...In 1999, The constitution was re-written and a new Constitutional Assembly was created, with pro-Chávez representatives taking 120 of 131 seats, and giving him a clear majority. By August of the same year a "judicial state of emergency" was declared, giving Chávez unchecked power to remove judges; later that month a "legislative state of emergency" was declared, leaving a seven man committee in charge of legislative functions; subsequently the Congress was barred from meeting.

In December of 1999 a nationwide referendum was approved to extend the term of the president to 6 years and impose a term limit of two terms on the president; the previous term limit had been one term. He was able to have legislation passed in November 2000 to allow him to rule by decree for one year, and ran for re-election in December 2000 and won; at the same time the new unicameral legislature was taken by 60% pro-Chávez representatives. During the election he attempted to centralize the labour unions to one national union by referendum, but was unsuccessful.

Towards the end of Chávez's rule by decree in November 2001, he enacted a spate of new legislation. One of these "reforms" called for the expropriation of unused private lands with compensation for re-distribution to small farmers. Wealthy landowners felt themselves squeezed by the government and opposed this fiercely. The Chamber of Commerce of Venezuela also opposed these policies and attempted to organize general strikes in December 2001.

On 11 April 2002, chaos erupted in Venezuela, with huge protests of over half a million people organized demanding the immediate resignation Chávez. Chávez ordered the military to control the riots instead of the police "Plan Avila", possibly with orders to fire upon the protesters; the military refused to carry out Plan Avila, forcing Chávez to leave the capitol and resign, which was announced on 12 April 2002. A vacuum of power ensued and Pedro Carmona was placed in power; however due to missteps even in his first day of power, many who had supported the removal of Chávez now refused to back Carmona, forcing his resignation and the restoration of Chávez to power.

It is difficult to term what exactly happened in April of 2002, some call it a coup, some a rebellion, while the Supreme Court of Venezuela called it a power vacuum. About 100 people died during the April incident. Since these events, Chávez has rigorously accused the US of orchestrating the "coup" against him, but there is no evidence suggesting that this is true. The four military officers that orchestrated the coup were eventually absolved of blame by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, terming the sequence of events a rebellion and vacuum of power, due to the fact that the resignation of Chávez had been officially announced by former head of the army, General Lucas Rincon Romero on state media.

On 02 December 2002 a general strike at the Venezuelan Oil Company PDVSA was cracked down by Chávez, resulting in his dismissal of 18.000 employees, many who had not been involved in the strike but were simply not seen as loyal to Chávez; the lack of oils workers brought the country's oil production and export to a standstill until February 2003. Poor sentiment at the company had gradually increased due to the appointment of Rafael Ramírez Carreno to president of the company, a man who was regarded by many to be a Marxist and an enemy of management. Chávez later admitted to having a hand in the crisis at PDVSA in order for him to gain more control over the company and consolidate his power. However the consolidation of control over PDVSA by Chávez did have a price, as even in May, 2005 the company had still not fully recovered to productivity before the strikes.

On 01 February, 2003, Opposition to Chávez moved to have him removed from office, gathering more than three million signatures of private citizens calling for a referendum on whether Chávez should remain in power. After much obstruction by the government, this move failed when the petition was ultimately declared invalid, because the signatures had been gathered prior to Chávez' mid-point in his term.

In August 2004, a second petition was organized, this time with 3,5 million signatures and a referendum was held but almost 60% of the voting population opposed to remove Chávez from office. However, results were later found to have irregularities, with more than 40% of the population not taking part in the vote, despite reports that voters had turned out in record numbers.

In May 2004 another coup plot was reported foiled by the Venezuelan government.

Freedom of the Press?

The Media in Venezuela is largely and overtly against Chávez, with very little mass media supporting him. However there are numerous reports of intimidation of the media by pro Chávez gangs that have been alleged to have issued violent threats against the media that does not support him. Chávez moved to start restrictions on the media with vaguely worded legislation that could allow him to suppress political content, although the initial scope of the law was restrictions on pornographic and violent content.

In mid-March of 2005 Chávez passed legislation further clamping down on the press, by broadening controls on how the press can report articles deemed "disrespectful" or "insulting" of the government. Sentencing for such transgressions ranges between 20 and 40 months incarceration, depending on the gravity of the offense. Moreover laws have been passed against the media, tightening controls on what would be considered slanderous, carrying sentences up to 30 months and what would amount to tens of thousands of US dollars in fines.

Numerous human rights organizations have expressed great concern over the incremental restrictions imposed by the Chávez regime on the Venezuelan media .

Supreme Count

To solidify his control over the Venezuelan Supreme Court, Chávez passed legislation in May 2003 to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices from 20 to 32 and appointing another 5 vacant posts, giving him a clear majority in the judicial branch of the government. He also allowed for the appointment of 32 reserve justices, all of which are loyal to him. It should also be noted that former justices were forced to resign after several "politically sensitive rulings". Many are very concerned that with the control of the courts, Chavez seems to have consolidated control over the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government.

The Statesman

Chávez as a statesman has interesting allies, having a very close personal friendship with Fidel Castro of Cuba, and Venezuela provides oil to Cuba in exchange for skilled workers and other services. Similar to Castro, Chávez is seen as a darling to the left wing, especially left wing media in the United States.

Chávez also had ties to Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and not only staunchly opposed the invasion of Iraq but also went on a state visit to Hussein. He has also allied himself with Qaddafi in Libya, receiving a human rights award from him in 2004 during a state visit.

Not surprisingly relations with the USA are extremely poor, with Chávez publicly attacking President George Bush, and accusing the United States of attempting further attempts on his life. In fact his paranoia and pre-occupation of removal from office has reached such proportions that Chávez's rationality has been called into question by some.

Chávez has also recently bought MiG's from Russia, and territorial disputes with Colombia and Guyana now call into question whether Chávez is looking to start looking to his military for purposes other than defending the country. He has granted asylum to Colombian opposition terrorists, which indicates that perhaps he might also attempt to move against Colombia in other ways than outward military force. Moreover, Chávez has been known to support numerous far-left terrorist groups in South America.

The Left-Wing Fascist (sic)?

The National Guard or state police force in Venezuela has been accused of intimidation and bullying tactics of opposition, reminiscent of the Mussolini brownshirts in the 1930's. It is also troubling that nationalism and xenophobia are seemingly fostered by the government, combined with a push to have the population loyal to Chávez and not to the country. He has created a cult of personality about himself, creating the illusion to the masses that he is infallible; as a speaker Chávez has a bombastic style, literally working his audience up into a frenzy.

Chávez seems also to aspire to unite much of South America's sentiment against foreigners, notably the United States. He speaks of a continental vision, but clearly not without much influence from himself.

Personal Life

Chávez has four children, Rosa Virginia, María Gabriela, Hugo Rafael, and Rosinés, and has been married twice. He is currently separated from his second wife after cheating on her and being caught with a female government officer, Maripili Hernandez.
Chávez reportedly suffers from numerous health problems, such as colds, digestive disorders, asthma and kidney problems. He is very devoted to his family, which is evident that he has appointed numerous family members to key posts, including his father (Governor of State) and his brother Adan (Ambassador to Cuba and broker of many deals with Cuba.

http://www.dictatorofthemonth.com/Chavez/Jun2005ChavezEN.htm