History of Venezuela (1999–present)

Hugo Chávez's political activity began in the 1980s and 1990s, a period of economic downturn and political upheaval in Venezuela. Venezuela's economic well-being fluctuated with the unstable demand for its primary export commodity, oil. Oil accounts for three-quarters of Venezuela's exports, half of its government's fiscal income, and a quarter of the nation's GDP.[1]

The 1970s were boom years for oil, during which the material standard of living for all classes in Venezuela improved. This was partly due to the ruling AD and COPEI parties' investing in social welfare projects which, because of the government's oil income, they could do without heavily taxing private wealth.[2] Venezuelan workers enjoyed the highest wages in Latin America and subsidies in food, health, education and transport. However, "toward the end of the 1970s, these tendencies began to reverse themselves."[3] Per capita oil income and per capita income both declined, leading to a foreign debt crisis and forced devaluation of the bolivar in 1983.[3] The negative trend continued through the 1990s. "Per capita income in 1997 was 8 percent less than in 1970; workers' income during this period was reduced by approximately half."[3]

Along with these economic changes came various changes in Venezuelan society. Class division intensified, as summarised by Edgardo Lander:[4]

A sensation of insecurity became generalized throughout the population, constituting "an emerging culture of violence. . . very distinct from the culture of tolerance and peace that dominated Venezuelan society in the past." (Briceño León et al., 1997: 213). Along with unemployment, personal safety topped the problems perceived as most serious by the population. Between 1986 and 1996 the number of homicides per 10,000 inhabitants jumped from 13.4 to 56, an increase of 418 percent, with most of the victims being young males (San Juan, 1997: 232–233). Countless streets in the middle- and upper-class neighborhoods were closed and privatized; increasingly, bars and electric fences surrounded houses and buildings in these areas. The threat represented by the "dangerous class" came to occupy a central place in the media – along with demands that drastic measures be taken, including the death penalty or direct execution by the police.

During this period, the prospect of a reasonably comfortable life for most Venezuelans, which had appeared attainable in the 1970s, became increasingly remote; poverty and exclusion appeared inescapable for many. According to Lander:[5]

These crises-like conditions increasingly became permanent features of society. We are dealing here not with the exclusion of a minority categorized as "marginal" in relation to society as a whole but with the living conditions and cultural reproduction of the great majority of the population. The result was the development of what Ivez Pedrazzini and Magalay Sánchez (1992) have called the "culture of urgency." They describe a practical culture of action in which the informal economy, illegality, illegitimacy, violence and mistrust of official society are common. Alejandro Moreno (1995) characterizes this other cultural universe as the popular-life world that is other, different from Western modernity – organized in terms of a matriarchal family structure, with different conceptions of time, work, and community, and a relational (community-oriented) rationality distinct from the abstract rationality of the dominant society. This cultural context is scarcely compatible with the model of citizenship associated with liberal democracies of the West.

Shortly after attaining office, Pérez, faced with a severe crisis of international reserves, fiscal as well as trade and balance-of-payment deficits, and an external debt ($34 billion[6]) that under these conditions could not be paid," signed a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund stipulating that he carry out a liberalization adjustment program.[7] The agreement was not submitted to parliamentary consultation and was made public only after having been signed.[8] On 25 February 1989, the government announced an increase in gasoline prices, and two days later a public transit price rise precipitated the Caracazo, a series of mass demonstrations and riots in Caracas and Venezuela's other principal cities.[9] Pérez suspended civil rights and imposed martial law. The military's suppression of the rebellion resulted in, by the government's own admission, 300 deaths; and others estimate the toll at more than 1000.[10]

With many Venezuelans tired of politics in the country, the 1998 elections had the lowest voter turnout in Venezuelan history, with Chávez winning the presidency on 6 December 1998 with 56.4% of the popular vote. His nearest opponent was Henrique Salas Römer with about 40%.[20][21] He took the presidential oath of office on 2 February 1999, the principal points of his mandate were to reform the constitution, break up what his supporters perceived as an entrenched oligarchy, reverse Venezuela's economic decline, strengthen the role of the state in the economy, and redistribute wealth to the poor. Chávez's first few months in office were dedicated primarily to constitutional reform, while his secondary focus was on immediately allocating more government funds to new social programs.

