The Chavez revolution

Watch part two

When he took office in 1999, one of the first changes enacted by  Hugo Chavez,  president of Venezuela, was to allow the president two six-year terms in office.

On Sunday, he pushed for, and won, a constitutional amendment lifting term limits altogether.

Chavez argues that he needs more time, beyond the end of his second term in 2012, to steer the country to socialism.

In this deeply divided country, his supporters say he has provided cheap food, free education and quality health care, and empowered Venezuelans after decades of US backed governments that favored the rich.

His critics say he effectively controls all three branches of government and would turn the country into Cuba.

To explore the repurcussions of Sunday’s vote, Riz speaks with the editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine, Moisés Naím, Venezuela’s former Minister of Trade and Industry.

This episode of the Riz Khan was aired on Monday, February 16, 2009.