I am fairly certain Chavez will find a way to disenfranchise his enemies by the time the nest election (that he allows) rolls around. He has already taken steps against the press, knowing full well that whomever controls the information, controls the people who rely on that information, similar to the way things work in this country. His "mentors" are well-versed in the methods of total state control.
He's attacked the church, taken over the schools, packed the legislature and court with his supporters, fired opponents in the oil sector, purged the military, installed Marxist thinkers into government offices and social organization ie. the arts, etc. He was not able to get his handpicked man voted in as head of the labor union though. With opposition for his removal so strong, Chavez will probably take the route of Mugabe in Zimbabwe (another student of Fidel Castro) and steal any future election.
How To Steal An Election: Chavez Preparing Massive Vote Fraud for Q3/2003
Two years ago