Hugo Chávez
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Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician,
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
, and
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
who served as the 52nd
president of Venezuela The president of Venezuela (), officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (), is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan go ...
from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period of forty-seven hours in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (, PSUV, ) is a Socialism, socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivar ...
(PSUV), which he led until 2012. Born into a middle-class family in Sabaneta, Barinas, Chávez became a career military officer. After becoming dissatisfied with the Venezuelan political system based on the
Puntofijo Pact The Puntofijo Pact was a formal arrangement arrived at between representatives of Venezuela's three main political parties in 1958, Acción Democrática (AD), COPEI (Social Christian Party), and Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), for the ...
, he founded the clandestine Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) in the early 1980s. Chávez led the MBR-200 in its unsuccessful
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
against the Democratic Action government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992, for which he was imprisoned. Pardoned from prison two years later, he founded the Fifth Republic Movement political party, and then receiving 56.2% of the vote, was elected president of Venezuela in 1998. He was reelected in the
2000 Venezuelan general election General elections were held in Venezuela on 30 July 2000, the first under the country's newly adopted 1999 constitution. Incumbent President Hugo Chávez ran for election for a full six-year term under the new constitution. He was challenged by ...
with 59.8% of the vote and again in the 2006 Venezuelan presidential election, with 62.8% of the vote. After winning his fourth term as president in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election with 55.1% of the vote, he was to be sworn in on 10 January 2013. However, the inauguration was cancelled due to his
cancer treatment Cancer treatments are a wide range of treatments available for the many different types of cancer, with each cancer type needing its own specific treatment. Treatments can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targ ...
, and on 5 March at age 58, he died in
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
. Following the adoption of the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution, Chávez focused on enacting social reforms as part of the
Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...
. Using record-high oil revenues of the 2000s, his government nationalized key industries, created participatory democratic Communal Councils and implemented social programs known as the Bolivarian missions to expand access to food, housing, healthcare and education. While these initiatives led to temporary improvements in poverty reduction and social welfare during periods of high oil revenue, their reliance on state control and centralized planning exposed significant structural weaknesses as oil prices declined. The high oil profits coinciding with the start of Chavez's presidency resulted in temporary improvements in areas such as poverty, literacy, income equality and quality of life between primarily 2003 and 2007, though extensive changes in structural inequalities did not occur. On 2 June 2010, Chávez declared an "economic war" on Venezuela's upper classes due to shortages, arguably beginning the
crisis in Venezuela An ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened during the presidency of successor Nicolás Maduro. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, c ...
. By the end of Chávez's presidency in the early 2010s, economic actions performed by his government during the preceding decade, such as deficit spending and price controls, proved to be unsustainable, with Venezuela's economy faltering. At the same time,
poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
,
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
and shortages increased. Under Chávez, Venezuela experienced
democratic backsliding Democratic backsliding or autocratization is a process of regime change toward autocracy in which the exercise of political power becomes more arbitrary and repressive. The process typically restricts the space for public contest and politi ...
, as he suppressed the press, manipulated electoral laws, and arrested and exiled government critics. His use of
enabling act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. For example, enabling act ...
s and his government's use of
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
were controversial. Chávez's presidency saw significant increases in the country's murder rate and continued
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
within the police force and the government. Across the political spectrum, Chávez is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial politicians in the modern history of
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and Latin America. His 14-year presidency marked the start of the socialist "
pink tide The pink tide (; ; ), or the turn to the left (; ; ), is a political wave and turn towards left-wing governments in Latin America throughout the 21st century. As a term, both phrases are used in political analysis in the news media and elsewhe ...
" sweeping Latin Americahe supported Latin American and Caribbean cooperation and was instrumental in setting up the pan-regional
Union of South American Nations The Union of South American Nations (USAN), sometimes also referred to as the South American Union, abbreviated in Spanish as UNASUR and in Portuguese as UNASUL, is an intergovernmental regional organization. It was set up by Hugo Chavez to ...
, the
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is a bloc of Latin American and Caribbean states, consisting of 33 countries, and has five official working languages. It is seen as an alternative to the Organization of American Stat ...
, the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed ...
, the Bank of the South and the regional television network TeleSUR. Internationally, Chávez aligned himself with the Marxist–Leninist governments of Fidel and then
Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...
in Cuba, as well as the socialist governments of
Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
in Bolivia,
Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...
in Ecuador and
Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...
in Nicaragua. Chávez's ideas, programs, and style form the basis of " Chavismo", a political ideology closely associated with Bolivarianism and socialism of the 21st century. Chávez described his policies as
anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is opposition to imperialism or neocolonialism. Anti-imperialist sentiment typically manifests as a political principle in independence struggles against intervention or influenc ...
, being a prominent adversary of the United States's foreign policy as well as a vocal opponent of
neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
and ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...
''
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
. He described himself as a
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
.


Early life

Chávez was born on 28 July 1954 in his paternal grandmother Rosa Inés Chávez's home, a modest three-room house located in the rural village Sabaneta,
Barinas State Barinas State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is Barinas, Barinas, Barinas. Barinas State covers a total surface area of and had an estimated population of 970,689 in 2015. Toponymy The topony ...
. The Chávez family were of
Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...
, Afro-Venezuelan, Spanish and
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descent. His parents,
Hugo de los Reyes Chávez Hugo de los Reyes Chávez (6 January 1933 – 9 April 2024) was a Venezuelan state politician and the father of the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez (1954–2013). Political career Chávez was a regional director of education and subseque ...
– described as a proud COPEI member– and Elena Frías de Chávez, were schoolteachers who lived in the small village of Los Rastrojos. Hugo was born the second of seven children. Chávez's childhood of supposed poverty has been disputed as he possibly changed the story of his background for political reasons. Attending the Julián Pino Elementary School, Chávez was particularly interested in the 19th-century
federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...
general Ezequiel Zamora, in whose army his own great-great-grandfather had served. With no high school in their area, Hugo's parents sent Hugo and his older brother Adán to live with their grandmother Rosa, who lived in a
lower middle class In developed nations around the world, the lower middle class is a subdivision of the greater middle class. Universally, the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the middle or u ...
subsidized home provided by the government, where they attended Daniel O'Leary High School in the mid-1960s. His father, despite having the salary of a teacher, helped pay for college for Chávez and his siblings.


Military career


Military academy

Aged 17, Chávez studied at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences in Caracas, following a curriculum known as the
Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan Humanism, humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute a ...
Plan, instituted by a group of progressive, nationalistic military officers. This new curriculum encouraged students to learn not only military routines and tactics but also a wide variety of other topics, and to do so civilian professors were brought in from other universities to give lectures to the military cadets. Living in Caracas, he began to get involved in activities outside of the military school, playing baseball and softball with the ''Criollitos de Venezuela'' team, progressing with them to the Venezuelan National Baseball Championships. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and drama, and painted. He also became interested in the Marxist revolutionary
Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
(1928–1967) after reading his memoir ''The Diary of Che Guevara''. In 1974, he was selected to be a representative in the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the
Battle of Ayacucho The Battle of Ayacucho (, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is conside ...
in Peru, the conflict in which Simon Bolívar's lieutenant,
Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" (), was a Venezuelan general and politician who served as the president of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828. A close friend and associate ...
, defeated royalist forces during the
Peruvian War of Independence The Peruvian War of Independence () was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dis ...
. In Peru, Chávez heard the leftist president, General
Juan Velasco Alvarado Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a Peruvian Army general, general who served as the President of Peru after a successful 1968 Peruvian coup d'état, coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde's presidency ...
(1910–1977), speak, and was inspired by Velasco's ideas that the military should act in the interests of the working classes when the ruling classes were perceived as corrupt. Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 36. Befriending the son of Maximum Leader
Omar Torrijos Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Panamanian military leader of Panama, as well as the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially ...
, the leftist dictator of Panama, Chávez visited Panama, where he met with Torrijos, and was impressed with his land reform program that was designed to benefit the peasants. Influenced by Torrijos and Velasco he saw the potential for military generals to seize control of a government when the civilian authorities were perceived as serving the interests of only the wealthy elites. Chávez later said, "With Torrijos, I became a Torrijist. With Velasco I became a Velasquist. And with Pinochet, I became an anti-Pinochetist". In 1975, Chávez graduated from the military academy as one of the top graduates of the year.


