Ramtin Arablouei and Randa Abdel-Fattah

Do we really trust this guy?

Does he actually mean what he says?

He comes from the military after all.

So Chavez decided to leave Venezuela for a while, a sort of self-imposed exile.

He traveled all around Latin America.

Going to other countries, meeting other leaders.

This is Jennifer McCoy again.

And in fact, that's when he met Fidel Castro.

While on these travels, Chavez was taking in new ideas, looking at what was happening in Venezuela.

And began to kind of create a vision for what a political project would look like.

He talked about a new constitution.

He talked about a new form of democracy.

He talked about an economy that would benefit bringing back the oil wealth.

and that this would be a great magical trick that he would just turn the oil wealth into a better life for everybody.

So for the next couple of years, Chávez campaigned on that grand vision.

And he appealed especially to the lower and middle classes for support.

By 1998, on the eve of the election, the country had two very different options for president.

Chávez's opponent, Enrique Salas Romero.

This older, you know, white man, clear European descent from this elite background.

Or Chávez.