CARACAS, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has decided that the country should live by "Venezuelan time," moving the clocks back by half an hour as of Monday.

Venezuelan time will now be GMT - 4.30, rather than GMT - 4, making the Latin American country's time zone unique.

The change has been made to offer a "more equitable distribution of sunlight."

"I don't care if they call me crazy, the new time will go ahead, let them call me whatever they want," Chavez said on his weekly TV show.

The time shift will allow children to wake up for school in daylight instead of before sunrise, the Venezuelan leader, the "architect of 21st century socialism," added.

Although Chavez's tinkering with the hands of time has been criticized as ill-thought-out, Venezuela is not the first country to experiment.

Between 1916 and the present day, the United Kingdom changed its method of time-keeping an incredible seven times. The issue has yet to be resolved, with debate still continuing over summer and winter time.