Early military career

Following his graduation, Chávez was stationed as a communications officer at a
counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
unit in Barinas. In 1977, Chávez's unit was transferred to
Anzoátegui Anzoátegui State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approx ...
, where they were involved in battling the Red Flag Party, a Marxist–
Hoxhaist Hoxhaism ( , ) is a variant of Marxism–Leninism developed in the late 1970s as a result of a schism in the anti-revisionist movement, namely between the Chinese Communist Party and the Party of Labour of Albania. The ideological dispute bet ...
insurgency group. After intervening to prevent the beating of an alleged insurgent by other soldiers, Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 41. Chávez began to have his doubts about the army.Chávez, quoted in Jones 2007. p. 59. In 1977, he founded a revolutionary movement within the armed forces, in the hope that he could one day introduce a leftist government to Venezuela: the Venezuelan People's Liberation Army (', or ELPV), consisted of him and a handful of his fellow soldiers who had no immediate plans for direct action, though they knew they wanted a middle way between the right-wing policies of the government and the far-left position of the Red Flag. Nevertheless, hoping to gain an alliance with civilian leftist groups in Venezuela, Chávez set up clandestine meetings with various prominent Marxists, including Alfredo Maneiro (the founder of the Radical Cause) and Douglas Bravo.


Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200

Five years after his creation of the ELPV, Chávez went on to form a new secretive cell within the military, the Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200 (EBR-200), later redesignated the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200). He was inspired by
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
, Simón Rodríguez and Ezequiel Zamora, who became known as the "three roots of the tree" of the MBR-200. In 1984 he met Herma Marksman, a recently divorced history teacher with whom he had an affair that lasted several years. During this time Francisco Arias Cárdenas, a soldier interested in liberation theology, also joined MBR-200. After some time, some senior military officers became suspicious of Chávez and reassigned him so that he would not be able to gain any more fresh new recruits from the academy. He was sent to take command of the remote barracks at Elorza in Apure State.


1992 coup attempt

In 1989, Carlos Andrés Pérez was elected president, and though he had promised to oppose the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
's policies, once he got into office he enacted economic policies supported by the
IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...
, angering the public. In an attempt to stop widespread lootings and protests that followed his spending cuts, known as '' El Caracazo'', Pérez initiated Plan Ávila, a military contingency plan by the Venezuelan Army to maintain public order, and an outbreak of violent repression unfolded. Though members of Chávez's MBR-200 movement allegedly participated in the crackdown, Chávez did not, since he was then hospitalized with
chicken pox Chickenpox, also known as varicella ( ), is a highly contagious disease caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), a member of the herpesvirus family. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which ...
. He later condemned the event as "
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
". Chávez began preparing for a military coup d'état known as Operation Zamora. The plan involved members of the military overwhelming military locations and communication installations and then establishing Rafael Caldera in power once Pérez was captured and assassinated. Chávez delayed the MBR-200 coup, initially planned for December, until the early twilight hours of 4 February 1992. On that date five army units under Chávez's command moved into urban Caracas. Despite years of planning, the coup quickly encountered trouble since Chávez commanded the loyalty of less than 10% of Venezuela's military. After numerous betrayals, defections, errors, and other unforeseen circumstances, Chávez and a small group of rebels found themselves hiding in the Military Museum, unable to communicate with other members of their team. Pérez managed to escape Miraflores Palace. Officially, thirty-two civilians, police officers and soldiers were killed, and fifty soldiers and some eighty civilians injured during the ensuing violence. Sylvia and Danopolous 2003. p. 66. Chávez gave himself up to the government and appeared on television, in uniform, to call on the remaining coup members to lay down their arms. Chávez remarked in his speech that they had failed only "''por ahora''" (for now). Venezuelans, particularly poor ones, began seeing him as someone who stood up against government corruption and
kleptocracy Kleptocracy (from Greek , "thief", or , "I steal", and from , "power, rule"), also referred to as thievocracy, is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political power to expropriate the wealth of the people and land the ...
. The coup "flopped militarily—and dozens died—but made him a media star", noted Rory Carroll of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Chávez was arrested and imprisoned at the San Carlos military stockade, wracked with guilt and feeling responsible for the failure of the coup. Pro-Chávez demonstrations outside San Carlos led to his transfer to Yare Prison. Another unsuccessful coup against the government occurred in November, with the fighting during the coups resulting in the deaths of at least 143 people and perhaps as many as several hundred. Pérez was impeached a year later, charged with malfeasance and misappropriating funds.


Political rise

While Chávez and the other senior members of the MBR-200 were in prison, his relationship with Herma Marksman broke up in July 1993. In 1994, Rafael Caldera (1916–2009) of the centrist National Convergence Party who allegedly had knowledge of the coup was elected president and soon afterward he freed Chávez and the other imprisoned MBR-200 members, though Caldera banned them from returning to the military. After his release, on 14 December 1994, Chávez visited Cuba during the
Special Period The Special Period (), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Comecon. The economic depression o ...
, where he was received by
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
with head of state honors. During his visit, Chávez gave a speech at the Aula Magna of the
University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
before Fidel and the Cuban high hierarchy where, among other things, he said "We have a long term strategic project, in which the Cubans have and would have much to contribute" and "it is a project of a twenty to forty year horizon, a sovereign economic model". Travelling around Latin America in search of foreign support for his Bolivarian movement, he visited
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
, Chile,
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, and
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, where he met Castro and became friends with him. According to journalist Patricia Poleo, during his stay in Colombia, he spent six months receiving guerrilla training and establishing contacts with the
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...
and
National Liberation Army (Colombia) The National Liberation Army (, ELN) is a far-left guerrilla insurgency group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict,
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
guerrilla groups, and even adopted a ''
nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...
'' Comandante Centeno. By now Chávez was a supporter of taking military action, believing that the oligarchy would never allow him and his supporters to win an election. Chávez and his supporters later founded a political party, the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR – ''Movimiento Quinta República'') in July 1997 to support Chávez's candidacy in the 1998 presidential election. Chávez went on a tour around the country. On his tours, he met Marisabel Rodríguez, who would give birth to their daughter shortly before becoming his second wife in 1997.


1998 election

At the start of the election run-up, front runner Irene Sáez was backed by one of Venezuela's two primary political parties, Copei. Chávez's revolutionary rhetoric gained him support from '' Patria Para Todos'' (Homeland for All), the '' Partido Comunista Venezolano'' (Venezeuelan Communist Party) and the '' Movimiento al Socialismo'' (Movement for Socialism). Chávez received support from different sectors: the lower class felt identified with Chávez, that he cared about their needs and would offer a solution to their problems; part of the middle class also supported, feeling frustrated with corruption and wishing for a strong-handed government; Chávez also received support from members of the old left, as well as the members of the militarist right wing, some of them nostalgic for the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. By May 1998, Chávez's support had risen to 30% in polls, and by August he was registering 39%. Voter turnout was 63%, and Chávez won the election with 56.2% of the vote.


Presidency (1999–2013)


First presidential term: 2 February 1999 – 10 January 2001

Chávez's presidential inauguration took place 2 February 1999. He deviated from the usual words of the presidential oath when he took it, proclaiming: "I swear before God and my people that upon this ''moribund'' constitution I will drive forth the necessary democratic transformations so that the new republic will have a
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...
befitting these new times". Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 127. Freedom in Venezuela suffered following "the decision of President Hugo Chávez, ratified in a national referendum, to abolish congress and the judiciary, and by his creation of a parallel government of military cronies". Soon after being established into office, Chávez spent much of his time attempting to abolish existing
checks and balances The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishabl ...
in Venezuela. He appointed new figures to government posts, adding leftist allies to key positions and "army colleagues were given a far bigger say in the day-to-day running of the country". For instance, he put Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 founder in charge of the National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services and made , one of the 1992 coup leaders, governor of the Federal District of Caracas. His critics referred to these government officials as the " Boliburguesía" or "Bolivarian bourgeoisie", and highlighted that it "included few people with experience in public administration". The number of his immediate family members in Venezuelan politics also led to accusations of
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
. Chávez appointed businessman Roberto Mandini president of the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. Although Chávez did not believe, as he put it in 1998, "in this paradigm of the Western capitalist, bourgeois democratic world," he initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but only Rhenish capitalism, not
neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
. Sackur and Chávez 2010. Low oil prices made Chavez's government reliant on international free markets during his first months in office, when he showed pragmatism and political moderation, and continued to encourage foreign investment in Venezuela. During a visit to the United States in 1999, he rang the closing bell at the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. His administration held formal talks with the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
until oil prices rose enough to let the government rule out the need for any financial assistance. Beginning 27 February 1999, the tenth anniversary of the '' Caracazo'', Chávez set into motion a social welfare program called Plan Bolívar 2000. He said he had allotted $20.8 million for the plan. The plan involved 70,000 soldiers, sailors and members of the air force repairing roads and hospitals, removing stagnant water that offered breeding areas for disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering free medical care and vaccinations, and selling food at low prices. Several
scandals A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
later affected the program as allegations of corruption were formulated against generals involved in the plan and that significant amounts of money had been diverted.


