Hugo Chavez

Deep popular dissatisfaction with the traditional political parties, income disparities, and economic difficulties were some of the major frustrations expressed by Venezuelans in December 1998, when Hugo Chavez Frias won the presidency on a campaign for broad reform, constitutional change, and a crackdown on corruption.

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was born in Sabaneta de Barinas, on 28 July 1954. Chavez once dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, but instead he entered the military. In 1975 he graduated from the Military Academy (June 5) with the grade of Lieutenant and Graduate's title in Sciences and Military Arts, branch Engineering, Terrestrial mention. In 1982 he founded December 17, under the shade del Samán of Güere, the symbolic tree of his movement. Revolutionary Movement 200 (MBR-200). By 1991 he was a Major of the Battalion of Parachutists Cnel.Antonio Nicolás Briceño. Barracks Páez, Maracay.

Venezuela's prevailing political calm came to an end in 1989, when Venezuela experienced riots in which more than 200 people were killed in Caracas. The so-called Caracazo was a response to an economic austerity program launched by then-President Carlos Andres Perez. Three years later, in February 1992, a group of army lieutenant colonels led by future President Hugo Chavez mounted an unsuccessful coup attempt, claiming that the events of 1989 showed that the political system no longer served the interests of the people.

Chávez led the military rebellion on February 4th against President Carlos Andrés Pérez. The attempt failed and Chávez was arrested and he spent 1992-1994 in jail for plotting the failed coup. When he was an unsuccessful retired military man after the failed military coup, Chávez depended on his friends to cover his daily necessities and of transport.

There is a shortage of trustworthy information about the personal life of Chavez, and a notable absence of official biographies on government websites. Hugo Chavez was married to Nancy Colmenares (1977–1992?1995) and had three children with his first wife: Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela and Hugo Rafael [some sources report two sons]. He then married Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez (1997–2003?2004), by whom he had a fourth daughter, Rosa Ines. Unlike the first wife, Marisabel started doing politics and joined the opposition camp of Venezuela. She criticizes her husband on a regular basis.

After leaving prison he became very popular among the people. Chavez's political fortunes later changed. During his lifetime, the controversial president courted figures such as Fidel Castro of Cuba, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhadi.

Hugo Chavez was elected President in December 1998 on a platform that called for the creation of a National Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution for Venezuela. Chavez's argument that the existing political system had become isolated from the people won broad acceptance, particularly among Venezuela's poorest classes, who had seen a significant real decline in their living standards over the previous decade and a half. The National Constituent Assembly (ANC), consisting of 131 elected individuals, convened in August 1999 to begin rewriting the Constitution In free elections, voters gave all but six seats to persons associated with Chavez's movement. Venezuelans approved the ANC's draft in a referendum on December 15, 1999.

In July 2000, following a long and controversial process, voters re-elected President Hugo Chavez of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) in generally free and fair national and local elections. The MVR and pro-Chavez Movimiento a Socialismo (MAS) party won 92 seats in the 165-member legislature. Subsequent party splits reduced the pro-Chavez members to 84 seats.

In April 2002, the country experienced a "temporary alteration of constitutional order". When an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 persons participated in a march in downtown Caracas to demand President Chavez' resignation, gunfire broke out, resulting in as many as 18 deaths and more than 100 injuries on both sides. Military officers took President Chavez into custody, and business leader Pedro Carmona swore himself in as interim President. On April 14, military troops loyal to Chavez returned him to power.

Chavez died on 05 March 2013 at age 58 after a long struggle with cancer. Chavez, who had ruled the country for 14 years and had undergone four operations for cancer and four courses of chemotherapy in Cuba and Venezuela within a year.

President Hugo Chavez successfully filled the Venezuelan political lexicon with hate-inspiring concepts to create and enlarge fissures within Venezuelan society and cement his domestic support. Unfortunately, it changed the way average Venezuelans think and act. Since taking office in 1999, Chavez perfected his propaganda of hate message, hitting on the broad themes of rich vs. poor, U.S. imperialism vs. Bolivarianism, and capitalism vs. socialism.