If President Bush's attacks on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's brand of populism are meant to sour Americans on visiting the latter's homeland, the campaign appears to have backfired. Caribbean beaches of Venezuela's Margarita Island are getting serious competition from mainland destinations that, until recently, many tourists avoided due to safety concerns.

Channeling the spirit of 1980s Nicaragua, 1970s Chile or even Cuba in the '50s, Venezuela is drawing a new generation of students, celebrities, intellectuals and activists. Famous recent visitors include actor Danny Glover, singer Harry Belafonte, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and Bolivia's new president, Evo Morales.

"People have heard that there's a social transformation going on in Venezuela, they've seen a lot of Hugo Chávez in the headlines, and they want to see for themselves what's really going on," said Andrea Buffa of Global Exchange. The San Francisco human rights organization, whose Reality Tours promote understanding of international issues, has doubled its trips to Venezuela this year.

Chávez, whose popularity has survived repeated challenges, has been using Venezuela's ample oil revenue to provide education, health care and development for the country's poor majority.

Global Exchange has 12 two-week trips coming up in 2006, costing an average of about $1,300, not including international airfare. Tours visit literacy classes, cooperatives and media outlets, and visitors meet government ministers, lawyers and oil company officials.

In June, the organization will open a Spanish-language school in Mérida, at the foot of the Venezuelan Andes, and some tours will include language study.

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