However, as a recession triggered by historically low oil prices and soaring international interest rates rocked Venezuela, the shrunken federal treasury provided very little of the resources Chávez required for his promised massive populist programs.[22] The economy, which was still staggering, shrunk by 10% and the unemployment rate increased to 20%, the highest level since the 1980s.[20] Chávez worked to reduce Venezuelan oil extraction in the hopes of garnering elevated oil prices and, at least theoretically, elevated total oil revenues, thereby boosting Venezuela's severely deflated foreign exchange reserves. He extensively lobbied other OPEC countries to cut their production rates as well. As a result of these actions, Chávez became known as a "price hawk" in his dealings with the oil industry and OPEC. Chávez also attempted a comprehensive renegotiation of 60-year-old royalty payment agreements with oil giants Philips Petroleum and ExxonMobil.[23] These agreements had allowed the corporations to pay in taxes as little as 1% of the tens of billions of dollars in revenues they were earning from their extraction of Venezuelan oil. Afterwards, Chávez stated his intention to complete the nationalization of Venezuela's oil resources. Although unsuccessful in his attempts to renegotiate with the oil corporations, Chávez focused on his stated goal of improving both the fairness and efficiency of Venezuela's formerly lax tax collection and auditing system, especially for major corporations and landholders. Chávez wished to promote the redistribution of wealth, increased regulation, and social spending, he did not wish to discourage foreign direct investment (FDI). In keeping with his predecessors, Chávez attempted to shore up FDI influxes to prevent an economic crisis of chronic capital flight and inflation. Despite such actions and a tripling in oil prices, capital flight more than doubled from $4 billion in 1999 to $9 billion in 2002 due to the uncertainties of Chávez's controversial actions.[20]

In April 1999, Chávez ordered all branches of the military to devise programs to combat poverty and to further civic and social development in Venezuela's vast slum and rural areas. This civilian-military program was launched as "Plan Bolivar 2000", and was heavily patterned after a similar program enacted by Cuban President Fidel Castro during the early 1990s, while the Cuban people were still suffering through the "Special Period". Projects within Plan Bolivar 2000s scope included road building, housing construction, and mass vaccination. Though the plan initially had $20.8 million set aside for costs, some state that the program cost Venezuela approximately $113 million, nearly five times as more than planned.[24][25][26] The plan faltered at the end of 2001 with accusations and revelations of corruption by military officers, including both military officers who later rebelled against the president in April 2002 and officers linked to the president.[27]

Elections for the new unicameral National Assembly were held on 30 July 2000. During this same election, Chávez himself stood for reelection. Going into the elections, Chávez had control of all three branches of government.[20] Chávez's coalition also garnered a commanding two-thirds majority of seats in the National Assembly while Chávez was reelected with 60% of the votes. The Carter Center monitored the 2000 presidential election; their report on that election stated that, due to lack of transparency, CNE partiality, and political pressure from the Chávez government that resulted in early elections, it was unable to validate the official CNE results.[36] However, they concluded that the presidential election legitimately expressed the will of the people.[37]

Later, on 3 December 2000, local elections and a referendum were held. The referendum, backed by Chávez, also proposed a law that would force Venezuela's labor unions to hold state-monitored elections. The referendum was widely condemned by international labor organisations—including the International Labour Organization—as undue government interference in internal union matters; these organisations threatened to apply sanctions on Venezuela.[38]

The atmosphere of heightened confrontation initiated by the December 2001 paro cívico continued into the year 2002. The opposition formed a "Coordinating group for Democracy and Freedom," later known as the Democratic Coordinator (Coordinadora Democrática, CD) to organise joint action against the government. On 23 January, the opposition staged a massive march, which was met by a counter march by government sympathisers. On 4 February, a pro-government march was countered by opposition marches in several cities.[48]

