to foreign oil companies Redistribute income from the oil industry to more benefit the lower economic classes Pursue an economic course independent of global capitalist, especially United States, dictates; he characterised this as a "third way", an alternative to "neo-liberalismo salvage", "savage neo-liberalism" Rewrite the 1961 constitution. He proposed to hold a referendum seeking approval to dissolve Congress and convene an elected "constitutional assembly" whose task would be to write a new constitution Attack corruption, which he said eats up 15% of public revenues Crack down on the epidemic of tax evasion by major contributors Raise the minimum wage, provide a 30,000 Bolivar ($53) stipend to the unemployed, improve job security and retirement guarantees, increase spending on job creation and education. 1999: Economic crisis and new constitution With many Venezuelans tired of politics in the country, the 1998 elections had the lowest voter turnout in Venezuelan history, with Chávez winning the presidency on 6 December 1998 with 56.4% of the popular vote. His nearest opponent was Henrique Salas Römer with about 40%. He took the presidential oath of office on 2 February 1999, the principal points of his mandate were to reform the constitution, break up what his supporters perceived as an entrenched oligarchy, reverse Venezuela's economic decline, strengthen the role of the state in the economy, and redistribute wealth to the poor. Chávez's first few months in office were dedicated primarily to constitutional reform, while his secondary focus was on immediately allocating more government funds to new social programs. However, as a recession triggered by historically low oil prices and soaring international interest rates rocked Venezuela, the shrunken federal treasury provided very little of the resources Chávez required for his promised massive populist programs. The economy, which was still staggering, shrunk by 10% and the unemployment rate increased to 20%, the highest level since the 1980s. Chávez worked to reduce Venezuelan oil extraction in the hopes of garnering elevated oil prices and, at least theoretically, elevated total oil revenues, thereby boosting Venezuela's severely deflated foreign exchange reserves. He extensively lobbied other OPEC countries to cut their production rates as well. As a result of these actions, Chávez became known as a "price hawk" in his dealings with the oil industry and OPEC. Chávez also attempted a comprehensive renegotiation of 60-year-old royalty payment agreements with oil giants Philips Petroleum and ExxonMobil. These agreements had allowed the corporations to pay in