Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sworn in for another six years on Wednesday, vowing to press ahead with a sweeping socialist agenda.

Chavez, who enjoys widespread popular support, took the oath of office at the National Assembly five weeks after being re-elected with close to 63 per cent of the vote.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greets supporters as he rides in an open car toward the Congress in Caracas Wednesday.
(Leslie Mazoch/Associated Press)

"Fatherland. Socialism or death — I swear it," said Chavez, holding his right hand in the air as he invoked Cuban leader Fidel Castro's famous call to arms.

Chavez, who called Jesus Christ "the greatest socialist in history," said "Venezuelan socialism … is the only path to the redemption of our peoples, the salvation of our fatherland."

Lawmakers chanted "Viva socialism" during the ceremony, which came two days after Chavez announced plans to nationalize Venezuela's largest telecommunications company, electrical companies and four lucrative oil projects run by foreign companies Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

The president — who has called ailing Castro his mentor and U.S. President George W. Bush "the devil" — also called for a constitutional amendment to strip the autonomy of the Central Bank.

He plans to ask the National Assembly to give him special powers allowing him to enact a series of "revolutionary laws" by decree, but hasn't said what the laws would be. Venezuela's National Assembly is dominated by his allies.

Opposition politicians have accused him of trying to steer Venezuela toward Cuban-style socialism.

The U.S., Venezuela's largest oil customer, expressed concern over the plans Tuesday, while financial markets in the country tumbled.

First elected in 1998, Chavez has cemented his popularity by using a bonanza in oil profits to set up state-funded co-operatives and to fund social programs from subsidized grocery stores to free universities.

With files from the Associated Press