Constitutional reform

Chávez called a public referendum, which he hoped would support his plans to form a
constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
of representatives from across Venezuela and from indigenous tribal groups to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 130. Chávez said he had to run again; "Venezuela's socialist revolution was like an unfinished painting and he was the artist", he said, while someone else "could have another vision, start to alter the contours of the painting". There was a low turnout of 37.65% and an abstention of 62.35%, 88% of the voters supported his proposal. Chávez called an election on 25 July to elect the members of the constituent assembly. Over 900 of the 1,171 candidates standing for election were Chávez opponents. To elect the members of the assembly, Chávez used a formula designed by mathematical experts and politicians, known at the time as the ''kino'' (lottery) or the "keys of Chávez". Chávez obtained 51% of the votes, but his supporters took 95% of the seats, 125 in total, including all of the seats assigned to indigenous groups, while the opposition won six seats. International Crisis Group 2007. p. 05. On 12 August 1999, the new constituent assembly voted to give themselves the power to abolish government institutions and to dismiss officials who were perceived as corrupt or as operating only in their own interests. Opponents of the Chávez regime argued that it was dictatorial. Most jurists believed that the new constituent assembly had become the country's "supreme authority" and that all other institutions were subordinate to it. The assembly also declared a "judicial emergency" and granted itself the power to overhaul the judicial system. The Supreme Court ruled that the assembly did indeed have this authority, and was replaced in the 1999 Constitution with the Supreme Tribunal of Justice. The constituent assembly put together a new constitution, which was voted on at a referendum in December 1999. Seventy-two percent of those who voted approved of the new constitution. There was a low turnout and an abstention vote of over 50%. The new constitution provided protections for the environment and indigenous people, socioeconomic guarantees and state benefits, while giving greater powers to the president. International Crisis Group 2007. p. 06. The presidential term was extended to six years, and a president was allowed to serve for two consecutive terms. Previously, a sitting president could not run for reelection for 10 years after leaving office. It also replaced the bicameral Congress with a unicameral Legislative Assembly and gave the president the power to legislate on citizen rights, to promote military officers and to oversee economic and financial matters. The assembly also gave the military a mandated role in the government by empowering it to ensure public order and aid national development, which the previous constitution had expressly forbidden. In the new constitution, the country, until then officially known as the Republic of Venezuela, was renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) at Chávez's request. Chávez's actions following the ratification the 1999 Venezuelan constitution government weakened many of Venezuela's checks and balances, allowing the government to control every branch of the Venezuelan government for over 15 years after it passed until the Venezuelan parliamentary election in 2015. In May 2000 he launched his own Sunday morning radio show, '' Aló Presidente'' (''Hello, President''), on the state radio network. This followed an earlier Thursday night television show, ''De Frente con el Presidente'' (''Face to Face with the President''). He founded two newspapers, ''El Correo del Presidente'' (''The President's Post''), founded in July, for which he acted as editor-in-chief, and ''Vea'' (''See''), another newspaper, as well as ''Question'' magazine and Vive TV. ''El Correo'' was later shut down among accusations of corruption and mismanagement. In his television and radio shows, he answered calls from citizens, discussed his latest policies, sang songs and told jokes. In June 2000 he separated from his wife Marisabel, and their divorce was finalised in January 2004.


Second presidential term: 10 January 2001 – 10 January 2007

Under the new constitution, it was legally required that new elections be held in order to re-legitimize the government and president. This presidential election in July 2000 would be a part of a greater "megaelection", the first time in the country's history that the president, governors, national and regional congressmen, mayors and councilmen would be voted for on the same day. Going into the elections, Chávez had control of all three branches of government. For the position of president, Chávez's closest challenger proved to be his former friend and co-conspirator in the 1992 coup, Francisco Arias Cárdenas, who since becoming a governor of Zulia state had turned towards the political centre and begun to denounce Chávez as autocratic. Some of his supporters feared that he had alienated those in the middle class and the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy who had formerly supported him. Chávez was re-elected with 60% of the vote, a larger majority than his 1998 electoral victory. Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 141. Ramírez 2005. p. 79. That year, Chávez improved ideological ties with the Cuban government of Fidel Castro by signing an agreement under which Venezuela would supply Cuba with 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates, in return receiving 20,000 trained Cuban medics and educators. In the ensuing decade, this would be increased to 90,000 barrels a day (in exchange for 40,000 Cuban medics and teachers), dramatically aiding the Caribbean island's economy and standard of living after its "
Special Period The Special Period (), officially the Special Period in the Time of Peace (), was an extended period of economic crisis in Cuba that began in 1991 primarily due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Comecon. The economic depression o ...
" of the 1990s. However, Venezuela's growing alliance with Cuba came at the same time as a deteriorating relationship with the United States. Chávez opposed of the 2001 American-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the 11 September attacks against the U.S. by Islamist militants. In late 2001, Chávez showed pictures on his television show of children said to be killed in a bombing attack. He commented that "They are not to blame for the terrorism of
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
or anyone else", called on the American government to end "the massacre of the innocents", and describing the war as "fighting terrorism with terrorism." The U.S. government responded negatively to the comments, which were picked up by the media worldwide and recalled its ambassador for consultations. Meanwhile, the 2000 elections had led to Chávez's supporters gaining 101 out of 165 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, and so in November 2001 they voted to allow him to pass 49 social and economic decrees. This move antagonized the opposition movement particularly strongly. At the start of the 21st century, Venezuela was the world's fifth largest exporter of
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
, with oil accounting for 85% of the country's exports, therefore dominating the country's economy. Before the election of Chávez, the state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) ran autonomously, making oil decisions based on internal guidance to increase profits.Wiseman, Colin and Daniel Béland. "The Politics of Institutional Change in Venezuela: Oil Policy During the Presidency of Hugo Chávez." ''Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies,'' Vol 35, No. 70 (2010), pp. 141–164. ''JSTOR''. Accessed 3 November 2018. Once he came to power, Chávez started directing PDVSA and effectively turned it into a direct government arm whose profits would be injected into social spending. The result of this was the creation of " Bolivarian missions", oil funded social programs targeting poverty, literacy, hunger, and more. In 2001, the government introduced a new Hydrocarbons Law through which it sought to gain greater state control over the oil industry. The law increased the transnational companies taxation in oil extraction activities to 30% and set the minimum state participation in "mixed companies" at 51%, whereby the state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), could have joint control with private companies over industry. By 2006, all of the 32 operating agreements signed with private companies during the 1990s had been converted from being primarily or privately run to being at least 51% controlled by PDVSA. Chávez had also removed many of the managers and executives of PdVSA and replaced them with political allies, stripping the state-owned company expertise.


Opposition and the Coordinadora Democrática

Much of Chávez's opposition originated from the response to the "cubanization" of Venezuela. Chávez's popularity dropped due to his relationship with Fidel Castro and Cuba, with Chávez attempting to make Venezuela in Cuba's image. Chávez, following Castro's example, consolidated the country's
bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...
into a single
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
that gave him more power and created community groups of loyal supporters allegedly trained as paramilitaries. Such actions created great fear among Venezuelans who felt like they were tricked and that Chávez had dictatorial goals. The first organized protest against the Bolivarian government occurred in January 2001, when the Chávez administration tried to implement educational reforms through the proposed Resolution 259 and Decree 1.011, which would have seen the publication of textbooks with a heavy Bolivarian bias. Parents noticed that such textbooks were really Cuban books filled with revolutionary propaganda outfitted with different covers. The protest movement, which was primarily by middle-class parents whose children went to privately run schools, marched to central Caracas shouting out the slogan ''Con mis hijos no te metas'' ("Don't mess with my children"). Although the protesters were denounced by Chávez, who called them "selfish and individualistic", the protest was successful enough for the government to retract the proposed education reforms and instead enter into a consensus-based educational program with the opposition. Later into 2001, an organization known as the ' (Democratic Coordinator, CD) was founded, under which the Venezuelan opposition political parties, corporate powers, most of the country's media, the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the Institutional Military Front and the Central Workers Union all united to oppose Chávez's regime. International Crisis Group 2007. p. 7. The prominent businessman Pedro Carmona (1941–) was chosen as the CD's leader. The Coordinadora Democrática and other opponents of Chávez's Bolivarian government accused it of trying to turn Venezuela from a democracy into a dictatorship by centralising power among its supporters in the Constituent Assembly and granting Chávez increasingly autocratic powers. Many of them pointed to Chávez's personal friendship with Cuba's Fidel Castro and the one-party socialist government in Cuba as a sign of where the Bolivarian government was taking Venezuela.


