Venezuela's Chavez Wins Hearts Among the Poor

Before Chavez took office, Garzea and others said, Indians had no legal protections from discrimination and no political voice. In society, they were relegated to an ornamental role. The president, who embraces his Indian ancestry, bestowed native people with ancestral land, full citizenship rights, recognition and protection under the national constitution.

"With Chavez we have opened our eyes," Garzea said the next day, standing under the red canopy of the new vendors' stall. "Before, to think, to explore, to imagine, wasn't possible. Now, we can."

After Chavez won the referendum in 2004, opposition parties fell into disarray due to infighting. The rumblings of criticism are heard largely through the mainstream media, which aggressively cover Chavez's missteps, real or perceived.

One of the most egregious misuses of power, say his critics, is la lista , the list of voters on the petition that demanded a referendum. The list was posted on the Web sites of an opposition group and a pro-Chavez member of the National Assembly. Chavez's critics say the administration had been using the list to weed out opponents from government jobs and programs.

Jose Antonio Montenegro, a cabdriver, blamed the list for the demise of his construction company. Montenegro said that several months after he signed the petition, his application for a government loan was rejected when his name popped up on the list.

"Do you know how many lawyers are driving taxis?" he said, as melancholy U.S. ballads played over his car stereo. "Professionals don't have a future because they signed against Chavez."

Calixto Ortega, a member of Chavez's political party and the head of a parliamentary committee on domestic security, said the party does not condone the use of the list, adding that political discrimination violates the national constitution. But he said party leaders had consulted the list at times.

"When there was a situation in which the state was in danger, you had to take precautions," Ortega said. "You didn't know if it was over, so it was important for stability to know what people were thinking."

Still, in many parts of Caracas the enthusiasm for the Bolivarian revolution and its charismatic leader is so great that men and women are moved to cry. Without a hint of exaggeration, Chavistas punctuate their pledges of loyalty with shouts of "Revolution or death!"

In 2002, Escarlett Castro, a single mother of three and a supervisor for a landscaping company, made good on that promise. Faint scars are still visible on Castro's back. That's where a policeman's bullet grazed her after the coup attempt in 2002, as Castro joined protesters outside Miraflores, the presidential palace, to demand Chavez's return.

"We wanted to get to Miraflores, and we weren't going to leave until the president returned," she said, her voice choking, as she climbed through her densely packed neighborhood, pressed into the side of a hill, to reach her humble house with one small window. "Chavez is the man we have waited for all this time."

"We triumphed," said Castro, who has long black hair and wears bright red lipstick. "They have to take into consideration that the truth always, always wins, especially when it's the humble people who have the truth."

Some of Chavez's supporters stress the distinction between the desire of poor and working Venezuelans to determine their future and the will of its leader. Geomar Hernandez, 26, said he applauds Chavez but bristles at the name Chavista.

"I'm not a Chavista, I'm a Venezuelan," said Hernandez, a university student. "We have to believe in a nation. The leaders are circumstantial; their positions change."