The idea of hyper presidential implies that the president of a country has overwhelming power and can dominate the political process. Thus, the president does not need to consider the political influence of other types of power, such as moderating or legislative control. In the example of Hugo Chavez, the president has substantial control over the nation’s political course, which is achieved both through the governing process and Chavez’s strong personality.
The first type of Chavez’s hyper presidential is his ability to reply to or comment on the country’s events directly, without the restraints of other parts of the government or diplomatic considerations. For example, his talk show has allowed him to talk about papers written about the infrastructure of the state. Chavez’s comment on the article about the decline of healthcare demonstrates how the president’s power extends that of an elected official. Although the show does not directly repress the freedom of speech, it places the newspaper and its workers under pressure. In another instance, in 2007, Chavez did not renew a license for a broadcasting channel because he saw it as a political opponent. This is a similar example of Chavez following his personal views to enact new laws that can affect hundreds of people.
Nonetheless, the most prominent example is Chavez’s change of reelection limits. Before his presidency, the term for serving as president lasted for four years, but Chavez expanded it to six. Moreover, he also allowed rerunning to stay in the office for two or more consecutive terms. In this way, Chavez found a way to remain president for a longer time, following the plan that he might have had for the country. Simultaneously, other parts of the constitution were changed to centralize the power, and Chavez did not extend a similar reelecting opportunity to local governors.