His address became known as the por ahora (“for now”) speech because many people took that specific phrase as a promise that one day Chávez would return.Chávez was imprisoned without a court ruling for the attempted coup until 1994, when Pres. Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, bowing to Chávez’s growing popularity, dropped the charges against him. Chávez then founded the political party Movement of the Fifth Republic (Movimiento de la Quinta República; MVR), enlisting many former socialist activists and military officers. Viewed as an outsider, Chávez was able to capitalize on widespread discontent with Venezuela’s established political parties, and in December 1998 he won the presidential election with 56 percent of the vote.