Coup, strikes and the recall referendum

Chávez sought to make PDVSA his main source of funds for political projects and replaced oil experts with political allies to support him with this initiative. In early-2002, he placed a leftist professor as the president of PDVSA. In April 2002, Chávez appointed his allies to head the PDVSA and replaced the company's board of directors with loyalists who had "little or no experience in the oil industry", mocking the PDVSA executives on television as he fired them. Anger with Chávez's decisions led to civil unrest in Venezuela, which culminated in an attempted coup. On 11 April 2002, during a march headed to the presidential palace, nineteen people were killed, and over 110 were wounded. Chávez believed that the best way to stay in power was to implement Plan Ávila. Military officers, including General Raúl Baduel, a founder of Chávez's MBR-200, then decided that they had to pull support from Chávez to deter a massacre and shortly after at 8:00 pm, Vásquez Velasco, together with other ranking army officers, declared that Chávez had lost his support. Chávez agreed to be detained and was transferred by army escort to La Orchila; business leader Pedro Carmona declared himself president of an interim government. Carmona abolished the 1999 constitution and appointed a governing committee. Protests in support of Chávez along with insufficient support for Carmona's government quickly led to Carmona's resignation, and Chávez was returned to power on 14 April. Chávez's response was to moderate his approach, implementing a new economic team that appeared to be more centrist and reinstated the old board of directors and managers of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), whose replacement had been one of the reasons for the coup. At the same time, the Bolivarian government began to increase the country's military capacity, purchasing 100,000
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
assault rifles and several helicopters from Russia, as well as a number of Super Tucano light attack and training planes from Brazil. Troop numbers were also increased. Chávez faced a two-month management strike at the PDVSA. The Chávez government's response was to fire about 19,000 striking employees for abandoning their posts and then employing retired workers, foreign contractors, and the military to do their jobs instead. The total firing of tens of thousands of employees by Chávez would forever damage Venezuela's oil industry due to the tremendous loss of expertise. By 2005, the members of Venezuela's energy ministries stated it would take more than 15 years for PDVSA to recover from Chávez's actions. The 1999 constitution had introduced the concept of a recall referendum into Venezuelan politics, so the opposition called for such a referendum to take place. The resulting 2004 referendum to recall Chávez was unsuccessful. 70% of the eligible Venezuelan population turned out to vote, with 59% of voters deciding to keep the president in power.


"Socialism of the 21st century"

In January 2005, Chávez began openly proclaiming the ideology of " socialism of the 21st century", something that was distinct from his earlier forms of Bolivarianism, which had been
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
in nature, merging elements of capitalism and socialism. He used this new term to contrast the
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...
, which he wanted to promote in Latin America, from the Marxist–Leninist socialism that had been spread by socialist states like the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China during the 20th century, arguing that the latter had not been truly democratic, suffering from a lack of participatory democracy and an excessively authoritarian governmental structure. In May 2006, Chávez visited Europe in a private capacity, where he announced plans to supply cheap Venezuelan oil to poor working class communities in the continent. The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone welcomed him, describing him as "the best news out of Latin America in many years."


Third presidential term: 10 January 2007 – 10 January 2013

In the 2006 Venezuelan presidential election, presidential election of December 2006, which saw a 77% voter turnout, Chávez was once more elected, this time with 63% of the vote, beating his closest challenger Manuel Rosales. The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center concluded that the election results were free and legitimate. After this victory, Chávez promised an "expansion of the revolution".


United Socialist Party of Venezuela and domestic policy

On 15 December 2006, Chávez publicly announced that those leftist political parties who had continually supported him in the Patriotic Pole would unite into one single, much larger party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (''Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela'', PSUV). In the speech which he gave announcing the PSUV's creation, Chávez declared that the old parties must "forget their own structures, party colours and slogans, because they are not the most important thing for the fatherland". Chávez had initially proclaimed that those leftist parties which chose to not dissolve into the PSUV would have to leave the government. Party membership rose to 5.7 million people by 2007,Walter, Mathew
"Venezuela May Lower Voting Age, Add Gay Rights in Constitution"
. ''Bloomberg''. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
The United Nations' International Labour Organization expressed concern over some voters' being pressured to join the party. On 28 December 2006, President Chávez announced that the government would not renew RCTV's broadcast license which expired on 27 May 2007, thereby forcing the channel to cease operations on that day. On 17 May 2007, the government rejected a plea made by RCTV to stop the TV station's forced shutdown. Thousands of protesters marching both against and in support of the government's decision remained on the streets in Caracas. Other marches took place in Maracaibo and Valencia, Carabobo, Valencia. On 21 May 2007, hundreds of journalists and students marched in Caracas carrying a banner reading "S.O.S. Freedom of Expression". A few days later, on 25 May 2007, university students from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, the Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela), Universidad Simón Bolívar and the Universidad Central de Venezuela protested against the government's intentions. On 26 May, tens of thousands of protesters marched in support of RCTV to their headquarters. Since the week prior to the shutdown of RCTV, many individuals, international organizations and NGOs—including the Organization of American States, OAS's Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and its OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, the Inter American Press Association, Human Rights Watch, and the Committee to Protect Journalists,—have expressed concerns for freedom of the press following the shutdown. However, Secretary Insulza also stated that it was up to the Venezuelan courts to solve this dispute and that he believed that this was an administrative decision. In 2007, the Bolivarian government set up a constitutional commission to review the 1999 constitution and suggest potential amendments to be made to it. Led by the prominent pro-Chávez intellectual Luis Britto García, it suggested measures that would have increased many of the president's powers, for instance increasing the presidential term limit to seven years, allowing the president to run for election indefinitely and centralizing powers in the executive. The government put the suggested changes to a 2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum, public referendum in December 2007. Abstention rate was high however, with 44% of registered voters not turning out, and in the end the proposed changes were rejected by 51% of votes. This would prove to the first electoral loss that Chávez had faced in the thirteen electoral contests held since he took power, due to the top-down nature of the changes, as well as general public dissatisfaction with "the absence of internal debate on its content, as well as dissatisfaction with the running of the social programmes, increasing street crime, and with corruption within the government". In mid 2010, tons of rotten food supplies imported during Chávez's government through subsidies of state-owned enterprise PDVAL were found. Due to the scandal, PDVAL started being administrated by the Vice President of Venezuela and afterwards by the Alimentation Ministry. Three former managers were detained, but were released afterwards and two of them had their positions restored. In July 2010, official estimates stated that 130,000 tons of food supplies were affected, while the political opposition informed of 170,000 tons. As of 2012, any advances in the investigations by the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
were unknown. The most accepted explanation of the loss of food supplies is the organization of PDVAL, because the food network allegedly imported supplies faster than what it could distribute them. The opposition considers the affair as a corrupt case and spokespeople have assured that the public officials deliberately imported more food that could be distributed to embezzle funds through the import of subsidized supplies. During an address on Chávez's birthday in 2011, he called on the middle classes and the private sector to get more involved in his Bolivarian Revolution, something he saw as "vital" to its success. In August of 2011, Chávez announced that his government would nationalize Venezuela's gold industry, taking it over from Russian-controlled company Rusoro, while at the same time also moving the country's gold stocks, which were largely stored in western banks, to banks in allied countries such as Russia, China and Brazil. To ensure that his
Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...
became socially ingrained in Venezuela, Chávez discussed his wish to stand for re-election when his term ran out in 2013, and spoke of ruling beyond 2030. Under the 1999 constitution, he could not legally stand for re-election again, and so brought about a 2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum, referendum on 15 February 2009 to abolish the two-term limit for all public offices, including the presidency. Approximately 70% of the Venezuelan electorate voted, and they approved this alteration to the constitution with over 54% in favor, allowing any elected official the chance to try to run indefinitely.


