Since Hugo Chavez died two years ago, Venezuela's economy has tanked and the government has lurched toward more repressive tactics, triggering nostalgia among the late leftist firebrand's supporters and even his opponents.
Chavez's hand-picked successor, President Nicolas Maduro, has largely followed his mentor's script for "21st-century socialism," right down to the hours-long diatribes against "American imperialism" and the tracksuits in the colors of the Venezuelan flag.
But without Chavez's charisma, he has struggled to rekindle the fervor that drew millions of Venezuelans into the streets in mourning on March 5, 2013, the day Chavez died after 14 years in power.
The economic model that Chavez left behind -- bankrolling price controls and pro-poor programs with the oil giant's lucrative crude exports -- has gone sour as oil prices have plunged.
Products have vanished from supermarket shelves in the import-dependent country, where shoppers spend hours in line in the hopes of finding basic goods like medicine, deodorant and toilet paper.
"It's sad to see how Maduro has gone along destroying everything he left behind. I'll always be a 'Chavista' in my heart, and I even admit I voted for Maduro, but I'll never be a 'Madurista.'"
That distinction is worrying Chavez's movement as it gears up for the still-unscheduled legislative polls.
Exasperated with the economic crisis and a rise in violent crime, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets last year.
Chavez also faced protests during his rule, and even a short-lived coup in 2002.
His go-to response was usually to muster his supporters for a mass rally.
Maduro, 52, has taken a harder line, jailing opponents like protest leader Leopoldo Lopez and the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma.
His government also issued a decree allowing the security forces to use deadly violence to control public demonstrations.
Because of such tactics, even the opposition prefers Chavez to Maduro, said Saverio Vivas, an opposition leader in a traditionally pro-Chavez neighborhood of Caracas.
"It's clear that when opposition sympathizers in the neighborhood compare the two, they see that shortages have gotten worse, while persecution and above all repression have increased," he said.
"In the poorest neighborhoods of Caracas, where Chavez enjoyed so much support, the differences between Comandante Chavez and his 'son' Nicolas
Maduro are so abysmal that a lot of people who were 'Chavistas' now consider themselves to be in the opposition," he told AFP.
"That's why it's possible now to talk about opposition 'Chavistas.'"
House divided
But Venezuela's opposition remains divided.
On one side, jailed leaders Lopez and Ledezma have launched a hardline movement called "La Salida," which translates as both "The Solution" and "The Exit," that sought to oust Maduro through last year's street protests.
On the other, Henrique Capriles -- the more moderate state governor who narrowly lost to Maduro in the 2013 election to replace Chavez -- has distanced himself from them on certain issues, including their publication last month of a charter calling on Venezuelans to adopt a "National Transitional Accord" to peacefully change the government.
And many Venezuelans, especially the 32 per cent who live in poverty, harbor residual loyalty for Chavez, whose face is still splashed across countless murals, banners and T-shirts nationwide two years after he died at age 58 after a battle with cancer.
Supporter Lisandro Perez says he will always back his "eternal commander."
"Even though Maduro is running the government, Chavez is still the one showing us the path to follow, even in death," he said.
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