day, at a cost of $102 million. The opposition was thus limited to an incredible 4 percent of the airtime enjoyed by Chavez. Meanwhile, according to Concheso, the state oil com- pany spent some $20 billion on gifts of home durable goods, apartments, and outright cash subsidies to purchase the allegiance of

roadcast 10 state messages of 30 seconds each on a daily basis; the messages, not surprisingly, dovetailed with the arguments of the Chavez campaign. Concheso estimated the value of this free airtime at $292 million. In addition, the government spent an es- timated $200 million on advertising with private r