Fourth presidential term: 10 January 2013 – 5 March 2013

On 7 October 2012, Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, his third six-year term. He defeated Henrique Capriles with 54% of the votes versus 45% for Capriles, which was a lower victory margin than in his previous presidential wins, in the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election. Turnout in the election was 80%, with a hotly contested election between the two candidates. There was significant support for Chávez among the Venezuelan lower class. Chávez's opposition blamed him for unfairly using state funds to spread largesse before the election to bolster Chavez's support among his primary electoral base, the lower class. The inauguration of Chávez's new term was scheduled for 10 January 2013, but as he was undergoing medical treatment at the time in
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, he was not able to return to Venezuela for that date. The National Assembly president Diosdado Cabello proposed to postpone the inauguration and the Supreme Court decided that, being just another term of the sitting president and not the inauguration of a new one, the formality could be bypassed. The Roman Catholicism in Venezuela, Venezuelan Bishops Conference opposed the verdict, stating that the constitution must be respected, and the Venezuelan government had not been transparent regarding details about Chávez's health. Acting executive officials produced orders of government signed by Chávez, which were suspected of forgery by some opposition politicians, who claimed that Chávez was too sick to be in control of his faculties. Guillermo Cochez, recently dismissed from the office of Panamanian ambassador to the Organization of American States, even claimed that Chávez had been brain death, brain-dead since 31 December 2012. Due to the Death and state funeral of Hugo Chávez, death of Chávez, Vice President Nicolás Maduro took over the presidential powers and duties for the remainder of Chávez's abbreviated term until presidential elections were held. Venezuela's constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a president cannot be sworn in. Maduro remains in power as president as of 2025.


Political ideology

Chávez was described as a leftist, with one journal stating that he was "billed as the hemisphere’s second leftist leader after Cuba’s Fidel Castro." In a 1996 interview, Chávez stated "I am not Marxist, but I am not anti-Marxist. I am not communist, but I am not anti-communist." In 1999, Chávez told the ''New York Times'' that "If you are attempting to determine whether Chavez is of the left, right, or center, if he is socialist, Communist, or capitalist, well, I am none of those, but I have a bit of all of those." In a 1998 interview, Chávez stated that "I am not a socialist. I believe that today's world, Latin America and the world to come require a leap forward. We are going beyond socialism and even savage capitalism."El marxismo según Chávez Yolanda Valery BBC Mundo, Venezuela
/ref>


Opposition to capitalism and neoliberalism

Both before and during his presidency, Chávez spoke out against "savage capitalism," neoliberal capitalism and simply capitalism in various speeches. During his first electoral campaign, as noted by one observer, Chávez made clear his rejection of what he called "savage capitalism," using the words of Pope John Paul II. Chávez wanted greater state intervention in the economy, but "built bridges to the private sector to promote the development of national industry." According to Eduardo Semtei, a political scientist considered close to the ideas of Chavez, "From the beginning he had the idea that the classic capitalist model is a model contrary to the development of society." In 1999, Chávez argued that a new constitution drafted by an assembly packed with his allies would distance Venezuela from "savage capitalism." He reiterated this position on 28 September 2001, when Chavez spoke negatively of neoliberal capitalism and the economic measures of the Carlos Andrés Pérez, , one of the causes of the Caracazo riots. In various interviews conducted in 2002, Chávez shared his views on capitalism, saying that the Bolivarian Revolution was an alternative to neoliberalism, saying that capitalism was "sown ... in the marrow" of Venezuela and the rest of the world, stating that his revolution and its missions were more humane.ENTREVISTA DE MARTA HARNECKER HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS UN HOMBRE, UN PUEBLO Publicado en España por Editorial: Tercera Prensa, San Sebastián, noviembre 2002, P.69-70
/ref> Ultimately, Chávez said that the Bolivarian Revolution was "an alternative economy to dehumanized capitalism." In 2003, Chávez argued that the Soviet Union disappeared when it failed in its efforts to dismantle "the devastating logic of capital," stating that it is the "alternative model" that he promoted was the one now confronting "neoliberalism and savage capitalism." While at the World Social Forum on 26 January 2003, Chávez criticized the idea that capitalism and neoliberalism "won" following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, saying that some individuals raised "the thesis of single thinking, there are no more alternatives, ... socialism is over, and communism is over and long live neoliberal capitalism and all this fairy tale."Intervención del Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez, en el encuentro Solidaridad con la Revolución Bolivariana con Venezuela en el marco l Foro Social Mundial 26/01/2003
/ref> Chávez noted in a 2005 interview that "At one time I came to think about the Third Way. I was having trouble interpreting the world. I was confused ... I spoke and wrote a lot about 'human capitalism'. Today I am convinced that it is impossible ... I became convinced that socialism is the way." Chávez arguably did not fully talk openly about the socialism of the 21st century until 3 December 2006, during a speech after his reelection in the 2006 Venezuelan presidential election, 2006 presidential elections.


Marxism and socialism

Chávez's connection to Marxism was a complex one, though he had described himself as a Marxist on some occasions. In May 1996, he gave an interview with in which he remarked, "I am not a Marxist, but I am not anti-Marxist. I am not communist, but I am not anti-communist." In a 2009 speech to the national assembly, he said: "I am a Marxist to the same degree as the followers of the ideas of Jesus Christ and the liberator of America,
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
". He was well versed in many Marxist texts, having read the works of many Marxist theoreticians, and often publicly quoted them. Various international Marxists supported his government, believing it to be a sign of proletariat revolution as predicted in Marxist theory. In 2010, Hugo Chávez proclaimed support for the Trotskyism, ideas of Marxist Leon Trotsky, saying "When I called him (former Minister of Labour, José Ramón Rivero)" Chávez explained, "he said to me: 'President I want to tell you something before someone else tells you ... I am a Trotskyist', and I said, 'well, what is the problem? I am also a Trotskyist! I follow Trotsky's line, that of permanent revolution", and then cited Marx and Lenin. Chávez also noted his identification with socialism, noting that "The Constitution speaks that the socioeconomic regime of Venezuela must have a strong cooperative and associative content and that gives it a charge that breaks with individualism and neoliberalism, which gives a strong socialist content to the project. In that direction we have to go all out. To cooperate is to socialize the economy, to give it a social content. I am sure that in Puerto Cruz, agricultural cooperatives will emerge." Later in his presidency Chávez promoted the socialism of the 21st century. His approach was more heavily influenced by the theories of István Mészáros (professor), István Mészáros, Michael Lebowitz and Marta Harnecker, who was Chávez's adviser between 2004 and 2011, rather than by those of Heinz Dieterich.


Bolivarianism

Hugo Chávez defined his political position as Bolivarianism, an ideology he developed from that of
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
(1783–1830) and others. Bolívar was a 19th-century general who led the fight against the colonialism, colonialist Spanish authorities and who is widely revered across Latin America today. Along with Bolívar, the other two primary influences upon Bolivarianism are Simón Rodríguez (1769–1854), a philosopher who was Bolívar's tutor and mentor, and Ezequiel Zamora, (1817–1860), the Venezuelan Federalist general. The fact that Chávez's ideology originated from Bolívar has also received some criticism because Chávez had occasionally described himself as being influenced by Karl Marx, a critic of Bolívar. First published in the New American Cyclopedia, Vol. III, 1858. Beddow and Thibodeaux noted the complications between Bolívar and Marx, stating that "[d]escribing Bolivar as a socialist warrior in the class struggle, when he was actually member of the aristocratic 'criollos', is peculiar when considering Karl Marx's own writings on Bolivar, whom he dismissed as a false liberator who merely sought to preserve the power of the old Creole nobility which he belonged".


Other influences

Chávez's early heroes were nationalist military dictators that included former Peruvian president
Juan Velasco Alvarado Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado (June 16, 1910 – December 24, 1977) was a Peruvian Army general, general who served as the President of Peru after a successful 1968 Peruvian coup d'état, coup d'état against Fernando Belaúnde's presidency ...
and former Panamanian "Maximum Leader"
Omar Torrijos Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Panamanian military leader of Panama, as well as the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially ...
. One dictator Chávez admired was Marcos Pérez Jiménez, a former president of Venezuela that he praised for the public works he performed. Chávez praised Pérez Jiménez to vilify preceding democratic governments, stating that "General Pérez Jiménez was the best president Venezuela had in a long time ... He was much better than Rómulo Betancourt, much better than all of those others. They hated him because he was a soldier." Chávez was also well acquainted with the various traditions of Latin American socialism, espoused by such figures as Colombian politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán and former Chilean president Salvador Allende. Early in his presidency, Chávez was advised and influenced by the Argentine Peronist Norberto Ceresole. Cuban revolution, Cuban Communist revolutionaries
Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
and
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
also influenced Chávez, especially with Castro's government assistance with the Bolivarian Missions. Chávez also spoke admiringly of Mahatma Gandhi, stating in a 2005 speech that "we must remember that thought of Gandhi that reflects a deep respect for himself, for his own country, for a healthy nationalism" and expressed support for what he said was Gandhi's espousal of being anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist.04/03/2005 Intervención del Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez durante cátedra impartida ante estudiantes e intelectuales, en la Universidad Jawajarlāl Nehru de la República de la India
/ref> During the same speech, Chávez also expressed influence from Jawaharlal Nehru, noting he was a main figure of the Non-Aligned Movement, with Chávez citing his leadership as an inspiration "of the need, of brotherhood and solidarity among the peoples of the Third World. The need to unite to defend the interests of our people, of poor people against the abuse of rich people." Other indirect influences on Chávez's political philosophy are the Gospel teachings of Jesus Christ. Other inspirations of Chávez's political view are Giuseppe Garibaldi, Antonio Gramsci and Antonio Negri.