According to economist Francisco Rodríguez, "real GDP contracted by 4.4 percent and the currency had lost more than 40 percent of its value in the first quarter of 2002 ... As early as January of that year, the Central Bank had already lost more than $7 billion in a futile attempt to defend the currency ... [an] economic crisis had started well before the political crisis—a fact that would be forgotten in the aftermath of the political tumult that followed."[49] A few months after the coup, in December 2002, the Chávez presidency faced a two-month strike organized by management at the national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) when he took steps to dismiss 17,000 workers; the strike deepened the economic crisis and cut the government off from all-important oil revenue.[49] The CTV, supported by Fedecámaras and other opposition groups, called for a one-day strike for 9 April 2002; later it extended the strike for 24 hours, and then announced that it would be indefinite, and called for a march to the PDVSA headquarters in Caracas on 11 April in protest.[50] On late morning of the 11th, by which time hundreds of thousands of people were standing outside the PDVSA offices, CTV leader Carlos Ortega suddenly called for a continuation of the march to the presidential palace at Milaflores, saying "With a great sense of responsibility I address our nation to request in the name of democratic Venezuela. I do not rule out the possibility that the crowd, this human river marches united to Milaflores to expel a traitor to the Venezuelan people."[51] At this time, however, Milaflores was already surrounded by Chávez supporters who had been conducting a vigil there since 9 April; and, when news of the opposition's movements spread, thousands more rushed there to augment the pro-Chávez side. By early afternoon the two sides were about 200 metres apart. Around 2:30, shooting began with gunfire killing both Chávez supporters and opposition while causing great confusion of who committed the violent actions.

After the shooting had begun, a group of dissident military officers, headed by Vice Admiral Ramirez Pérez, appeared on television and stated that "The President of the Republic has betrayed the trust of the people, he is massacring innocent people with snipers. Just now six people were killed and dozens wounded in Caracas." and that because of this they no longer recognised Chávez as president of Venezuela. Chávez took over the Venezuelan airwaves several times in the early afternoon in what is termed a cadena, or a commandeering of the media airwaves to broadcast public announcements, asking protesters to return to their homes, playing lengthy pre-recorded discourses, and attempting to block coverage of the ensuing violence.

Lucas Rincón Romero, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Venezuela, announced in a nationwide broadcast that Chávez had tendered his resignation from the presidency. While Chávez was held in a military base, military leaders appointed the President of the Fedecámaras, Pedro Carmona, as Venezuela's interim president. Carmona issued a decree dissolving parliament and the supreme court, abolishing the ombudsman, and firing governors and mayors.[52] He also reverted the country's name to República de Venezuela and reversed Chávez's main social and economic policies.

Carmona's decrees were followed by pro-Chávez uprisings and looting across Caracas. Responding to these disturbances, Venezuelan soldiers loyal to Chávez called for massive popular support for a counter-coup. These soldiers later stormed and retook the presidential palace, and retrieved Chávez from captivity. The shortest-lived government in Venezuelan history was thus toppled, and Chávez resumed his presidency on the night of Saturday, 13 April 2002. Following this episode, Rincón was reappointed by Chávez as Commander of the Army, and later as Interior Minister in 2003.[53]

Controversy about the coup

Chávez waves to supporters after disembarking at Salgado Filho Airport on 26 January 2003 while en route to the World Social Forum convened in Porto Alegre, Brazil (Agência Brasil).

After Chávez resumed his presidency in April 2002, he ordered several investigations to be carried out, and their official results supported Chávez's assertions that the 2002 coup was sponsored by the United States.[54] On 16 April 2002, Chávez claimed that a plane with U.S. registration numbers had visited and been berthed at Venezuela's Orchila Island airbase, where Chávez had been held captive. On 14 May 2002, Chávez alleged that he had definitive proof of U.S. military involvement in April's coup. He claimed that during the coup Venezuelan radar images had indicated the presence of U.S. military naval vessels and aircraft in Venezuelan waters and airspace. The Guardian published a claim by Wayne Madsen – a writer (at the time) for left-wing publications, conspiracy theorist and a former Navy analyst and critic of the George W. Bush administration – alleging U.S. Navy involvement.[55] U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT, requested an investigation of concerns that Washington appeared to condone the removal of Mr Chavez,[56][57] which subsequently found that "U.S. officials acted appropriately and did nothing to encourage an April coup against Venezuela's president", nor did they provide any naval logistical support.[58][59] According to Democracy Now!, CIA documents indicate that the Bush administration knew about a plot weeks before the April 2002 military coup. They cite a document dated 6 April 2002, which says: "dissident military factions... are stepping up efforts to organize a coup against President Chávez, possibly as early as this month." According to William Brownfield, ambassador to Venezuela, the US embassy in Venezuela warned Chávez about a coup plot in April 2002.[60] The United States Department of State and the investigation by the Office of the Inspector General found no evidence that "US assistance programs in Venezuela, including those funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), were inconsistent with US law or policy" or "... directly contributed, or was intended to contribute, to [the coup d'état]."[58][61]

