What he did for the poor people is give them $200 a month extra so they feel like he is the best thing in the world which of course is not true.
In the past 9 years:
No road improvements
No new hospitals
No new housing for the poor
Public services are a disaster, little to no trash pickup when a crime is committed there is not even a suggestion that you call the police because they will not show up.
The number of murders have increased to 200 per WEEK
Even the poor are afraid to leave their houses at night because the crime rate has increase so dramatically.
ALL children are now citizens of the state meaning Chavez basically determines EVERYTHING for your child.
The police, military and congressional coruption has hit an all time high.
CROWLER
First, I wanted it known I'm not a Chavez fan at all and am just playing the debate game right now
Secondly, since Crowler is the boss, I'll play nice
-tens of thousands of poor people have been given title to land
-In the past few months, more than half a million illiterate Venezuelans have received basic reading and writing instruction.
-Hundreds of thousands of poor children have begun attending school for the first time in their lives.
-Doctors imported from Cuba as part of a petroleum deal are paying house calls to poor neighborhoods.
-the measures have had a ripple effect that has left many of the poor feeling that for the first time in their lives the government is actually interested in aiding them.
Interestingly, even with all this "good" stuff happening the country is still in shambles. A 8.9 economic growth, which was the slowest growth in some time. Unemployment is steady at 7%, and poor aren't really going anywhere.
With all that, I've still come across a lot of analysis (from those who know a hell of a lot more on this issue than i do) that points to the activism of the Venezuelans and that eventually he will need to deliver something at some point or risk getting kicked on the curb.
In the end, socialism just doesn't work. Much in the same way true libertarianism will never work... Power and greed corrupt all. Its sad to see South America go so far left in the past few years.