Hugo Chávez

Chávez supports alternative models of economic development, and has advocated cooperation among the world's poor nations, especially those in Latin America.

More funding for social programs, but have left the economy increasingly dependent on both the Chávez government and the oil sector.

The "Bolivarian Missions" have entailed the launching of massive government anti-poverty initiatives, the construction of thousands of free medical clinics for the poor, the institution of educational campaigns that have reportedly made more than one million adult Venezuelans literate, and the enactment of food and housing subsidies. There have been marked improvements in the infant mortality rate between 1998 and 2006.