For Chávez, Firm Rule and Favors

Perhaps most important, billions of dollars flow directly from Petróleos de Venezuela to the executive branch.

"All presidents try to maximize their power," said Javier Corrales, an Amherst College political science professor who writes about Latin America. "They don't succeed as much. This is what happens when you have strong institutions. But in Venezuela, Chávez has succeeded."

The opposition's tactics have strengthened the president's hand, giving him a seemingly endless supply of verbal ammunition to hurl at his foes. A 2002 coup, which the White House tacitly supported, and a national strike months later, which nearly shuttered Petróleos de Venezuela, infuriated poor Venezuelans.

The leaders of the opposition, drawn mainly from Venezuela's upper classes, have also failed to comprehend Chávez's appeal among the poor.

Rosales, Chávez's electoral opponent, has fashioned an alternative message, talking about crime and promising populist giveaways. But he has recently stepped up the timeworn accusations that Chávez is taking Venezuela on the road to "Castro Communism."

"He wants to take Venezuela to a system that has a democratic facade," Rosales said in an interview. "But it's one that uses the model of Cuba, with an eternal presidency, with one party, where there is no private property, where there is no liberty of expression."

In a country where insults are traded freely and capitalist consumer culture reigns as perhaps nowhere else in Latin America, such comments have failed to reverberate with the masses.

Chávez seems to relish the attacks.

"Here they talk of Castro Communism," he said at a news conference. "It's like they're frozen in the 1960s."

At the Carmen Maiso de Bello School, where students ages 10 to 80 learn how to read and handle simple math problems, Chávez means progress. Teacher Elizabeth Rodriguez, 21, owes her job to the government, which is also putting her through college.

"The people are very happy with what President Chávez is doing," she said. "He's the one who's taking us out of the darkness."

Chávez's most committed backers, poor people who felt forgotten until his arrival, do not raise an eyebrow when the president remarks that his presidency may last another generation.

"How long will Chávez rule? Until 2000-forever, because we're all with him," said Maria Nava, 56. "He's the only leader of everyone. We love him to death."

Political analysts say that kind of fervent support may be heartfelt, but it is also part of a carefully cultivated strategy by the government. Chávez has demonized his opponents, radicalizing his more numerous supporters and instilling in them a deep-seated fear that if he is voted out, they will lose all that they have gained. The government here says that if Chávez loses, the winners would be oligarchs and opportunists allied with the Bush administration, which is highly unpopular in Latin America.

"Let's not forget that we are facing the very devil," the president told hundreds of thousands of supporters at a rally Sunday. "On December 3, we face at the ballot box the imperialist government of the United States of America."

To ensure what Chávez promises will be a "crushing" victory that will turn his opponents into "dust," the government appears to be employing its considerable influence to marshal votes. State resources are used freely in campaigns, and for workers in Venezuela's burgeoning bureaucracy, it is perfectly clear where their sympathies should lie.

"They get a kit, and the kit is a red cap and a red T-shirt," said Froilan Barrios, a leader in the country's main labor confederation.

With more than 2 million workers, the public bureaucracy is important to both candidates. Electoral observers said the pressure has ranged from soft -- an early Christmas bonus -- to hard, with workers at the tax collection agency allegedly pressured to sell bonds to help fund the Chávez campaign.

"There has been an excessive use of state resources to favor the president," said Pedro Nikken, one of five directors of Electoral Eye, a watchdog group that has otherwise found an audit of voting machines adequate.

Gabriela Ramírez, a congresswoman closely allied with Chávez, defended the government's efforts to ensure that workers at state entities, especially the oil company, are "red, very red." She recalled how employees at Petróleos de Venezuela had revolted against the government in a failed bid to bring down Chávez.

"When we talk of being red, very red, we're talking of being committed to the revolution," she said. "We're talking about a government for the majority."

Those who have been found to support the opposition have learned the hard way that they're not wanted.

Lawyer Rocio San Miguel, 40, lost her job in 2004 after she signed a petition that led to the presidential recall vote Chávez later won. Her name had been among 3.4 million signatures leaked to a pro-government congressman who later posted them on his Web site.

San Miguel said she knows what state workers who oppose the government are going through. "It is a climate of fear," she said, "and fear works, especially when it's related to your work."