For
Chavez, Bolivar is an obsession.
The president's admiration for "El Libertador," who has been his guiding light since Chavez was a rank-and-file soldier, goes far beyond the conventional reverence most Venezuelans hold for the independence leader who is being honored Saturday on the 227th anniversary of his birth.
The socialist Chavez views himself as the modern emissary and disciple of Bolivar, and sees parallels between his hero's efforts to free South America from Spanish rule and his own crusade to challenge U.S. influence in the region.
Critics say he is trying to cast himself as Bolivar's reincarnation - an allegation Chavez vehemently denies.
Chavez's fascination with Bolivar has been on display like never before this month as he has exhumed Bolivar's bones in hopes of using modern forensics to confirm his identity
- and investigate the president's theory his idol was felled by a murder conspiracy.
Historians have generally concluded Bolivar died of tuberculosis, and some Venezuelans are saying Chavez has gone too far.
"It's madness. Bolivar's dead. His remains should remain untouched," said Rosalinda Fuentes, a 53-year-old housewife who doesn't support either Chavez or his political opponents.
On walls in Caracas, graffiti has appeared reading: "Let me rest in peace. Bolivar."
Chavez is undeterred in using Bolivar as his political stamp and a nationalist symbol to rally his supporters.
A portrait of the 19th century independence leader often serves as a backdrop during televised speeches in which Chavez reads Bolivar's writings and expounds on his aims.
His political movement - the Bolivarian Revolution - takes its name from his idol. Shortly after taking office in 1999, Chavez pressured a popularly elected assembly packed with his allies to change the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Chavez has vowed to build a monument to Bolivar atop the mountains that fringe Caracas.
At public events, he sometimes brandishes Bolivar's sword - a solid-gold saber encrusted with more than 1,000 diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. He has given gold-plated replicas of the sword to foreign allies, including former Cuban President Fidel Castro and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Chavez's opponents contend the president manipulates the history of Bolivar to serve his own political purposes.
And some accuse Chavez of launching the investigation into Bolivar's death in hopes of affecting legislative elections in September. They say he wants to distract public attention from problems such as crime, 31 percent inflation and a scandal involving thousands of tons of food left rotting in government storage.
