It's Still Chavez's Venezuela

Peggy Ortiz is a blonde, 35-year-old self proclaimed Chavista (Chavez supporter) who works as a writer and radio producer in Caracas, Venezuela. On a walk through the city's Plaza Bolivar she introduced me to her friends who were all, in her words, revolucionarios. One of them was a Che Guevara impersonator. He had the same smile, beret and goatee as El Comandante, and proudly rode a black moped around, giving high fives to street vendors selling Hugo Chavez T-shirts, key chains and alarm clocks.

"People believe in Chavez, I believe in him," Ortiz explained as we walked past the stalls. "He's a clean president, he doesn't hide anything. Most people who are against Chavez don't understand this political process."

The majority of the Venezuelans I met felt this way. Many anti-Chavistas opposed the current administration as passionately as the Chavistas supported it. A history of economic inequality and violence fuel this polarization, which gained momentum in 1989, when right-wing President Carlos Andres Perez came into power. Perez implemented harmful International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustments, and accepted a massive loan from the IMF which critics claim plunged the country deeper into an economic recession. In 1992 Perez was forced from office on corruption charges.

The Caracazo, an uprising in Caracas against the Perez government in February of 1989, was met with massive military repression which left over 3,000 dead. This event marked a turning point in the country's socio-political landscape. Hugo Chavez, then a young colonel in the army, refused to participate in the Caracazco crack down and in 1992 led an attempted coup d'etat against the Perez government. When the coup failed, Chavez took the blame for it and was imprisoned until 1994.

Soon after his release Chavez began a presidential campaign which took him across the country, gaining support from diverse sectors of society. He started out with little financial backing, often traveling in a broken-down pickup truck and giving speeches out of the back. His humble background -- he grew up in a poor family -- and fiery speeches offering a radical alternative to the wealthy, right-wing politicians in power, gave hope to a disenfranchised population, 60 percent of which lived below the poverty line. In the 1998 presidential election, he was swept into office.

Under Chavez's government, literacy campaigns began, land reform was undertaken, free dentist offices, hospitals and schools were constructed in the poorest neighborhoods, government subsidized supermarkets and business cooperatives sprouted up all over the country. Much of these programs were fueled by oil money; Venezuela has one of the largest deposits of oil in the world. After reforms and partial nationalization of the industry, much of the oil profits steadily flowed into the Chavez administration.

Though Chavez supporters and their initiatives gained momentum, so did the social divide between Chavistas and anti-Chavistas. This divide came to a head in April 2002, when a U.S.-supported coup d'etat was staged against Chavez. Yet the rebellion was short lived. After an outpouring of support among civilian and military Chavistas, the illegitimate government was pushed from office. Chavez was back in the presidency within two days.

The Great Divide

Though violence between Chavistas and anti-Chavistas is infrequent now, the social and political divide continues. On a recent visit to Venezuela, I spoke with people for and against Chavez's political process, as well some apathetic citizens and die hard revolucionarios.

William Barillas is a tall, bearded volunteer at Radio Horizante, a community radio station in Merida, Venezuela. He believed the Chavez administration is a significant improvement from previous governments. "This government has left the era when governments never did anything for the country. They used to just help capitalists, which were a minority of the population. This government actually cares about the education and health of poor people."