Despite being elected by the largest majority of any president in Venezuela's 40-year history of democracy, Hugo Chavez has faced determined opposition from within Venezuela and also the United States. The supporters of his left-wing government see him as the first Venezuelan leader who truly represents the majority of people in this very poor country. The opposition believes he is dismantling the country's democratic institutions and becoming the latest in a long history of military dictators. Colorful and outspoken, the organizer of a 1992 attempted coup d'etat against the government and the target of one in 2002, Chavez is one of the most polarizing figures in modern politics. Both passionately hated and steadfastly loved by Venezuelans, he is feared by the United States for his ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro, his Socialist ideals, and his control of an important source of the world's oil. Whether he is a liberator of the people or a power-hungry agitator remains to be seen, but he is certain to attract controversy. Book jacket.