Editing Hugo Chávez (section)

===First presidential term: 2 February 1999 – 10 January 2001===
[[File:Hugo Chávez sworn in 1999.png|thumb|Chávez when he was sworn in on 2 February 1999]]
Chávez's presidential inauguration took place 2 February 1999. He deviated from the usual words of the presidential oath when he took it, proclaiming: "I swear before God and my people that upon this ''moribund'' constitution I will drive forth the necessary democratic transformations so that the new republic will have a [[Magna Carta]] befitting these new times".<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 127.</ref> Freedom in Venezuela suffered following "the decision of President Hugo Chávez, ratified in a national referendum, to abolish congress and the judiciary, and by his creation of a parallel government of military cronies".<ref name=FH1999>{{cite web|title=Venezuela Country report Freedom in the World 1999|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/1999/venezuela|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728033454/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/1999/venezuela|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2016|website=[[Freedom House]]|access-date=28 July 2016|date=28 July 2016}}</ref> Soon after being established into office, Chávez spent much of his time attempting to abolish existing [[checks and balances]] in Venezuela.<ref name=FH1999/> He appointed new figures to government posts, adding leftist allies to key positions and "army colleagues were given a far bigger say in the day-to-day running of the country".<ref name=FH1999/> For instance, he put [[MBR-200|Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200]] founder {{Interlanguage link|Jesús Urdaneta|es}} in charge of the [[National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services]] and made {{Interlanguage link|Hernán Grüber Ódreman|es}}, one of the 1992 coup leaders, governor of the Federal District of Caracas.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} His critics referred to these government officials as the "[[Boliburguesía]]" or "Bolivarian bourgeoisie",<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. xx.</ref><ref>[[#Rom10|Romero 2010]].</ref> and highlighted that it "included few people with experience in public administration".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The number of his immediate family members in Venezuelan politics also led to accusations of [[nepotism]].<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 250–55.</ref> Chávez appointed businessman Roberto Mandini president of the state-run oil company [[Petroleos de Venezuela]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB917899013133273000|title=PDVSA Names Mandini To Head State Oil Firm|date= 2 February 1999|agency=Dow Jones Newswires|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=27 June 2016}}</ref>

Although Chávez did not believe, as he put it in 1998, "in this paradigm of the Western capitalist, bourgeois democratic world,"<ref>Biardeau R. Javier . Del Árbol de las Tres Raíces al "Socialismo Bolivariano del siglo XXI" ¿Una nueva narrativa ideológica de emancipación?. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales [en linea]. 2009, 15(1), 57–113[fecha de Consulta 30 de Agosto de 2024]. ISSN: 1315-6411. Disponible en: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=17721678005</ref> he initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but only [[Rhenish capitalism]], not [[neoliberalism]].<ref name="Hard Talk">[[#SacCha10|Sackur and Chávez 2010]].</ref> Low oil prices made Chavez's government reliant on international free markets during his first months in office, when he showed pragmatism and political moderation, and continued to encourage foreign investment in Venezuela.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 148–49.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Millard |first1=Peter |last2=Hoffman |first2=Cindy |last3=Gertz |first3=Marisa |last4=Lin |first4=Jeremy C. F. |title=A Timeline of Venezuela's Economic Rise and Fall |work=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-venezuela-key-events/ |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref> During a visit to the United States in 1999, he rang the closing bell at the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. His administration held formal talks with the [[International Monetary Fund]] until oil prices rose enough to let the government rule out the need for any financial assistance.<ref name=":1" />

Beginning 27 February 1999, the tenth anniversary of the ''[[Caracazo]]'', Chávez set into motion a social welfare program called [[Plan Bolívar 2000]]. He said he had allotted $20.8&nbsp;million for the plan. The plan involved 70,000 soldiers, sailors and members of the air force repairing roads and hospitals, removing stagnant water that offered breeding areas for disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering free medical care and vaccinations, and selling food at low prices.<ref name="USb2000">{{cite web |title=Venezuelan Soldiers Leave Their Barracks ... To Implement Chavez's Civil-Military Public Works Program |url= https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143547.pdf |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=23 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231100518/https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143547.pdf |archive-date = 31 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 138.</ref> Several [[scandals]] later affected the program as allegations of corruption were formulated against generals involved in the plan and that significant amounts of money had been diverted.<ref>[http://www.analitica.com/va/politica/opinion/6999189.asp Opinión y análisis – ¿Sabe el Ejército de Corrupción?<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306040647/http://www.analitica.com/va/politica/opinion/6999189.asp|date=6 March 2012}}</ref>

====Constitutional reform====
Chávez called a public referendum, which he hoped would support his plans to form a [[1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela|constituent assembly]] of representatives from across Venezuela and from indigenous tribal groups to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 130.</ref> Chávez said he had to run again; "Venezuela's socialist revolution was like an unfinished painting and he was the artist", he said,<ref name=chavshow /> while someone else "could have another vision, start to alter the contours of the painting".<ref name=chavshow />

