Opposition parties were trying to end Chavez’s domination of the National Assembly for the first time in his nearly 12 years in the presidency.
Polls suggest Chavez remains the most popular politician in Venezuela, yet surveys have shown a decline in his popularity in the past two years as disenchantment has grown over problems including rampant violent crime, poorly administered public services, and inflation hovering at 30 percent.
The opposition, which boycotted the last legislative elections in 2005, stands to dramatically increase its representation beyond the 11 or so lawmakers who defected from Chavez’s camp in the current National Assembly. If Chavez’s socialist-oriented government fails to keep at least a two-thirds majority of the 165 seats, opponents would have more clout in trying to check his sweeping powers.
“Democracy is at stake,’’ said Teresa Bermudez, a 63-year-old Chavez opponent who stood in a line that ran down a block and around a corner. She said she sees the vote as a vital chance for the opposition to have a voice and achieve a more balanced legislature.
Chavez has fashioned himself as a revolutionary-turned-president carrying on the legacy of his mentor, Fidel Castro, with a nationalist vision and a deep-seated antagonism toward the US government. He has largely funded his government with Venezuela’s ample oil wealth, touting social programs targeted to his support base.
Chavez portrayed the vote as a choice between his “Bolivarian Revolution’’ and opposition politicians he accuses of serving the interests of the wealthy and his adversaries in the US government.
“We’re with this man because this man is the one who has really done things for this country,’’ said Carmen Elena Flores de Cordova, 58, a lawyer who dressed in signature Chavez red to vote. She pointed to government projects in the neighborhood as proof of progress: a new low-income apartment building and cable cars running up into a hillside slum.
