A study by the Caracas-based newspaper Ultimas Noticias counted 63 alleged assassination plots between when Chavez took office in 1999 and his death in 2013. [...] claims have come even more frequently. While the Chavez administration tended to point fingers at the CIA or shadowy outside groups, Maduro's accusations often target local opposition figures, who say they face imprisonment, constant surveillance and the threat of vilification or violence from pro-government groups. Opponents say the drumbeat of alleged conspiracies helps the administration shift attention away from domestic problems such as soaring prices and rising crime. The charges against local critics are "one way that the Maduro administration has added extra paranoia to its strategy," said Gregory Weeks, a political science professor specializing in Latin America at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Chavistas have accused conspirators of using newspaper crossword puzzles to communicate with enemies of the state, of developing tools to give leftist leaders cancer, and of plotting to "ruin Christmas" with a coup. With independent Venezuelan media sources dwindling, people getting their news from television and radio are unlikely to hear much questioning of conspiracy theories.