MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

National holiday to celebrate Venezuela's Chavez ten-year rule

Chavez celebrates 10 years in power

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has declared a national holiday to mark his 10 years in power. The capital, Caracas, was quieter than usual, as workers and children stayed away from offices and schools.

It comes as Mr Chavez campaigns ahead of a referendum on amending the constitution to allow elected officials to seek as many terms as they wish. Several left-wing Latin American presidents are also expected to attend a celebratory event. Declaring Monday's holiday on Sunday, Mr Chavez wrote: "We have done in 10 years what couldn't be done in one century." During his turbulent decade in power, the president has been helped by high oil prices which have enabled him to fund social programmes both in Venezuela and around the world. Even some of Mr Chavez' fiercest critics accept that poverty in Venezuela has fallen significantly since he came to power. However, they argue that the measures to help the poor are built on the back of high oil prices, and are not sustainable, BBC Latin America analyst James Painter says. The Venezuelan economy relies on oil for more than 90% of its exports and more than half of its income - but the price of oil has dropped from 140 US dollars a barrel last July to about 40 now. Additionally, the opposition to the government, which has often been weak and divided, is starting to look like a more serious threat, our analyst says. It may be able to defeat Mr Chavez in a referendum in two weeks' time on allowing the indefinite re-election of public posts, including that of the president. Mr Chavez's popularity - domestically and internationally - was boosted by his ridicule of former US President George W Bush, but his successor Barack Obama looks set to be a much more difficult adversary, our analyst adds.