Promotion of conspiracy theories

In September 2006, Chávez said 9/11 conspiracy theories were "not absurd" and that "a building never collapses like that, unless it's with an implosion". Chávez also told Christopher Hitchens that he did not believe that the footage of the Moon landing conspiracy theories, Apollo 11 Moon landings was genuine.


Policy overview


Economic and social policy

From his election in 1998 until his death in March 2013, Chávez's administration proposed and enacted populist Economic policy, economic policies. The social programs were designed to be short-term, though after seeing political success as their result, Chávez made the efforts central to his administration and often overspent outside of Venezuela's budget. Due to increasing oil prices in the early 2000s which raised funds not seen in Venezuela since the 1980s, Chávez created the Bolivarian Missions, aimed at providing public services to improve economic, cultural, and social conditions, using these populist policies to maintain political power. According to Corrales and Penfold, "aid was disbursed to ''some'' of the poor, and more gravely, in a way that ended up helping the president and his allies and cronies more than anyone else". The Missions, which were directly overseen by Chávez and often linked to his political campaigns, entailed the construction of thousands of free medical clinics for the poor and the enactment of food and housing subsidies. The quality of life of Venezuelans had also improved temporarily according to a UN Index.Charlie Devereux & Raymond Colitt. 7 March 2013. Teresa A. Meade wrote that Chávez's popularity strongly depended "on the lower classes who have benefited from these health initiatives and similar policies". Following elections, social programs saw less attention from the government and their overall effectiveness decreased. The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, dropped from .495 in 1998 to .39 in 2011, putting Venezuela behind only Canada in the Western Hemisphere. 95% of Venezuelans aged 15 and older could also read and write, though some scholars have disputed the claim that literacy improvements during Chavez's presidency resulted from his administration's policies. The poverty rate fell from 48.6% in 1999 to 32.1% in 2013, according to the Venezuelan government's National Statistics Institute (INE). The drop of Venezuela's poverty rate compared to Poverty in South America, poverty in other South American countries was slightly behind that of Peru, Brazil and Panama with the poverty rate becoming higher than the Latin American average in 2013 according to the UN. In the two years following Chávez's death, the poverty rate returned to where it had been before his presidency, with a 2017 NACLA analysis stating that "reductions in poverty and inequality during the Chávez years were real, but somewhat superficial ... structural poverty and inequality, such as the quality of housing, neighborhoods, education, and employment, remained largely unchanged". Chávez's populist policies eventually led to a severe socioeconomic crisis in Venezuela. The social works initiated by Chávez's government relied on Petroleum, oil products, the keystone of the Venezuelan economy, with Chávez's administration suffering from Dutch disease as a result. In 2012, the World Bank also explained that Venezuela's economy was "extremely vulnerable" to changes in oil prices since in 2012 "96% of the country's exports and nearly half of its fiscal revenue" relied on oil production, while by 2008, according to ''Foreign Policy'', exports of everything but oil "collapsed". The Chávez administration then spent governmental proceeds from the high oil prices on his populist policies to gain the approval of voters. Economists say that the Venezuelan government's overspending on social programs and strict business policies caused to imbalances in the country's economy, contributing to rising inflation, poverty, low healthcare spending and shortages in Venezuela going into the final years of his presidency. Such occurrences, especially the risk of Default (finance), default and the unfriendliness toward private businesses, led to a lack of foreign investment and stronger foreign currencies, though the Venezuelan government argued that the private sector had remained relatively unchanged during Chavez's presidency despite several nationalizations. In January 2013 near the end of Chávez's presidency, The Heritage Foundation and ''The Wall Street Journal'' gave Venezuela's economic freedom a score of 36.1, down from 56.1 in 1999, ranking its freedom very low at 174th of 177 countries, with freedom on a downward trend. According to some analysts, the economic problems Venezuela has suffered under President Nicolás Maduro would likely have emerged even if Chávez had remained president.


Food and products

In the 1980s and 1990s, health and nutrition indexes in Venezuela were generally low, and social inequality in access to nutrition was high. Chávez made it his stated goal to lower inequality in access to basic nutrition, and to achieve food sovereignty for Venezuela. The main strategy for making food available to all economic classes was the controversial policy of creating fixed price ceilings for basic staple foods, which was implemented in 2003. Between 1998 and 2006, malnutrition related deaths fell by 50%. Chávez also expropriated and Agrarian reform, redistributed 5 million acres of farmland from large landowners. Price controls initiated by Chávez created product shortages since merchants could no longer afford to import necessary goods. Chávez blamed "speculators and hoarders" for these scarcities and strictly enforced his price control policy, denouncing anyone who sold food products for higher prices. In 2011, food prices in Caracas were nine times higher than when the price controls were put in place and resulted in shortages of cooking oil, chicken, powdered milk, cheese, sugar and meat. The price controls increased the demand for basic foods while making it difficult for Venezuela to import goods, causing increased reliance on domestic production. Economists believe this policy increased shortages. Shortages of food then occurred throughout the rest of Chávez's presidency with food shortage rates between 10% and 20% from 2010 to 2013. One possible reason for shortages is the relationship between inflation and subsidies, where a lack profitability due to price regulations affects operations. In turn, the lack of dollars made it difficult to purchase more food imports. Chávez's strategy in response to food shortages consisted of attempting to increase domestic production through nationalizing large parts of the food industry, though such nationalizations allegedly did the opposite and caused decreased production instead. As part of his strategy of food security Chávez started a national chain of supermarkets, the Mission Mercal, Mercal network, which had 16,600 outlets and 85,000 employees that distributed food at highly discounted prices, and ran 6,000 soup kitchens throughout the country. Simultaneously Chávez expropriated many private supermarkets.A Food Fight for Hugo Chávez
Business Week, 11 March 2010
The Mercal network was criticized by some commentators as being a part of Chávez's strategy to brand himself as a provider of cheap food, and the shops feature his picture prominently. The Mercal network was also subject to frequent shortages of basic staples such as meat, milk and sugar—and when scarce products arrived, shoppers had to wait in lines.


Communes

After his election in 1998, more than 100,000 state-owned cooperatives—which claimed to represent some 1.5 million people—were formed with the assistance of government start-up credit and technical training. The Venezuelan government often failed to construct the number of homes they had proposed.Chávez' Government has built 24 percent of scheduled houses.
''El Universal'' (31 July 2006).
According to Venezuela's ''El Universal (Caracas), El Universal'', one of the Chávez administration's outstanding failures was the inability to meet its goals of constructing housing.


Currency controls

In the first few years of Chavez's office, his newly created social programs required large payments to make the desired changes. On 5 February 2003, the government created CADIVI, a currency control board charged with handling foreign exchange procedures. Its creation was to control capital flight by placing limits on individuals and only offering them so much of a foreign currency. This limit to foreign currency led to a creation of a currency black market economy since Venezuelan merchants rely on foreign goods that require payments with reliable foreign currencies. As Venezuela printed more money for their social programs, the bolívar continued to devalue for Venezuelan citizens and merchants since the government held the majority of the more reliable currencies. The implied value or "black market value" is what Venezuelans believe the Venezuelan bolívar#Hard bolívar, hard bolívar is worth compared to the United States dollar. The high rates in the black market make it difficult for businesses to purchase necessary goods since the government often forces these businesses to make price cuts. This leads to businesses selling their goods and making a low profit. Since businesses make low profits, this leads to shortages since they are unable to import the goods that Venezuela is reliant on. Chavez used exchange rate subsidies to underwrite imports; this policy was not welfare-maximizing, but rather benefited special interests.


