LIMA, Peru — Among the answers to a crossword puzzle that ran in a Venezuelan newspaper on Wednesday were A-D-A-N, the first name of President Hugo Chávez’s brother; R-A-F-A-G-A-S, which can refer to a burst of machine-gun fire but also a gust of wind; and A-S-E-S-I-N-E-N, which in Spanish is the plural of the imperative form of the verb to kill.

In the polarized world of Venezuelan politics, where the president’s backers and critics are at each other’s throats over the smallest of matters, the puzzle was interpreted by some as not only a political attack on Mr. Chávez but an out-and-out death threat on his kin.

“This is a message,” declared Miguel Pérez Pirela, the host of a show on state television and a vehement backer of Mr. Chávez who interpreted the answers as a not-so-secret code against the president’s brother, who is the governor of Barinas State.