On January 8, 2013, Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced that President Chávez would not be sworn into office on January 10 as planned because he was still recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, but that he would be sworn into office at a later date, as provided for in Article 231 of the Constitution. A day later, on January 9, 2013, Venezuela's Supreme Court upheld this interpretation of the Constitution, maintaining that Chávez could take the oath of office before the Supreme Court at a later date when his health improves. Some opposition leaders and some Venezuelan legal scholars had argued that the January 10 inauguration date was fixed by Article 231, and that since Chávez could not be sworn in on that date, then the President of the National Assembly should have been sworn in as interim or caretaker President until either a new election was held or Chávez recovered. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles appeared to accept the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution, but maintained that it did not end the uncertainties facing the country. (See " Chávez's Health Status and Political Implications " below.) On December 16, 2012, Venezuela held state elections in which 23 governorships were at stake. Voters delivered a resounding victory to President Chávez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which won 20 out of 23 states. Opposition candidates won just three states, including the state of Miranda, where recently defeated opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski was reelected. (See " December 2012 State Elections ") On December 8, 2012, President Chávez announced that his cancer had returned and that he would soon undergo a fourth cancer surgery in Cuba. He also announced his support for Vice President Nicolás Maduro if anything were to happen to him, including support for Maduro in a new election that would be required by the Constitution. (Maduro had been sworn into office on October 13, 2012, and retained his position as foreign minister, which he has held since 2006.) Chávez reportedly faced complications during and after his December 11 surgery, and faced new respiratory complications at year's end. (See " Chávez's Health Status and Political Implications " below.) On October 7, 2012, President Chávez won reelection to another six-year term by a margin of 11%, capturing about 55% of the vote compared to 44% for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. Most reports indicate that election day was peaceful with only minor irregularities. A White House spokesman, while acknowledging differences with President Chávez, congratulated "the Venezuelan people on the high level of participation, as well as on what was a relatively peaceful process." (For more details, see " Election Results and Implications " below.) On September 18, 2012, Venezuelan security forces captured a major Colombian drug trafficker, Daniel Barrera, who reportedly was based in Venezuela since 2008. (See " Counternarcotics Issues " below.) For developments earlier in 2009-2012, see Appendix B at the end of this report. For more than a decade, Venezuela has experienced significant political changes under the rule of populist President Hugo Chávez, and for a number of years there has been concern about the deterioration of democratic institutions and threats to freedom of expression in the country. With his election as president in December 1998, Hugo Chávez began to transform Venezuela's political system. The watershed election, in which former coup leader Chávez received 56% of the vote (16% more than his closest rival), illustrated Venezuelans' rejection of the country's two traditional parties, Democratic Action (AD) and the Social Christian party (COPEI), which had dominated Venezuelan politics for much of the past 40 years. Elected to a five-year term, Chávez was the candidate of the Patriotic Pole, a left-leaning coalition of 15 parties, with Chávez's own Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) the main party in the coalition. Most observers attribute Chávez's rise to power to Venezuelans' disillusionment with politicians whom they judge to have squandered the country's oil wealth through poor management and endemic corruption. A central theme of his campaign was constitutional reform; Chávez asserted that the system in place allowed a small elite class to dominate Congress and that revenues from the state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA), had been wasted. Although Venezuela had one of the most stable political systems in Latin America from 1958 until 1989, after that period numerous economic and political challenges plagued the country and the power of the two traditional parties began to erode. Former President Carlos Andres Perez, inaugurated to a five-year term in February 1989, initiated an austerity program that fueled riots and street violence in which several hundred people were killed. In 1992, two attempted military coups threatened the Perez presidency, one led by Chávez himself, who at the time was a lieutenant colonel railing against corruption and poverty. Ultimately the legislature dismissed President Perez from office in May 1993 on charges of misusing public funds, although some observers assert that the president's unpopular economic reform program was the real reason for his ouster. The election of elder statesman and former President Rafael Caldera as president in December 1993 brought a measure of political stability to the country, but the Caldera government soon faced a severe banking crisis that cost the government more than $10 billion. While the macro-economy began to improve in 1997, a rapid decline in the price of oil brought about a deep recession beginning in 1998. In the first several years of President Chávez's rule, Venezuela underwent enormous political changes and even received a new name for the country, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, named after the 19 th century South American liberator Simon Bolivar, whom Chávez often invokes. In 1999, Venezuelans went to the polls on three occasions—to establish a constituent assembly that would draft a new constitution, to elect the membership of the 165-member constituent assembly, and to approve the new constitution—and each time delivered victory to President Chávez. The new document revamped political institutions, including the elimination of the Senate and establishment of a unicameral National Assembly, and expanded the presidential term of office from five to six years, with the possibility of immediate reelection for a second term. Under the new constitution, voters once again went to the polls in July 2000 for a so-called mega-election, in which the president, national legislators, and state and municipal officials were selected. President Chávez easily won election to a new six-year term, capturing about 60% of the vote while his opponent, fellow former coup leader Francisco Arias, received 38%. Chávez's Patriotic Pole coalition also captured 14 of 23 governorships and a majority of seats in the National Assembly. Although President Chávez remained widely popular until mid-2001, his standing eroded after that, amid concerns that he was imposing a leftist agenda on the country and that his government was ineffective in improving living conditions in Venezuela. In April 2002, massive opposition protests and pressure by the military led to the ouster of Chávez from power for less than three days. He ultimately was restored to power by the military, however, after an interim president alienated the military and public by taking hardline measures, including the suspension of the constitution. In the aftermath of Chávez's brief ouster from power, the political opposition continued to press for his removal from office, first through a general strike that resulted in an economic downturn in 2002 and 2003, and then through a recall referendum that ultimately was held in August 2004 and which Chávez won by a substantial margin. In 2004, the Chávez government moved to purge and pack the Supreme Court with its own supporters in a move that dealt a blow to judicial independence. The political opposition boycotted legislative elections in December 2005, which led to domination of the National Assembly by Chávez supporters. The rise in world oil prices beginning in 2004 fueled the rebound of the economy and helped support an array of social programs and services known as "missions" that helped reduce poverty by some 20% by 2007. In large part because of the economic rebound and attention to social programs, Chávez was reelected to another six-year term in December 2006 in a landslide, with almost 63% of the vote compared to almost 37% for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales. After he was reelected, however, even many Chávez supporters became concerned that the government was becoming too radicalized. Chávez's May 2007 closure of a popular Venezuelan television station that was critical of the government, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), sparked significant protests and worldwide condemnation. Chávez also proposed a far-reaching constitutional amendment package that would have moved Venezuela toward a new model of development known as "socialism in the 21 st century," but this was defeated by a close margin in a December 2007 national referendum. University students took the lead in demonstrations against the closure of RCTV, and also played a major role in defeating the constitutional reform. In 2008, President Chávez moved to unite his supporters into a single party—the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)—although several parties that had supported Chávez in the past declined to join. The Venezuelan government also continued to move forward with nationalizations in key industries, including food companies, cement companies, and the country's largest steel maker; these followed the previous nationalization of electricity companies and the country's largest telecommunications company and the conversion of operating agreements and strategic associations with foreign companies in the oil sector to majority Venezuelan government control. State and local elections held in November 2008 revealed a mixed picture of support for the government and the opposition.