The main objective of this article is to lay the foundations of a theory of grotesque transparency that looks into the aesthetics of ‘ocular politics’. Inspired by Ramón del Valle-Inclán’s definition of the esperpento – a grotesque representation of the hero – this interpretative schema uncovers the rhetorical, narrative and iconic mechanisms that constitute a form of political communication that creates the illusion of total affective disclosure. We tested the premises of this theory by studying a public performance of the now-deceased Venezuela President Hugo Chávez where discursive genres overlap (presidential speech, comic soundbites and preacher’s homily), dissolving the ‘truth’ in an ‘excess of transparency’, and also performing a function of social criticism through desecration of institutional formalities.