I feel the excitement and the revolution that Chavez is making.
Granted, I don't know enough about him, but from what I have read, he seems to be "by the people, for the people."
I know this is a stupid question, but did Venezuela just have an election?
(My knowledge is limited, but I have a great hunger and thirst to learn more about Latin America-- a continent that I hope to explore someday, and it looks pretty promising in the forseeable future! :) ).

Blessings

Stephanie

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/17/hugo-chavez-venezuela-referendum

Victorious Chávez promises action on crime and services as he sets sights on ruling beyond 2030

Hugo Chávez has vowed to advance his "Bolivarian revolution" after winning a referendum to abolish presidential term limits, boosting his ambition to rule Venezuela for decades.

The president declared a renewed mandate for his effort to transform the Opec country into a socialist state fused with the spirit of Simón Bolívar, South America's 19th century liberator.

"Those who voted yes today voted for socialism, for revolution," Chávez told cheering supporters outside the presidential palace in Caracas on Sunday night.

Electoral authorities said 54% of voters in Sunday's referendum backed a constitutional amendment allowing indefinite re-election, with 46% rejecting it - a margin of almost 1 million voters.

Chávez, 54 and a decade in power, signalled he will run again when his term ends in 2013. He has spoken of ruling beyond 2030. Unlike previous ideology-infused victory addresses, his speech on Sunday promised improved governance - a concession to complaints about crime, uncollected rubbish and creaking public services.

"We must revise everything we have done in previous years, we have to start rectifying, adjusting, strengthening. If we reinforce what we have already done, then starting next year we will be in a much better position to open new horizons."

The opposition accepted defeat, but complained that the president had hijacked state resources and hobbled the no campaign. "It was David against Goliath, and Goliath won," said Leopoldo López, an opposition leader.

One of the first to congratulate Chávez was his mentor, Fidel Castro, who from his sickbed in Cuba commended a victory that was "impossible to measure". Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras and other regional allies also congratulated Chávez.

The EU commission "noted" the result, but conservative members of the European parliament accused Chávez of eroding democracy. A Spanish MEP, Luis Herrero, was expelled from Caracas last week after he called him a dictator and questioned the referendum's fairness.

The US made no immediate comment but the Obama administration will be dismayed that a fierce critic of Washington "imperialism" has been emboldened.

Celebrating government supporters in red T-shirts filled the streets of Caracas, but the rapture may ebb if tumbling oil revenues squeeze spending on social programmes, which have bolstered the president's popularity.

Some analysts predict stagflation and devaluation of the bolívar currency ... the kind of grim cycle that undid previous Venezuelan leaders. "With plummeting revenues and widespread dissatisfaction with government performance, Chávez will be far from invincible," said Michael Shifter, of the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank.

The government said it had enough reserves to tide Venezuela over until oil prices recovered.