But to some old friends like Douglas Bravo -- a former Marxist guerrilla leader of the 1960s and 1970s -- a new Chavista elite today is in a power struggle with competing bourgeois factions.
"Chavez is an intelligent man, a man who dominates that game of the real elements of power and has the capacity to be constantly learning," argues Bravo, who respects Chavez but disagrees strongly with his policy of forming joint ventures with multinational oil companies.
Much has changed since the charismatic lieutenant colonel led a failed coup in 1992.
Chavez is now at the apex of power in one of the world's top oil-producing countries, accustomed to the finest tailored suits and the leather seats of the presidential jet.
Yet he seems to believe he is still that poor soldier from the plains, leading a revolution.
"I'm still a subversive," he says. "I think the entire world has to be subverted."
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