Chávez also claimed, during the coup's immediate aftermath, that the U.S. was still seeking his overthrow. On 6 October 2002, he stated that he had foiled a new coup plot, and on 20 October 2002, he stated that he had barely escaped an assassination attempt while returning from a trip to Europe.[23] During that period, the US Ambassador to Venezuela warned the Chávez administration of two potential assassination plots.[60]

A rally in Caracas

In 2003 and 2004 Chávez launched a number of social and economic campaigns which had become possible as for the first time he had a good economy and the oil industry, which produces 80% of Venezuela's exports by value, 25% of its GDP, and 50% of the government's income, was for the first time not under hostile management. In July 2003 he launched "Mission Robinson", billed as a campaign aimed at providing free reading, writing and arithmetic lessons to the more than 1.5 million Venezuelan adults who were illiterate prior to his 1999 election. On 12 October 2003, Chávez initiated "Mission Guaicaipuro", a program billed as protecting the livelihood, religion, land, culture, and rights of Venezuela's indigenous peoples. In late 2003, the Venezuelan president launched "Mission Sucre" (named after independence-war hero General Antonio Jose de Sucre), which is primarily a scholarship program for higher education. As of about 2005, it was giving out about 100,000 need-based grants each year to bright students who would have been financially barred from university education in the past.[70] In November 2003, Chávez announced "Mission Ribas", with the promise of providing remedial education and diplomas for Venezuela's five million high school dropouts. On the first anniversary of Mission Robinson's establishment, Chávez stated in Caracas's Teresa Carreño theater to an audience of 50,000 formerly illiterate Venezuelans, "in a year, we have graduated 1,250,000 Venezuelans." Nevertheless, there were also significant setbacks. Notably, the inflation rate rocketed to 31% in 2002 and remained at the high level of 27% in 2003, causing a great deal of hardship for the poor.

On 9 May 2004, a group of 126 Colombians were captured during a raid of a farm near Caracas. Chávez soon accused them of being a foreign-funded paramilitary force who intended to violently overthrow his rule.[71] These events merely served to further the extreme and violent polarization of Venezuelan society between pro- and anti-Chávez camps. Chávez's allegations of a putative 2004 coup attempt continue to stir controversy and doubts to this day.[71] In October 2005, 27 of the accused Colombians were found guilty, while the rest were released and deported.[72]

In early and mid-2003, Súmate, a grassroots volunteer civilian voter rights organization, began the process of collecting the millions of signatures needed to activate the presidential recall provision provided for in Chávez's 1999 Constitution. In August 2003, around 3.2 million signatures were presented, but these were rejected by the pro-Chávez majority in the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE; "National Electoral Council") on the grounds that many had been collected before the midpoint of Chávez's presidential term.[73] Reports then began to emerge among opposition and international news outlets that Chávez had begun to act punitively against those who had signed the petition, while pro-Chávez individuals stated that they had been coerced by employers into offering their signatures at their workplaces. In November 2003, the opposition collected an entirely new set of signatures, with 3.6 million names produced over a span of four days. Riots erupted nationwide as allegations of fraud were made by Chávez against the signature collectors.

The provision in the Constitution allowing for a presidential recall requires the signatures of 20% of the electorate in order to effect a recall. Further, the cedulas (national identity card numbers) and identities of petition signers are not secret, and in fact were made public by Luis Tascón, a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly representing Chávez' party (Fifth Republic Movement - MVR) and the Communist Party of Venezuela of Táchira state. The government was accused of increasing the voter rolls by giving citizenship to illegal immigrants and refugees; and the opposition claimed that it was a citizenship for votes program. Voter registration increased by about 2 million people ahead of the referendum, which in effect raised the threshold of the 20% of the electorate needed to effect a recall.[74]

Reports again emerged that Chávez and his allies were penalizing signers of the publicly posted petition. Charges were made of summary dismissals from government ministries, PDVSA, the state-owned oil corporation, the Caracas Metro, and public hospitals controlled by Chávez's political allies. Finally, after opposition leaders submitted to the CNE a valid petition with 2,436,830 signatures that requested a presidential recall referendum, a recall referendum was announced on 8 June 2004 by the CNE. Chávez and his political allies responded to this by mobilizing supporters to encourage rejection of the recall with a "no" vote.

