Venezuelan military and politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. The influence of this politician transcended the borders of his country by promoting the emergence in Latin America of a new batch of leftist leaders, opposed like him to economic neoliberalism and US interference and concerned with the most disadvantaged classes and indigenous minorities.

Hugo Chávez completed primary and secondary studies in Sabaneta and higher studies at the Military Academy of Venezuela, where he obtained the rank of second lieutenant in 1975. He held various positions in the Venezuelan Armed Forces, the last of which would be Commander of the Parachute Battalion Colonel Antonio Nicolás Briceño. In December 1982 he created, with two other captains of the Army, the Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario-200, with a nationalist and leftist orientation.

In 1989 the then president of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez, applied a shock plan with neoliberal measures under the auspices of the IMF to face the serious economic and financial crisis that affected the country in those years. The popular classes of Caracas mobilized en masse against the government's plan, in a movement known as Caracazo. The president ordered the army to repress the demonstrations, which provoked strong discontent within the Armed Forces.

In 1992, Hugo Chávez led as a military commander a coup attempt to overthrow the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez. Despite being favorably received by the population, the coup failed and Chávez was arrested, tried, and sentenced to two years in prison in Yare jail (1992-1994). That same year, another group of disgruntled soldiers staged another coup attempt, which also failed; among their demands was the release of Chávez.

In May 1993, Parliament removed President Carlos Andrés Pérez, accused of embezzlement of public funds. Fulfilling his electoral promise, in 1994 the new president, Rafael Caldera, agreed to dismiss the process opened against Chávez. After being released, Chávez left the army and entered fully into the political struggle; He founded the 5th Republic Movement (MVR) and began to travel the country explaining his proposals.

At the head of the MVR and with the support of several left-wing parties, Chávez presented his candidacy for the presidential elections of December 6, 1998 and was elected with 56.2% of the votes, prevailing over the consensus candidate of the traditional parties (COPEI and Acción Democrática). Following his program, the new president promoted the election of a Constituent Assembly in charge of drafting a new constitutional text, which would later be approved in a referendum. After the new constitution was approved in 1999, in July 2000 Chávez was reelected president of Venezuela for the period 2000-2006 with a wide difference over his opponents.

Two years later, on April 11, 2002, the Chávez government was the target of a failed civic-military coup riot that elevated Pedro Carmona, the president of the Fedecámaras employers' association, to the presidency. Prisoner for two days on Orchila Island, Hugo Chávez was restored to his duties thanks to the action of fractions of the National Army and his supporters, and the country returned to constitutional order. Conflicts with the opposition did not cease, and in August 2004 Chávez had to face a recall referendum on his presidential mandate, from which he emerged strengthened by getting 59% of the votes, and that enabled him to govern until the end of his term. Two months later, Chávez's party achieved a resounding victory in the regional and local elections in Venezuela.

Faced with the possibility of the presidential replacement offered by the elections at the end of 2006, the opposition managed to join forces and gather around a single candidate, the Social Democrat Manuel Rosales. The elections were held on December 3 in a climate of total normality and with a participation of 70% of the electorate; Venezuelans again gave their approval to Chávez, who became president for the third time for the 2007-2013 period by obtaining 63% of the votes.

During his third term, he advanced in the proposal to deepen the called "21st century socialism", for which, among other decisions, he expanded the process of nationalization of numerous service companies. Presidential reelection was one of the hottest issues among those exposed to political debate during 2007.

The key to what would be the last re-election of Chávez (for the 2013-2019 term) lay in the social achievements of his government, reflected in the drastic reduction of illiteracy, the increase in university students of popular social extraction, the expansion of the public health coverage and the creation of popular markets with basic necessities at prices subsidized by the State.

After the electoral victory, Chávez appointed Nicolás Maduro as Vice President of the Republic, who had been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, a portfolio in which he was also ratified. The president's decision was interpreted as the will to deposit in Maduro the inheritance of his leadership, taking into account that Chávez's health had deteriorated greatly since he was diagnosed with cancer in June 2011.

On the day scheduled for his inauguration (January 10, 2013), the president could not be present in Caracas because he was in Havana receiving cancer treatment. Despite the claims of the opposition, the Supreme Court of Justice understood that, since there was no interruption in the exercise of the position, the government in office could continue its management, and that it was valid to postpone the inauguration, pending Chávez be in a position to be able to swear his office in Venezuelan territory. VC Maduro remained at the helm of the government, receiving directives from his president from Cuba.

This anomalous situation lasted only two months: Chávez died on March 5, without being inaugurated president. VP Maduro remained in charge of the executive on an interim basis, until the holding of new elections. Chávez's funeral, attended by more than thirty heads of state from around the world, lasted three days; at the end of the same it was announced that the body would be embalmed and exposed in a mausoleum, where Venezuelans could go to pay tribute to the leader.

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  • UlyssesT
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