There was a low turnout of 37.65% and an abstention of 62.35%, 88% of the voters supported his proposal.<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref name="CONS">{{cite book |last1=Rory |first1=Carroll |title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela |date=2014 |publisher=New York |isbn=978-0143124887 |location=Penguin Books |page=41}}</ref>

Chávez called an election on 25 July to elect the members of the constituent assembly. Over 900 of the 1,171 candidates standing for election were Chávez opponents. To elect the members of the assembly, Chávez used a formula designed by mathematical experts and politicians, known at the time as the ''kino'' (lottery) or the "keys of Chávez". Chávez obtained 51% of the votes, but his supporters took 95% of the seats, 125 in total, including all of the seats assigned to indigenous groups, while the opposition won six seats.<ref name=":2">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=152}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Harvsp|Arráiz Lucca|2007|p=199}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05">[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 05.</ref>

On 12 August 1999, the new constituent assembly voted to give themselves the power to abolish government institutions and to dismiss officials who were perceived as corrupt or as operating only in their own interests. Opponents of the Chávez regime argued that it was dictatorial.<ref>[[#Bel99|Belos 1999]].</ref> Most jurists believed that the new constituent assembly had become the country's "supreme authority" and that all other institutions were subordinate to it.<ref name="Gott">
{{cite book|last=Gott|first=Richard|title=Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian revolution|year=2005|publisher=Verso|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=978-1844675333|page=147|edition=New}}</ref> The assembly also declared a "judicial emergency" and granted itself the power to overhaul the judicial system. The Supreme Court ruled that the assembly did indeed have this authority, and was replaced in the 1999 Constitution with the Supreme Tribunal of Justice.<ref name="Nelson1">
{{cite book|last1=Nelson|first1=Brian A.|title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion |title=The silence and the scorpion : the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela|date=2009|publisher=Nation Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1568584188|pages=1–8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/31/world/venezuelan-congress-stripped-of-its-last-remaining-powers.html|title = Venezuelan Congress Stripped of Its Last Remaining Powers|date = 31 August 1999|access-date = 15 May 2015|newspaper = The New York Times|last = Rohter|first = Larry}}</ref> The constituent assembly put together [[1999 Venezuelan Constitution|a new constitution]],<ref name="CONS" /> which was voted on at a referendum in December 1999. Seventy-two percent of those who voted approved of the new constitution. There was a low turnout and an abstention vote of over 50%.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05" /> The new constitution provided protections for the environment and indigenous people, socioeconomic guarantees and state benefits, while giving greater powers to the president.<ref name=CONS/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06">[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 06.</ref> The presidential term was extended to six years, and a president was allowed to serve for two consecutive terms. Previously, a sitting president could not run for reelection for 10 years after leaving office. It also replaced the bicameral Congress with a unicameral Legislative Assembly and gave the president the power to legislate on citizen rights, to promote military officers and to oversee economic and financial matters.<ref name=CONS/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06"/> The assembly also gave the military a mandated role in the government by empowering it to ensure public order and aid national development, which the previous constitution had expressly forbidden.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06" />

In the new constitution, the country, until then officially known as the Republic of Venezuela, was renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) at Chávez's request.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05" /> Chávez's actions following the ratification the 1999 Venezuelan constitution government weakened many of Venezuela's checks and balances, allowing the government to control every branch of the Venezuelan government for over 15 years after it passed until the [[2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election|Venezuelan parliamentary election in 2015]].<ref name=FH1999/><ref>
{{cite news
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|title=Will A Venezuelan Opposition Party's Election Victory Bring Real Change?
|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-elections-david-smilde_56745723e4b0b958f6567bd8?ir=Latino+Voices&section=latino-voices
|access-date=19 December 2015
|agency=[[HuffPost]]
|date=19 December 2015
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</ref>

In May 2000 he launched his own Sunday morning radio show, ''[[Aló Presidente]]'' (''Hello, President''), on the state radio network. This followed an earlier Thursday night television show, ''De Frente con el Presidente'' (''Face to Face with the President'').<ref name="petro">
{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Colgan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=enReCU97-zQC |title=Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War |date=31 January 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107029675 |page=209 |language=en |quote=For Chávez the show accomplishes a number of political objectives. First, it sustains and builds popular support for his leadership. By spending hours each week in front of a camera Chávez reinforces the message that he is the leader of his political movement and the government of Venezuela, its living symbol. Second, the television show is oriented to, and popular among, the lower classes of Venezuela who have traditionally remained outside of the political process. |access-date=27 June 2016 |via=Google Books}}
</ref> He founded two newspapers, ''El Correo del Presidente'' (''The President's Post''), founded in July, for which he acted as editor-in-chief, and ''Vea'' (''See''), another newspaper, as well as ''Question'' magazine and Vive TV.<ref name="petro" /> ''El Correo'' was later shut down among accusations of corruption and mismanagement.<ref>
[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 193–95.
</ref> In his television and radio shows, he answered calls from citizens, discussed his latest policies, sang songs and told jokes.<ref name="petro" />

In June 2000 he separated from his wife Marisabel, and their divorce was finalised in January 2004.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 243.</ref>