The recall vote itself was held on 15 August 2004. A record number of voters turned out to defeat the recall attempt with a 59% "no" vote.[75][76] The election was overseen by the Carter Center and the Organization of American States, and was certified by them as fair and open.[77] European Union observers did not attend, saying the government had placed too many restrictions on their participation.[78] Critics called the results fraudulent, citing documents which indicated that the true results were the complete opposite of the reported ones, and raising questions about the government ownership of voting machines. "Massive fraud" was alleged and Carter's conclusions were questioned,[79] although five other opposition polls showed a Chávez victory.[80]

While the OAS observers and a reluctant Bush administration, endorsed the results, a few critics, including economists Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard and Roberto Rigobon of MIT, alleged that certain procedures in the election may have allowed the government to cheat.[81] The Carter Center admitted Taylor had "found a mistake in one of the models of his analysis which lowered the predicted number of tied machines, but which still found the actual result to lie within statistical possibility."[82]

A jubilant Chávez pledged to redouble his efforts against both poverty and "imperialism," while promising to foster dialogue with his opponents. Chávez's government subsequently charged the founders of Súmate with treason and conspiracy for receiving foreign funds, earmarked for voter education, from the United States Department of State through the National Endowment for Democracy, triggering commentary from human rights organizations and the U.S. government.[83][84][85] The trial has been postponed several times. A program called "Mission Identity", to fast track voter registration of immigrants to Venezuela—including Chávez supporters benefiting from his subsidies—has been put in place prior to the upcoming 2006 presidential elections.[74]

In the aftermath of his referendum victory, Chávez's primary objectives of fundamental social and economic transformation and redistribution accelerated dramatically. Chávez himself placed the development and implementation of the "Bolivarian Missions" once again at the forefront of his political agenda. Sharp increases in global oil prices gave Chávez access to billions of dollars in extra foreign exchange reserves. Economic growth picked up markedly, reaching double-digit growth in 2004 and a 9.3% growth rate for 2005.

Many new policy initiatives were advanced by Chávez after 2004. In late March 2005, the Chávez government passed a series of media regulations that criminalised broadcast libel and slander directed against public officials; prison sentences of up to 40 months for serious instances of character defamation launched against Chávez and other officials were enacted. When asked if he would ever actually move to use the 40-month sentence if a media figure insulted him, Chávez remarked that "I don't care if they [the private media] call me names.... As Don Quixote said, 'If the dogs are barking, it is because we are working.'"[86] Chávez also worked to expand his land redistribution and social welfare programs by authorizing and funding a multitude of new "Bolivarian Missions," including "Mission Vuelta al Campo"; the second and third phases of "Mission Barrio Adentro", both first initiated in June 2005 with the stated aim of constructing, funding, and refurbishing secondary (integrated diagnostic center) and tertiary (hospital) public health care facilities nationwide; and "Mission Miranda, which established a national citizen's militia. Meanwhile, Venezuela's doctors went on strike, protesting the siphoning of public funds from their existing institutions to these new Bolivarian ones, run by Cuban doctors.

Chávez focused considerably on Venezuela's foreign relations in 2004 and 2005 via new bilateral and multilateral agreements, including humanitarian aid and construction projects. Chávez has engaged, with varying degrees of success, numerous other foreign leaders, including Argentina's Néstor Kirchner, China's Hu Jintao, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russia's Vladimir Putin. On 4 March 2005, Chávez publicly declared that the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was "dead". Chávez stated that the neoliberal model of development had utterly failed in improving the lives of Latin Americans, and that an alternative, anti-capitalist model would be conceived in order to increase trade and relations between Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil. Chávez also stated his desire that a leftist, Latin American analogue of NATO be established.

Chávez embraces Argentinian President Néstor Kirchner during the closing of a July 2004 joint press conference held in Venezuela (Office of the Argentine Presidency).

Over the course of 2004 and 2005, the Venezuelan military under Chávez also began in earnest to reduce weaponry sourcing and military ties with the United States. Chávez's Venezuela is thus increasingly purchasing arms from alternative sources, such as Brazil, Russia, China and Spain. Friction over these sales escalated, and in response Chávez ended cooperation between the militaries of the two countries. He also asked all active-duty U.S. soldiers to leave Venezuela. In October 2005, Chávez banished the Christian missionary organization "New Tribes Mission" from the country, accusing it of "imperialist infiltration" and harboring connections with the CIA.[87] At the same time, he granted inalienable titles to over 6,800 square kilometres of land traditionally inhabited by Amazonian indigenous peoples to their respective resident natives, though this land could not be bought or sold as Western-style title deeds can. Chávez cited these changes as evidence that his revolution was also a revolution for the defense of indigenous rights, such as those promoted by Chávez's Mission Guaicaipuro.

