In February of 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez won a referendum vote that will allow him to run for president as many times as he deems fit. It was a heated contest as many see Chávez as the father of a much-needed socialist revolution, while others see him just steps away from a tyrannical dictator.

Posters from President Chávez’s Sí campaign hang in the 23 del Enero slum of Caracas.

A member of a socialist mission holds a flag at a pro-Chávez rally just days before the vote.

A group of women wear jeans decorated with “No es no” the campaign slogan of the opposition. The amendment Chávez is proposing was already denied as part of a package in a vote in December 2007.

Riot police surround pro-Chávez protestors separating them from opposition protestors at an opposition march.

Young girls hold up works by a Chávista painter depicting the opposition at a Sí rally.

Supporters listen to Chávez’s speech at a large rally to promote the passing of the amendment. Chávistas were bussed in from different states in the country and government employees were unofficially expected to attend.

A demonstrator waves her sign in Altamira, a neighborhood with many opposition supporters.

Chávistas demonstrate their support in the Catia slum in Caracas.

A driver watches members of the opposition protest on a corner in Altamira, an upscale neighborhood in Caracas. With less than a week left before the referendum vote, the protesters said they would demonstrate everyday until they won.

Chávistas celebrate President Chávez’s victory, allowing for a constitutional amendment that enables indefinite re-election.

President Hugo Chávez caravans his way through the slums of Catia as a last attempt to rally support for his constitutional amendment.

Young boys tie their shirts around their heads like the older revolutionaries attending a rally in the Catia slum.

A woman poses for a portrait with her ink-dipped finger after voting. She claims that, “Jesus Christ is the comandante number one and Chavez is number two.”

Men hoist a portrait of Simón Bolívar at Chávez’s victory rally. Bolívar is known as the liberator of South America and is Chávez’s ideological hero.

A woman holds a flag after celebrating Chávez’s victory.

With the metro closed, supporters pile in vehicles to make it home after Chávez’s victory rally.