Although he publicly used strong revolutionary rhetoric from the beginning of his presidency, the Chávez government's initial policies were moderate, capitalist and centre-left, having much in common with those of contemporary Latin American leftists like Brazil's president
Lula da Silva.
[135][136] Chávez initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but that it would have to be
Rhenish capitalism or the
Third Way that would be followed rather than the
neoliberalism which had been implemented under former governments with the encouragement of the United States.
[137] He followed the economic guidelines recommended by the
International Monetary Fund and continued to encourage foreign corporations to invest in Venezuela,
[138] even visiting the
New York Stock Exchange in the United States in an attempt to convince wealthy investors to do so.
[139][140] To increase his visibility abroad, Chávez spent fifty-two days of his first year as president outside of Venezuela, travelling the world meeting various national leaders, such as American President
Bill Clinton, Governor of Texas
George W. Bush and Chinese Premier
Jiang Zemin.
[141]
Whilst he was remaining fiscally conservative, he introduced measures in an attempt to alleviate the poverty of the Venezuelan working class. Chávez immediately set into motion a social welfare program called
Plan Bolívar 2000, which he organised to begin on 27 February 1999, the tenth anniversary of the
Caracazo massacre. Costing $113,000,000, Plan Bolívar 2000 involved 70,000 army officers going out into the streets of Venezuela where they would repair roads and hospitals, offer free medical care and vaccinations, and sell food at cheap prices.
[142][143][144] Chávez himself described the Plan by saying that "Ten years ago we came to massacre the people. Now we are going to fill them with love. Go and comb the land, search out and destroy poverty and death. We are going to fill them with love instead of lead."
[145] In order to explain his latest thoughts and plans to the Venezuelan people, in May he also launched his own Sunday morning radio show,
Aló Presidente (
Hello, President), on the state radio network, as well as a Thursday night television show,
De Frente con el Presidente (
Face to Face with the President). He followed this with his own newspaper,
El Correo del Presidente (
The President's Post), founded in July, for which he acted as editor-in-chief, but which was later shut amidst accusations of corruption in its management.
[146] In his television and radio shows, he answered calls from citizens, discussed his latest policies, sung songs and told jokes, making it unique not only in Latin America but the entire world.
[147]