Venezuela

Venezuela has some of the world's largest proven oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal, iron ore, bauxite and gold.

Yet most Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them in shanty towns, some of which sprawl over the hillsides around the capital, Caracas.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, says he is leading the country - which is enjoying a windfall from high oil prices - through a socialist revolution.

A country of striking natural beauty, which ranges from the snow-capped Andean peaks in the west, through the Amazonian jungles in the south, to the beaches of the north, Venezuela is among the most highly urbanised countries in Latin America.

Its economic fortunes are tied to world oil prices. A 1970s boom largely benefited the middle classes, but a subsequent price collapse condemned many of this class to poverty while eroding the living standards of the already impoverished.

Unemployment is high and, according to official figures, around 60% of households are poor.

In 1998 Venezuelans broke the stranglehold of the discredited party system to elect the populist left-winger Hugo Chavez, a former army officer who has proclaimed a "Bolivarian revolution", named after South America's independence hero.

Radical reform, political unrest and deep divisions have characterised the president's term in office. His supporters - known as "chavistas" - and his detractors have staged street protests.

Venezuela under Mr Chavez has sought to strengthen its regional influence through diplomatic and economic overtures towards other South American and Caribbean nations. This has been seen, in part, as an effort to counter Washington's influence in the region.