CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Celebrating a tumultuous first year in
                  office, President Hugo Chavez answered his critics Wednesday in a
                  speech lauding the accomplishments of his "social revolution."

                  Hundreds lined the streets of the capital, Caracas, as Chavez shook
                  hands on his way to delivering his address.

                  Since taking office, the coup-leader-turned-elected president has become
                  one of the most talked about and controversial leaders in Latin America,
                  raising the hopes of Venezuela's poor and the fears of the wealthy who think
                  he has brought the country to the brink of dictatorship.

                  But his reforms have largely failed to improve the lives of ordinary
                  Venezuelans, and his anti-corruption drive has succeeded mainly in
                  decimating the nation's old political order.

                  "We've pulled out by their roots the corrupt elites that ran this country for
                  nearly half a century," Chavez told Congress -- at least what's left of it.

                  The regular Congress saw its duties sharply curtailed last year by a
                  constitutional assembly packed with Chavez supporters, and then was shut
                  down completely in December after a new constitution the assembly drafted
                  was approved in a national referendum.

                  It's been replaced by a 21-member "mini-Congress," also made up of
                  Chavez supporters, that will handle the nation's legislative duties until
                  elections for a new, single-house National Assembly are held in May.

                  Chavez's supporters are expected to dominate those elections, too, since the
                  two political parties that ruled Venezuela for the last 40 years, Democratic
                  Action and the social Christian COPEI, are practically dead.

                  Chavez, who broke into Venezuela's political scene eight years ago by
                  staging a failed military coup, has all but destroyed the two parties.

                  The assembly that wrote the new constitution also fired hundreds of judges
                  accused of corruption or incompetence, and appointed a new Supreme
                  Court, attorney general, comptroller and national elections board. Critics
                  charged the assembly was overstepping its legal bounds.

                  It's all part of a plan by Chavez to concentrate power in his hands and
                  expand the role of the military, opponents of the president say.

                  Chavez's "strongman rule and his exercise of power have nearly turned him
                  into a dictator," leading Venezuelan historian Guillermo Moron said.

                  But Chavez told Congress that his government is merely breaking up a
                  corrupt oligarchy that has left most people impoverished in a nation with the
                  world's largest oil reserves outside the Middle East.

                  "The greatest thing is that we have achieved this without a single drop of
                  blood," Chavez declared Wednesday.

                  Chavez stood at the same podium where a year ago he stunned Venezuelans
                  by calling the constitution "moribund" during his swearing-in ceremony.

                  Chavez also paid his respects Wednesday at the grave of his idol,
                  19th-century independence leader Simon Bolivar, after whom Chavez
                  insisted the country be named. Over the objections of many, the Republic of
                  Venezuela is now the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

                  Despite Chavez's rhetoric, most Venezuelans remain impoverished. The
                  nation's economy shrank a painful 7 percent last year, 1,000 businesses
                  went bankrupt, and 600,000 workers lost their jobs -- even though prices
                  for oil, Venezuela's main export, more than tripled to $24 per barrel.

                  Venezuela suffered another devastating setback in December when hours
                  after the new constitution was approved landslides struck Caracas and the
                  northern Caribbean coast and left between 5,000 and 30,000 people dead.
                  Economists calculate the damages at up to $20 billion.

                  Chavez remains immensely popular, with approval ratings around 70
                  percent.

                  Yet transforming Venezuela won't be easy. Analysts say many problems
                  such as nepotism, big government and a dependency on oil revenues have
                  been ingrained in Venezuelan culture for decades.

                   Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.