Fireworks lit up the dawn skies as Venezuela paid tribute Thursday to leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez two years after his death, but the movement he founded faces its worst approval ratings ever amid a deepening economic crisis.
The national homage included an "anti-imperialist tribunal" organized by Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, with glowing tributes coming in from regional allies, notably Cuba, as well as from Colombia's FARC rebels.
The commemorations come as Chavez's hand-picked successor, President Nicolas Maduro, struggles to revive the recession-hit economy and address chronic shortages of basic goods ahead of key legislative elections this year.
"The order of the day at this historic moment is to struggle and to work," Maduro said at the "tribunal" in Caracas.
"No one must lower their guard."
Maduro then presided over a tribute to Chavez at the "Cuartel de la Montana," the military barracks where the late leader launched his political career -- now a military museum where dozens of his supporters placed flowers at his marble tomb.
The barracks is where Chavez, then a paratroop officer, launched a failed 1992 coup attempt, six years before finally coming to power at the ballot box.
He went on to rule Venezuela for 14 years with a mix of authoritarianism and charisma, using the oil giant's booming crude revenues to fund a populist economic model that he called "21st-century socialism."
When Chavez died at age 58 following a long battle with cancer, millions of Venezuelans poured onto the streets in mourning.
His memory is alive and well in Venezuela, where his face is still splashed across countless murals, banners and posters, and fervid supporters keep an altar to "Saint Hugo."
- 'Chavismo' in crisis -
That fervor does not, however, extend to Maduro, who lacks Chavez's charisma and has struggled to keep his subsidy-driven economic model afloat -- there is 68.5 percent annual inflation, a 4.0 percent economic contraction last year and plummeting oil prices.
"In October 2012, 44 percent (of Venezuelans) defined themselves as 'Chavistas.' Last December, the figure was 22 percent. The political capital of 'Chavismo' has been cut in half," said political scientist John Magdaleno.
Exasperated with soaring prices, shortages and violent crime, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans hit the streets last year in protests that exploded into violence, leaving 43 people dead and hundreds wounded.
Maduro, 52, has taken a harder line than Chavez, jailing opponents and allowing the security forces to use deadly force to control public demonstrations.
Maduro's approval rating is now hovering around 20 percent, putting the Chavistas at risk of losing key legislative elections later this year.
Polls indicate the opposition has a 20 percentage point lead heading into the vote, for which a date has not yet been set.
A victory could give them the momentum to petition for a referendum to remove Maduro from power next year, under an article of the constitution allowing elected officials to be recalled halfway through their terms.
- Latin American tributes -
Tributes also came in from around Latin America.
At the ongoing talks to end the five-decade guerrilla war in Colombia -- a peace process that Chavez played a key role in brokering -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) paid their respects.
Chavez "is the undisputed leader of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and one of the maximum defenders of the people of our Americas," said the leftist rebels' commander Fidel Rondon.
Chavez is the person who "convinced the leaders of the FARC that the time for armed struggle was over in Latin America and that now they needed to win political power at the ballot box," said a Latin American diplomat.
In Cuba, whose communist government was a major beneficiary of Chavez's largesse with Venezuelan oil wealth, commemorations were held in schools, universities, offices and military barracks.
The state media remembered Chavez's close relationship with Fidel Castro, who called him "the best friend the Cuban people ever had."
Commemorations were also planned in Nicaragua, another top beneficiary of discounted Venezuelan oil for its allies.
Fireworks lit up the dawn skies as Venezuela paid tribute Thursday to leftist firebrand Hugo Chavez two years after his death, but the movement he founded faces its worst approval ratings ever amid a deepening economic crisis.
The national homage included an “anti-imperialist tribunal” organized by Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, with glowing tributes coming in from regional allies, notably Cuba, as well as from Colombia’s FARC rebels.
The commemorations come as Chavez’s hand-picked successor, President Nicolas Maduro, struggles to revive the recession-hit economy and address chronic shortages of basic goods ahead of key legislative elections this year.
“The order of the day at this historic moment is to struggle and to work,” Maduro said at the “tribunal” in Caracas.
“No one must lower their guard.”
Maduro then presided over a tribute to Chavez at the “Cuartel de la Montana,” the military barracks where the late leader launched his political career — now a military museum where dozens of his supporters placed flowers at his marble tomb.
The barracks is where Chavez, then a paratroop officer, launched a failed 1992 coup attempt, six years before finally coming to power at the ballot box.
He went on to rule Venezuela for 14 years with a mix of authoritarianism and charisma, using the oil giant’s booming crude revenues to fund a populist economic model that he called “21st-century socialism.”
When Chavez died at age 58 following a long battle with cancer, millions of Venezuelans poured onto the streets in mourning.
His memory is alive and well in Venezuela, where his face is still splashed across countless murals, banners and posters, and fervid supporters keep an altar to “Saint Hugo.”
– ‘Chavismo’ in crisis –
That fervor does not, however, extend to Maduro, who lacks Chavez’s charisma and has struggled to keep his subsidy-driven economic model afloat — there is 68.5 percent annual inflation, a 4.0 percent economic contraction last year and plummeting oil prices.
“In October 2012, 44 percent (of Venezuelans) defined themselves as ‘Chavistas.’ Last December, the figure was 22 percent. The political capital of ‘Chavismo’ has been cut in half,” said political scientist John Magdaleno.
Exasperated with soaring prices, shortages and violent crime, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans hit the streets last year in protests that exploded into violence, leaving 43 people dead and hundreds wounded.
Maduro, 52, has taken a harder line than Chavez, jailing opponents and allowing the security forces to use deadly force to control public demonstrations.
Maduro’s approval rating is now hovering around 20 percent, putting the Chavistas at risk of losing key legislative elections later this year.
Polls indicate the opposition has a 20 percentage point lead heading into the vote, for which a date has not yet been set.
A victory could give them the momentum to petition for a referendum to remove Maduro from power next year, under an article of the constitution allowing elected officials to be recalled halfway through their terms.
– Latin American tributes –
Tributes also came in from around Latin America.
At the ongoing talks to end the five-decade guerrilla war in Colombia — a peace process that Chavez played a key role in brokering — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) paid their respects.
Chavez “is the undisputed leader of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and one of the maximum defenders of the people of our Americas,” said the leftist rebels’ commander Fidel Rondon.
Chavez is the person who “convinced the leaders of the FARC that the time for armed struggle was over in Latin America and that now they needed to win political power at the ballot box,” said a Latin American diplomat.
In Cuba, whose communist government was a major beneficiary of Chavez’s largesse with Venezuelan oil wealth, commemorations were held in schools, universities, offices and military barracks.
The state media remembered Chavez’s close relationship with Fidel Castro, who called him “the best friend the Cuban people ever had.”
Commemorations were also planned in Nicaragua, another top beneficiary of discounted Venezuelan oil for its allies.
