog to avoid censorship.

Juan Andres Ravell and Oswaldo Graziani, former television  scriptwriters, say the main aim of their blog, The Bipolar  Capybara (http://www.elchiguirebipolar.com/), is to make people  laugh and lighten the polarized political environment.

Their latest creation is ‘Presidential Island,’ an animated  series on the blog that broadens the satire to other Latin  American leaders. The series is a takeoff of the US television  drama ‘Lost’ featuring Latin American leaders who are shipwrecked  with Chavez on a deserted island.

Chavez and Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, the United  States’ main critics in South America, feast on an American  bald eagle, while the king of Spain roasts Chilean leader  Michelle Bachelet on a spit.  ‘Presidential Island’ has been a hit in Latin America and has  created an international following on Twitter and Facebook for  Ravell, 28, and Graziani, 30.  The first episode has had more than 1 million viewers since  being posted in February and doubled the traffic to the Bipolar  Capybara blog, which takes its name from a large South American  rodent.

In episode two, Chavez, who has succeeded Fidel Castro as the  region’s most verbose leader, bores his peers with a long  monologue as they fish from a tree branch. Brazilian President  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva dozes off and falls into the sea.

The series also lampoons US President Barack Obama, who  appears at the end of the second episode shooting Chavez with a  tranquilizer dart from the top of a coconut tree.

“President Chavez’s international role is funnier than his  domestic one so we are looking for a larger audience,” said  Ravell, who was inspired by US political humorist Stephen  Colbert and the animated television series ‘South Park.’

Chavez, facing criticism of his 11-year rule as economic  recession and electricity shortages dent his popularity, has moved  to silence his opponents who say he is becoming a dictator in the  South American oil exporting nation. So what does he think of the  jokes?

“Chavez is funny but I don’t know if he has a sense of humour  when the joke is on him,” Graziani said. “I hope he laughs. The  best thing that could happen to this country is that he would  laugh about himself but I doubt it.”

The former army colonel turned socialist revolutionary refused  to renew the licence of critical television network RCTV and  revoked the licences of dozens of radio stations. He also has  suggested Internet controls may be needed too.

Ravell and Graziani said their brand of brazen political  satire is only possible on the Internet today in Venezuela,  because no broadcasters would dare risk losing their licences.

Their first attempt on cable television in 2007 was edited  so heavily that their humour lost its punch and they decided to  move to the Internet, where no government licenses are needed.

“Authoritarian governments can’t tolerate humor,” said  Emilio Lovera, a well-known Venezuelan humorist recruited to  imitate the voices of Chavez and other Latin American leaders  in the series.

Lovera said political satire disappeared from Venezuelan  television since RCTV went off the air.

“So far no government official has attacked us directly,”  said Ravell, who used to head the main opposition television  network Globovision. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if they  knocked at the door at any moment.”