III.

President

Chávez was sworn in as president in February 1999. He advocated changing Venezuela’s constitution to deal with the country’s economic crisis and collapsing oil prices. In a constitutional referendum held in April, voters approved the election of a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. The constituent assembly was elected in July, with candidates from Chávez’s Patriotic Pole coalition winning most of the seats.

More than 70 percent of voters backed the new constitution in a referendum that December. The new constitution increased the powers of the president, and the presidential term was lengthened from five to six years. In July 2000 presidential and congressional elections were held under the new constitution. Chávez won the presidential election with 59 percent of the vote.

Almost immediately after his election, Chávez visited the heads of state of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In the process he alienated the administration of United States president George W. Bush by making a state visit to Iraq in defiance of the U.S.-led sanctions against that country. As part of his policy to encourage closer integration among countries in Latin America, Chávez signed an agreement to supply cheap oil to Central American and Caribbean countries, as well as an economic accord with Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba. Domestically he became increasingly unpopular with the upper and middle classes due to his economic reforms and disputes with business leaders.