It has been an eventful year, with the promise of plenty more to come. President Hugo Chavez marked his first year in office this week with much bombast, and several small but worrying steps that point in the direction of dictatorial government with a strong military influence. By leaving his economic team in their posts, and by his choice of a new chief of the Central Bank, Mr Chavez also dashed businessmen's hopes that, having got a new constitution and installed his own people in the top jobs, he would start his second year by adopting a more market-friendly economic policy.
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