Tulio says, sarcastically:
Because Bolivarianism has worked out so well in Venezuela.
It’s been a smashing success as far as alleviating poverty has gone. The poverty rate was 90% when he got in, and now I think it is 25%. He radically expanded schooling, medical care, public transportation, sewage systems, and gave jobs to so many slum dwellers. He built cheap food markets all over the cities so the poor could afford to buy enough food to eat. He had stores called My Happy Home that sold lots of household items for quite cheap, cheap enough so poor people could afford them.
Chavez went around the country in the smaller cities and rural areas building small homes for families. They were quite spartan and small, but he gave them to these people for free! They were so happy because previously they had been living in slums. Rural poverty has been dramatically reduced. Chavez’ followers occupied lots of large farms and drove the large landowners off the land and set up cooperatives there so they could grow their own food. Before they had been malnourished impoverished landless peasants. The rural poor love Chavez.
In 1989, 90% of the population was poor. The poor majority has benefited enormously from Bolivarianism. That is why he and his allies got re-elected, what? 20 times? He also dramatically expanded public housing in the slums. He really made an incredible dent in urban poverty. In fact, one of the problems is that so many poor people did so well under Chavez that they become middle class and then they started voting conservative and biting the hand that fed them.
You can even look at figures like caloric intake. There is a lot of propaganda along these lines, but the fact remains that Venezuelans are getting plenty of food to eat. Caloric intake has gone way up for the majority of people under the Chavistas. Of course, when Chavez got in, ~90% of the people weren’t even getting enough food to eat.
The upper class, the upper middle class and unfortunately some middle class elements have been very unhappy because they have monopolized the economy since Independence. You see in 1989 when there was a 90% poverty rate and 90% of the people could only afford one meal per day? The country was awash in oil money then but it was all being hogged and robbed by a voracious, venal oligarchy. The wealthier classes have suffered. They lost a lot of their wealth and privileges. Too bad! I say good!
Bottom line is the poor majority and the working classes and peasants have benefited incredibly from Bolivarianism. That is really the majority or the vast majority of the people. It’s been great for ~70% of the people.
A minority of the people, the wealthier classes, lost a lot of their wealth and privileges as wealth that was previously monopolized by them was redistributed to the masses. Bolivarianism has been objectively bad for ~30% of the population, a minority. The opposition can’t win an election. They have hardly one a single election since Chavez came in. Even Congressional, mayoral and gubernatorial elections are typically wild sweeps by the Chavistas and a total wipe-out for the opposition.
They can’t win because they represent the interests of the wealthier minority of classes, the former oligarchy and ruling class. The poor, the workers and the peasants see the Opposition as the enemy. These same people ruled the country for 165 years since Independence and all they did was enrich themselves and they never did a damn thing for the vast majority of the poorer people. The Chavista voters don’t trust the Opposition because they figure that if they get in, they will bring back the system that screwed these people for 165 years. The people are with the Chavistas, for good reason. The Opposition can never win because they lack majority support. What’s the problem?
