President Hugo Chavez was re-elected by a comfortable margin in Venezuela's July 30 general elections. Chavez won 59% of the vote, beating his nearest rival and former ally, Francisco Arias, who gained 38%.
Chavez and Arias were both leaders of the 1992 left-nationalist military coup against the corrupt government of Carlos Andres Perez. Both spent time in jail for their role in the coup but upon release formed a political movement which has eclipsed Venezuela's two traditional parties of government, sweeping Arias into the governorship of Zulia state and Chavez into the presidency in 1998.
Chavez has won the support of the poor with left-wing rhetoric, promising measures to redistribute land and wealth and to weaken the domination of Venezuela's economy by imperialist powers.
But his main advances in this direction have been, so far, mostly only on paper. After considerable legal battles he managed to have a new constitution voted into force which includes measures to guarantee free health care and education to tertiary level, indigenous and women's rights, a reduction of the working week and an increase in the minimum wage.
Chavez has been a thorn in the side of the US government. Aside from his anti-imperialist rhetoric he has refused to allow the US Air Force to use Venezuelan air space to prosecute the war against rebels in neighbouring Colombia and has a close relationship with the Cuban government.
The new constitution also contains a measure making it illegal for investors to appeal to international tribunals against Venezuela, effectively disallowing companies from using the World Trade Organisation or similar bodies to override national laws.
The split with Arias occurred earlier this year. Arias accused the Chavez government of corruption, scaring away foreign investors and following the Cuban government too closely. His accusations made Arias the clear favourite of imperialist governments and foreign companies. He was also given the backing of the traditional parties.
Arias succeeded in taking some support from Chavez, who had been polling at 70-80% last year, but the president managed to retain the support of the vast majority of the poor. Chavez's popularity has remained high even in spite of a 7.2% contraction in the economy last year and the doubling of unemployment, caused, in part, by the now-recovered slump in oil prices (Venezuela is the world's third largest oil exporter).
Other cracks have emerged in Chavez's Patriotic Pole alliance this year, including the departure of Homeland for Everyone. The group, itself a split from the leftist Causa Radical, ran its own candidates in the elections.
Chavez now has a six-year term as president, having cut short his previous term in order to hold elections under the new constitution. Results so far indicate that the Patriotic Pole will win 14 of the 23 state governorships and 60% of seats in the new single-chamber National Assembly.
Arias has complained of fraud in the elections, which had been delayed from their initial date of May 28 due to court action against problems in the electoral system. International observers, however, have called the vote "free and fair".
BY NEVILLE SPENCER