Crime and punishment

During the 1980s and 1990s there was a steady increase in crime in Latin America. The countries of Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Brazil all had homicide rates above the regional average. During Chávez's terms as president, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were murdered due to violent crimes occurring in the country. Gareth A. Jones and Dennis Rodgers stated in their book ''Youth violence in Latin America: Gangs and Juvenile Justice in Perspective'' that, "With the change of political regime in 1999 and the initiation of the
Bolivarian Revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...
, a period of transformation and political conflict began, marked by a further increase in the number and rate of violent deaths" showing that in four years, the murder rate had increased to 44 per 100,000 people. Kidnappings also rose tremendously during Chávez's tenure, with the number of kidnappings over 20 times higher in 2011 than when Chavez was elected. Documentary filmmaker James Brabazon, stated "kidnapping crimes had skyrocketed ... after late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez freed thousands of violent prisoners as part of controversial criminal justice system reforms" while kidnappings and murders also increased due to Colombian organized crime activity as well. He further explained that common criminals felt that the Venezuelan government did not care for the problems of the higher and middle classes, which in turn gave them a sense of impunity that created a large business of kidnapping-for-ransom. Under Chávez's administration, crimes were so prevalent that by 2007 the government no longer produced crime data. Homicide rates in Venezuela more than tripled, with one NGO finding the rate to have nearly quadrupled. The majority of the deaths occur in crowded slums in Caracas. The NGO found that the number of homicides in the country increased from 6,000 in 1999 to 24,763 in 2013. In 2010 Caracas had the highest murder rate in the world, having more deaths than Baghdad during the Iraq War. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2012 there were 13,080 murders in Venezuela. In leaked government INE data for kidnappings in the year 2009, the number of kidnappings were at an estimated 16,917, contrasting the CICPCs number of only 673, before the Venezuelan government blocked the data. According to the leaked INE report, only 1,332 investigations for kidnappings were opened or about 7% of the total kidnapping cases, with 90% of the kidnappings happening away from rural areas, 80% of all being express kidnappings and the most common victim being lower-middle or middle class Venezuelans and middle-aged men. Also in 2009, it was reported that Venezuelan authorities would assign judicial police to Caracas area morgues to speak with families. At that time, they would advise families not to report the murder of their family member to the media in exchange for expediting the process of releasing the victim's body. In September 2010, responding to escalating crime rates in the country, Chávez stated that Venezuela was no more violent than it was when he first took office. An International Crisis Group report that same year stated that when Chávez took office, there were some factors beyond his control that led to the crime epidemic throughout Venezuela, but that Chávez ignored it as well as corruption in the country; especially among fellow state officials. The report also stated that international organised crime filters between Colombia and Venezuela with assistance from "the highest spheres of government" in Venezuela, leading to higher rates of kidnapping, drug trafficking, and homicides. Chávez supporters stated that the Venezuelan National Police, Bolivarian National Police had reduced crime and also said that the states with the highest murder rates were controlled by the opposition.


Prisons

During Chávez's presidency, there were reports of prisoners having easy access to firearms, drugs, and alcohol. Carlos Nieto, head of Window to Freedom, alleged that heads of gangs acquire military weapons from the state, saying: "They have the types of weapons that can only be obtained by the country's armed forces. ... No one else has these." Use of internet and mobile phones were also commonplace, allowing criminals to take part in street crime while in prison. One prisoner explained how, "if the guards mess with us, we shoot them" and that he had "seen a man have his head cut off and people play association football, football with it". Edgardo Lander, a sociologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela with a PhD in sociology from Harvard University, explained that Venezuelan prisons were "practically a school for criminals" since young inmates come out "trained and hardened" compared to before their incarceration. He also explained that prisons are controlled by gangs and that "very little has been done" to restrain their activities.


Elections under Chávez

The electoral processes surrounding Venezuela's democracy under Chávez were often observed controversially. According to Bloomberg News, ''Bloomberg'', he changed Venezuela from a democracy to "a largely authoritarian system". However, there were limits to his authoritarianism, and he thought of the electoral system as a key way to make himself more effective as a leader. As New York University historian Greg Grandin has pointed out, Chávez "submitted himself and his agenda to 14 national votes, winning 13 of them by large margins, in polling deemed by Jimmy Carter to be ‘best in the world.’" Francisco Toro, editor of Caracas Chronicles, an opposition-friendly news and analysis site, said "Chávez was always careful to maintain electoral legitimacy". Toro says that Chávez had big advantages with friendly media and his tendency to use state money on his campaigns, but that he didn't "steal or cancel elections blatantly." Chávez even allowed his opposition to run a recall referendum against him in 2004 just two years after surviving a coup attempt. He won the referendum by a huge margin. Since 1998, elections in Venezuela have been automated using Touchscreen, touch-screen DRE voting machines, which provide a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail and administered by the National Electoral Council (Venezuela), National Electoral Council. In Venezuela, voters touch a computer screen to cast their vote and then receive a paper receipt, which they verify and deposit in a ballot box. Most of the paper ballots are compared with the electronic tally. This system makes vote-rigging nearly impossible: to steal the vote would require hacking the computers and then stuffing the ballot boxes to match the rigged vote. Beginning in 2012, Venezuela's elections used biometric authentication to activate the voting machine.


Corruption

In December 1998, Hugo Chávez declared three goals for the new government; "convening a constituent assembly to write a new constitution, eliminating government corruption, and fighting against social exclusion and poverty". However, according to the libertarian Cato Institute, during Hugo Chávez's time in power, corruption has become widespread throughout the government due to impunity towards members of the government, bribes and the lack of transparency. In 2004, Hugo Chávez and his allies took over the Supreme Court, filling it with supporters of Chávez and made new measures so the government could dismiss justices from the court. According to the Cato Institute, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela was under control of Chávez where he tried to "push a constitutional reform that would have allowed him unlimited opportunities for reelection". The Corruption Perceptions Index, produced annually by the Berlin-based NGO Transparency International (TNI), reported that in the later years of Chávez's tenure, corruption worsened; it was 158th out of 180 countries in 2008, and 165th out of 176 (tied with Burundi, Chad, and Haiti). Most Venezuelans believed the government's effort against corruption was ineffective; that corruption had increased; and that government institutions such as the judicial system, parliament, legislature, and police were the most corrupt. In Gallup Poll's 2006 Corruption Index, Venezuela ranked 31st out of 101 countries according to how widespread the population perceive corruption as being in the government and in business. The index listed Venezuela as the second least corrupt nation in Latin America, behind Chile. Some criticism came from Chávez's supporters, as well. Chávez's own political party, Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), had been criticized as being riddled with the same cronyism, political patronage, and corruption that Chávez alleged were characteristic of the old "Fourth Republic" political parties. Venezuela's trade unionists and indigenous communities participated in peaceful demonstrations intended to impel the government to facilitate labor and land reforms. These communities, while largely expressing their sympathy and support for Chávez, criticized what they saw as Chávez's slow progress in protecting their interests against managers and mining concerns, respectively.


Aiding FARC

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), "Chavez's government funded
FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...
's office in Caracas and gave it access to Venezuela's intelligence services" and said that during the 2002 coup attempt that "FARC also responded to requests from [Venezuela's intelligence service] to provide training in urban terrorism involving targeted killings and the use of explosives". The IISS continued saying that "the archive offers tantalizing but ultimately unproven suggestions that FARC may have undertaken assassinations of Chavez's political opponents on behalf of the Venezuelan state". Venezuelan diplomats denounced the IISS' findings saying that they had "basic inaccuracies". In 2007, authorities in
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
declared that through laptops they had seized on a raid against Raúl Reyes, they found in documents that Hugo Chávez offered payments of as much as $300 million to the FARC "among other financial and political ties that date back years" along with other documents showing "high-level meetings have been held between rebels and Ecuadorean officials" and some documents arguing that FARC had "bought and sold uranium". In 2015, Chávez's former bodyguard Leamsy Salazar stated in the book ''Bumerán Chávez'' that Chávez met with the high command of FARC in 2007 somewhere in rural Venezuela. Chávez created a system in which the FARC would provide the Venezuelan government with drugs that would be transported in live cattle and the FARC would receive money and weaponry from the Venezuelan government. According to Salazar, this was done to weaken Colombian President Álvaro Uribe, an enemy of Chávez. In 2019, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York further provided documents outlining that in 2005 Chávez ordered top lieutenants to discuss plans to ship cocaine to the United States with the help of the FARC and "flood" the country with the drug, as part of his policy objectives to combat the United States.


