Chavez celebrates decade in power
Updated on 03 February 2009
Venezuela celebrated President Hugo Chavez's ten-year reign with a national holiday.
Presidents of poor countries that receive cheap oil from the Opec nation, such as Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras, joined Mr Chavez at a giant rally at the tomb of Simon Bolivar - his hero who ejected Spain from the region in the 19th century.
Mr Chavez said: "Ten years ago, Bolivar - embodied in the will of the people - came back to life. Today we celebrate ten years since the start of a new era in Latin America and the Caribbean."
Large crowds of supporters dressed in signature red shirts attended the events, taking advantage of the day off that Mr Chavez declared just hours before the anniversary.
Businesses and schools were closed after scrambling to tell employees and students to stay home. Mr Chavez's decree, and threats to fine companies failing to comply, showed his sometimes arbitrary leadership.
The former paratrooper has repeatedly won elections in his ten years in office and has overcome a coup, a national strike and a recall referendum.
He remains popular among Venezuela's majority poor for spending oil wealth on clinics and schools and is cheered at rallies for his speeches condemning the "evil empire" of the US.
Mr Chavez is a close friend of Cuba's veteran revolutionary, Fidel Castro, although he has not taken Venezuela as far to the left as the communist Caribbean island.
At a rained-on rally, Mr Chavez punched the air and yelled: "From here Fidel your sons and daughters salute you."
His rise to power helped a string of left-leaning governments in Latin America to break with US-led free market policies.
But many Venezuelans complain that Mr Chavez has amassed so much power and describe him as a dictator-in-the-making.
That sentiment has eroded some of his appeal. After an overwhelming re-election victory in 2006, he narrowly lost a referendum in 2007 to change the constitution and allow his re-election.
In November, he also lost some influential posts in regional elections to the opposition.
Pollsters say public opinion is divided over his attempt in this month's referendum to win the right to stay in power as long as he keeps winning elections.
If he loses the referendum, he should leave office in 2013 at the end of his six-year term.
Whether or not Mr Chavez wins, 2009 will be a challenging year. He has been used to lavishing oil wealth from one of the world's top exporters on the poor, but Venezuela's income has fallen in recent months.
The state oil company - the financial engine for Mr Chavez's social programmes - has piled up debts with contractors, raising doubts about how long he can sustain his policies of food handouts and free doctor visits.
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