During this period, Chávez placed much greater emphasis on alternative economic development and international trade models, much of it in the form of extremely ambitious hemisphere-wide international aid agreements. For example, on 20 August 2005, during the first graduation of international scholarship students from Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine, Chávez announced that he would jointly establish with Cuba a second such medical school that would provide tuition-free medical training—an ex gratia project valued at between $20 and 30 billion—to more than 100,000 physicians who would pledge to work in the poorest communities of the Global South. He announced that the project would run for the next decade, and that the new school would include at least 30,000 new places for poor students from both Latin America and the Caribbean.[88]

Chávez has also taken ample opportunity on the international stage to juxtapose such projects with the manifest results and workings of neoliberal globalization. Most notably, during his speech at the 2005 UN World Summit, he denounced development models that are organised around neoliberal guidelines such as liberalisation of capital flows, removal of trade barriers, and privatisation as the reason for the developing world's impoverishment. Chávez also went on to warn of an imminent global energy famine brought about by hydrocarbon depletion (based on Hubbert peak theory), stating that "we are facing an unprecedented energy crisis.... Oil is starting to become exhausted."[89]

In 2005, Chávez demanded the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, accused of conspiring to bomb Cubana Flight 455. A Texas judge blocked the extradition on the grounds that he could be tortured in Venezuela; the Venezuelan embassy blamed the Department of Homeland Security for refusing to contest such accusations during the trial.[90] Chávez also requested the extradition of former Venezuelan officers and members of Militares democraticos, Lt. German Rodolfo Varela and Lt. Jose Antonio Colina, who are wanted for bombing the Spanish and Colombian embassies after Chávez made a speech criticizing both governments.[91][92]

In December 2005, the BBC said that Chavez "has made no secret of the fact that he is in favour of amending the constitution so that he can run again for president in 2012."[93] He has stated that he intends to retire from the Venezuelan presidency in 2021.[94] The following year Chavez sought re-election and his approval ratings in August stood at 55%.[95]

In 2006 Chávez announced Venezuela's bid to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council; Washington officials encouraged Latin American and Caribbean nations to vote instead for Guatemala.[96] Analysts quoted by Forbes magazine said that Chávez would offer to supply 20% of China's crude oil needs if Beijing backed Venezuela's bid to join the UN Security Council.[97] In Chile, the press was concerned that Venezuelan grants for flood aid might affect the government's decision about which country to support for admission to the UN Security Council.[98] However, Venezuela was never able to obtain more votes than Guatemala in the forty-one separate UN votes in October 2006.[99] Because of this deadlock in voting, Panama was selected as a consensus candidate and subsequently won the election for Latin America's seat on the Security Council.

In accordance with his foreign policy trends, Chávez has visited several countries in Latin America, as well as Portugal, Belarus, Russia, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Vietnam, Mali and Benin. At the request of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Chávez also attended the 2006 summit of the African Union in Banjul. He also visited the People's Republic of China and Malaysia.

In 2006 Chavez accused the United States government of attempting to turn Colombia into Venezuela's adversary over the recent arms dispute. "The U.S. empire doesn't lose a chance to attack us and try to create discord between us. That's one of the empire's strategies: Try to keep us divided." Chavez said in response to the United States government.[100]

Chávez again won the OAS and Carter Center certification of the national election on 3 December 2006 with 63% of the vote,[101] beating his closest challenger Manuel Rosales who conceded his loss on 4 December 2006.[102] After his victory, Chávez promised a more radical turn towards socialism.[103]

According to Datos Information Resources, family income among the poorest stratum grew more than 150% between 2003 and 2006.[104]

The President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with Hugo Chávez 5 March 2008.

