Chavez describes his opponents as "coup-mongers" and "terrorists"

"They wanted to leave us without dollars, so we took away the key," he said.

Mr Chavez - a former paratrooper and coup-leader - models himself on 19th Century Venezuelan nationalist hero Simon Bolivar and counts Cuban leader Fidel Castro among his friends.

He maintains a base of support among Venezuela's poor but has antagonised nearly every other stratum of society.

Government claims that oil output has now reached nearly 2 million barrels a day and exports are at 700,000 barrels per day have been challenged by the opposition.

They estimate that output is still at a third of the 3.1 million barrels Venezuela produced in November before the strike. Average exports then were about 2.7 million barrels a day.