Hugo Chávez Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S.

This is the riveting and frightening story of ambitious, tempestuous and avowed anti-American Hugo Chvez, who is making waves through South America and being widely compared to Fidel Castro. Ex-paratrooper, outspoken socialist, and brash personality, Chvez is known for his stance against big business, fearless threats to the Bush administration, social reforms that have violently polarized his country, and claims that he will soon unite South America. As gas prices rise to unprecedented highs, Venezuela's importance surges as the fifth largest oil exporter in the world. Nikolas Kozloff's access to top advisors, members of the opposition, and leaders of Chvez's own political movement allow him to present a comprehensive portrait of Chvez as a president moving to the center of the global stage. Includes a new afterword by the author, with insights into Chvez's reelection and U.S.-Venuzuelan relations.

Nikolas Kozloff writes regularly on Venezuelan political affairs as a Senior Research Fellow for the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington, D.C.  He received his Ph.D. in Latin American History from Oxford University. He lives in New York.