On 8 January 2007 President Chávez installed a new cabinet, replacing most of the ministers. Jorge Rodríguez was designated the new vice president, replacing José Vicente Rangel. Chávez announced that he will send to the National Assembly a new enabling act, asking for the authority to re-nationalize the biggest phone company of the country (Cantv), and other companies from the electrical sector, all previously public companies which were privatized by past administrations. He also asked to eliminate the autonomy of the Central Bank.[105]

On 31 January 2007 the Venezuelan National Assembly approved an enabling act granting Chávez the power to rule by decree in certain areas for 18 months. He plans to continue his Bolivarian Revolution, enacting economic and social changes. He has said he wants to nationalize key sectors of the economy.[106][107] Chávez, who is beginning a fresh six-year term, says the legislation will be the start of a new era of "maximum revolution" during which he will consolidate Venezuela's transformation into a socialist society. A few critics, however, are calling it a step towards greater authority by a leader with unchecked power.[108][109]

On 8 February 2007 the Venezuelan government signed an agreement to buy an 82.14% stake in Electricidad de Caracas from AES Corporation. Paul Hanrahan, president and CEO of AES said the deal has been a fair process that respected the rights of investors.[110] In February 2007, the Venezuelan government bought a 28.5% stake of the shares of CANTV from Verizon Communications.[111]

On 30 April 2007 Chávez announced that Venezuela would be formally pulling out of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, having paid off its debts five years ahead of schedule and so saving US$8 million.[112] The debt was US$3 billion in 1999.[113] Chávez then announced the creation of a regional bank, the Bank of the South, and said that the IMF and the World Bank were in crisis.[114]

The next day he announced intentions to re-take control of oil projects in the Orinoco Belt, which he said are "the world's largest crude reserve."[115] These reserves, which can be exploited with modern technologies, may place Venezuela ahead of Saudi Arabia in terms of oil reserves.[116]

In May 2007, the Chavez government refused to renew the license of the nation's most popular television station, Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), alleging the company participated in the 2002 coup d'état. This led to many, prolonged protests in Caracas. Also, tens of thousands have marched through Caracas to support President Chávez's decision.[117]

On 15 February 2009, Chávez won a referendum to eliminate term limits,[143] allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely.[144] Subsequently, polls showed most Venezuelans did not want him to continue indefinitely, and expressed increasing concern over crime, the economy, and infrastructure;[145] and increasing consolidation of power.[145][146] A staunch former ally who was instrumental in returning Chávez to power in 2002, Raúl Baduel, broke with Chávez after being charged with corruption and accused him of being a tyrant.[147]

A 2010 OAS report[148] indicated "achievements with regard to the eradication of illiteracy, the set up of a primary health network, land distribution and the reduction of poverty",[149] and "improvements in the areas of economic, social, and cultural rights".[150] The report also found "blistering" concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism,[151] and "the existence of a pattern of impunity in cases of violence",[152] as well as erosion of separation of powers and "severe economic, infrastructure, and social headaches".[153]

Chávez rejected the 2010 OAS report, calling it "pure garbage", and said Venezuela should boycott the OAS; a spokesperson said, "We don't recognize the commission as an impartial institution". He disclaimed any power to influence the judiciary.[154] A Venezuelan official said the report distorts and takes statistics out of context, saying that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".[155]

According to the National Public Radio, the report discusses decreasing rights of opposition to the government and "goes into heavy detail" about control of the judiciary. It says elections are free, but the state has increasing control over media and state resources used during election campaigns, and opposition elected officials have "been prevented from actually carrying out their duties afterward".[156]

CNN has said the "lack of independence by Venezuela's judiciary and legislature in their dealings with Chavez often leads to the abuses",[152] and the Wall Street Journal blames the government of Chavez.[153]

On 7 October 2012, Chávez won his country's presidential election for a third time, defeating Henrique Capriles for another six-year term.[157] The American press has often demonized the political process in the country, calling the government a "dictatorship".[158][159] His victory was short-lived, however, as Chavez died five months later, on 5 March 2013.

• Roberto Briceño León et al., "La cultura emergente de la violencia en Caracas," Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales, 3, nos. 2–3, (1997).
• Margarita López Maya, "Venezuela 2002-2003: Polarization, Confrontation, and Violence," in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, The Venezuela Reader, Washington D.C.: EPICA Task Force, 2005.
• Alejandro Moreno, El aro y la trama: episteme, modernidad y pueblo. Caracas, 1995.
• Ives Pedrazzini and Magaly Sánchez, Malandros, bandas y ni os de la calle. Valencia, Venezuela, 1992.
• Ana Maria San Juan, "La criminalidad en Caracas," Revista Venezolanoa de Economía y Ciencias Sociales 3, nos. 2-3 (April–September 1997).
• Eric Wingerter, "A People's Platform: Land Reform, Health Care and Literacy," in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, The Venezuela Reader, Washington D.C.: EPICA Task Force, 2005.