Documents from 1992 coup show Chavez's path

By Brian Ellsworth

CARACAS (Reuters) - How far will President Hugo Chavez press his effort to install Cuban-inspired socialism in oil-rich Venezuela? The answer may well have been written in his failed coup plans 15 years ago.

Chavez spent more than a decade conspiring with other leftist officers before leading the putsch in 1992, during which time he helped draft a set of decrees for a revolutionary government.

He has said he burnt his copies of the documents just before his arrest for leading the attempt, but copies were published soon after.

The blueprints -- for a militaristic yet utopian government that would upend the South American country's corrupt politics -- now read like a road map for Chavez's drive this year to nationalize industries and put power in the hands of communities.

Among his moves, Chavez has decreed that foreign oil companies including household names like Exxon Mobil must hand over control of four multibillion dollar oil projects in the Orinoco basin by May 1.

But one of his most ambitious goals remains to entrench new community councils that will administer billions of dollars in oil wealth in what may be his biggest effort to redistribute political power since coming to office in 1999.

Critics say the plan is meant to eliminate rival politicians in local government, but the president says the effort has its roots in the leftist ideology that inspired the unsuccessful coup.

"Communal power, a state dedicated to social justice -- all of this comes from those days," Chavez told supporters earlier this year.