Chávez rides on wave of Venezuela's economic growth

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To understand why Hugo Chávez seemed assured of victory in the presidential election on Sunday - strengthening his mandate for what he calls a socialist revolution - consider the vigor here of that most capitalist of institutions: the stock exchange.

Housed in El Rosal, an upscale district with new skyscrapers and hotels, the 59-year-old Caracas stock exchange was the site of frenzied trading last week. Its main index climbed to a record high of 46,741, topping off a 129.2 percent rise this year that has made it one of the best performing markets in the world. On Friday, the index climbed 8 percent for its biggest daily gain in four years.

"For all of Chávez's faults, his government has been extremely pragmatic in economic terms," said José Guerra, a former chief of economic research at Venezuela's central bank. "State-supported capitalism isn't just surviving under Chávez," he said. "It is thriving."

Often lost in the campaigning between Chávez and his challenger, Manuel Rosales, is that Venezuela, with the largest conventional petroleum reserves outside the Middle East, is having one of the most significant oil booms in its history. Economic growth this year is set to pass 10 percent, making Venezuela's the fastest-growing economy in the Americas.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/03/news/venez.php