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It looks as if everything started doing better in 2003, when Chavez started all of his social and economic campaigns. I think the numbers speak for themselves, he's clearly a good leader. I think the real question revolves around what he could do with the slowly amassing power he has.
I do have concerns about the anti-Chavez demonstrators and the Venezuelan National Guard, but so many reports are coming from really good journalists about CIA interference that I can't automatically take the side of the demonstrators (which I normally would, honestly). It's likely that the CIA is instigating, arming, and possibly even asserting some level of control over these protests, making them artificial in some way.
Freedom of the press is another big problem in Venezuela, but it starts to move into the same territory. Free press means free from the control Venezuelan government or any other interested group. The opposition force in 2002 (which has been connected by several reliable sources to the CIA) took control over quite a bit of air time, and the president reacted. Again, this is tough. The opposition force essentially was stymieing free speech just as the president had to in response. By my understanding, there is an article in the Venezuelan Constitution which puts a condition on free press, requiring the speech to be truthful and impartial. Venezuela doesn't have the same free speech and press rights as, say, the US Constitution, so you have to bear that in mind.
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