Remarkable economic growth, vast energy resources, the originality of the Bolivarian revolution and the President’s eccentric style have all contributed to make Venezuela a strategically important country and a widely debated case study.

Following his landslide victory in the elections on December 3, 2006, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez made a few announcements that seem to indicate his wish to accelerate and radicalise his country’s path towards socialism.

It is still unclear to what extent he will put into practice these ideas, some of which might be just propaganda. Nonetheless, the radicalism of his recent announcements, which affect a wide range of policy areas, do represent a change with the line followed by the President in his previous terms, and the proposed measures are likely to have important political and economic consequences, both in domestic affairs and foreign policy.