Human rights


Criticisms

Shortly after Hugo Chávez's election, ratings for freedom in Venezuela dropped according to political and human rights group Freedom House and Venezuela was rated "partly free". In 2004, Amnesty International criticized Chavez's administration of not handling the 2002 coup in a proper manner, saying that violent incidents "have not been investigated effectively and have gone unpunished" and that "impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators encourages further human rights violations in a particularly volatile political climate". Amnesty International also criticized the Venezuelan National Guard and the SEBIN, Direccion de Inteligencia Seguridad y Prevención (DISIP) stating that they "allegedly used excessive force to control the situation on a number of occasions" during protests involving the 2004 Venezuela recall. It was also noted that many of the protesters detained seemed to not be "brought before a judge within the legal time limit". In 2008, Human Rights Watch released a report reviewing Chávez's human rights record over his first decade in power. The report praises Chávez's 1999 amendments to the constitution which significantly expanded human rights guarantees, as well as mentioning improvements in women's rights and indigenous rights, but noted a "wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections established" by the revised constitution. In particular, the report accused Chávez and his administration of engaging in discrimination on political grounds, eroding the independence of the judiciary, and of engaging in "policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and civil society's ability to promote human rights in Venezuela". The Venezuelan government retaliated for the report by expelling members of Human Rights Watch from the country.BBC NEWS
Venezuela expels rights activists.
(19 September 2008).
Subsequently, over a hundred Latin American scholars signed a joint letter with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a leftist NGO that would defend Chávez and his movement, with the individuals criticizing the Human Rights Watch report for its alleged factual inaccuracy, exaggeration, lack of context, illogical arguments, and heavy reliance on opposition newspapers as sources, among other things. The International Labour Organization of the United Nations had also expressed concern over voters being pressured to join the party. In 2009, Detention of Maria Lourdes Afiuni, Judge María Lourdes Afiuni was arrested on charges of corruption after ordering the conditional release on bail of businessman Eligio Cedeño, who then fled the country. She was moved to house arrest in Caracas in February 2011, but she is still barred from practicing law, leaving the country, or using her bank account or social networks. Human rights groups accused Chávez of creating a climate of fear that threatened the independence of the judiciary. ''Reuters'' said Afiuni is "considered by opponents and jurists as one of the most emblematic political prisoners" in Venezuela, because Chávez called for her to be imprisoned. In 2009, the Attorney General announced the creation of an investigative team to examine 6,000 reports of extrajudicial killings between 2000 and 2007. In 2010, Amnesty International criticized the Chávez administration for targeting critics following several politically motivated arrests. Freedom House listed Venezuela as being "partly free" in its 2011 Freedom in the World annual report, noting a recent decline in civil liberties. A 2010 Organization of American States report found concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, threats to democracy, as well as erosion of separation of powers, the economic infrastructure and ability of the president to appoint judges to federal courts. OAS observers were denied access to Venezuela; Chávez rejected the OAS report, pointing out that its authors did not go to Venezuela. Venezuelan ombudswoman Gabriela Ramírez said the report distorted and took statistics out of context, and said that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased". In November 2014, Venezuela appeared before the United Nations Committee Against Torture over cases between 2002 and 2014. Human rights expert of the UN committee, Felice D. Gaer, noted that in "only 12 public officials have been convicted of human rights violations in the last decade when in the same period have been more than 5,000 complaints". The United Nations stated that there were 31,096 complaints of human rights violations received between the years 2011 and 2014. Of the 31,096 complaints, 3% of the cases resulted in only in an indictment by the Venezuelan Public Ministry.


=Allegations of antisemitism

= Chavez's Anti-Zionism, opposition to Zionism and Iran–Venezuela relations, close relations with Iran led to accusations of antisemitism. Such claims were made by the Venezuelan Jewish community at a World Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem, after Venezuela's oldest synagogue was vandalised by armed men. In 2006, the Simon Wiesenthal Center published a shortened version of a speech by Chávez, which significantly changed its meaning to make it appear that he had made anti-Semitic remarks. The ''New York Daily News'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', and the ''Wall Street Journal'' published the Wiesenthal Center's claim. The Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress said that Chavez’s comments were not aimed at Jews, but rather at "the white oligarchy that has dominated the region since the colonial era". In 2009, attacks on a synagogue in Caracas were alleged to be influenced by "vocal denunciations of Israel" by the Venezuelan state media and Hugo Chávez, even though Chavez promptly condemned the attacks, blaming an "oligarchy". A weeklong investigation by the Venezuelan CICPC stated the synagogue attack to be an 'inside job', the motive apparently being robbery rather than antisemitism.


Media and the press

Under Chávez, press freedom declined while censorship in Venezuela increased. He used state-run bodies to silence the media and to disseminate Bolivarian propaganda. Other actions included pressuring media organizations to sell to those related to his government or to face closure. Human Rights Watch criticized Chávez for engaging in "often discriminatory policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression". Reporters Without Borders criticized the Chávez administration for "steadily silencing its critics". In 2004, Chávez used the National Commission of Telecommunications and the Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media law to officially censor media organizations. Chávez inaugurated TeleSUR in July 2005, a Americas, Pan-American news channel similar to Al Jazeera Media Network, Al Jazeera, which sought to challenge Latin American television news by Univision and the United States–based CNN en Español. In 2006, Chávez inaugurated a state-funded movie studio called ''Villa del Cine'' (English: Cinema City). In the group's 2009 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted that "Venezuela is now among the region's worst press freedom offenders." Freedom House listed Venezuela's press as being "Not Free" in its 2011 Map of Press Freedom, noting that "[t]he gradual erosion of press freedom in Venezuela continued in 2010." Chávez also had a Twitter account with more than 3,200,000 followers as of August 2012. A team of 200 people sorted through suggestions and comments sent via Twitter. Chávez said Twitter was "another mechanism for contact with the public, to evaluate many things and to help many people", and that he saw Twitter as "a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution".


Foreign policy

Though Chávez inspired other movements in Latin America to follow his model of ''chavismo'' in an attempt to reshape South America, it was later seen as being erratic and his influence internationally became exaggerated. Domestic mishandling of the country under Chávez prevented Venezuela from strengthening its position in the world. According to communications studies academic Stuart Davis, Chávez's foreign policy aimed to promote South–South cooperation. He refocused Venezuelan foreign policy on Latin American economic and social integration by enacting bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements, including his so-called "oil diplomacy" making Venezuela more dependent on using oil, its main commodity, and increasing its longterm vulnerability. Chávez also focused on a variety of multinational institutions to promote his vision of Latin American integration, including Petrocaribe, Petrosur, and TeleSUR. Bilateral trade relationships with other Latin American countries also played a major role in his policy, with Chávez increasing arms purchases from Brazil, forming oil-for-expertise trade arrangements with Cuba, and creating unique barter arrangements that exchange Venezuelan petroleum for cash-strapped Argentina's meat and dairy products. Chávez also aligned himself with authoritarian nations and radical movements that were seen as being anti-Western, with relations with Cuba–Venezuela relations, Cuba and Iran–Venezuela relations, Iran becoming a particular importance. He also befriended pariah states such as Belarus and Iran. In particular, relations between Venezuela and the United States deteriorated markedly as Chávez became highly critical of the foreign policy of the United States, opposing the U.S. led 2003 invasion of Iraq and condemning the NATO-led 2011 military intervention in Libya. Relations thawed somewhat under President Barack Obama in June 2009, only to steadily deteriorate once again shortly afterwards.


Personal life

Chávez married twice. He first wed Nancy Coromoto Colmenares (), a woman from a poor family in Chávez's hometown of Sabaneta. Chávez and Colmenares remained married for 18 years, during which time they had three children: Rosa Virginia, born on September 6, 1978, María Gabriela Chávez, María Gabriela, born on March 12, 1980, and Hugo Rafael, born on October 14, 1982; the last of whom suffers from behavioural problems. Marcano and Tyszka 2007. pp. 254–255. The couple separated soon after Chávez's 1992 coup attempt. During his first marriage, Chávez had an affair with historian Herma Marksman; their relationship lasted nine years. Chávez's second wife was journalist Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez, from whom he separated in 2002 and divorced in 2004. Through that marriage, Chávez had another daughter, Rosinés, born on September 23, 1997. Marcano and Tyszka 2007. p. 254. When Chávez was released from prison, he initiated affairs with women that had been his followers. Allegations were also made that Chávez was a womanizer throughout both his marriages, having encounters with actresses, journalists, ministers, and ministers' daughters. The allegations remained unproven and are contradicted by statements provided by other figures close to him, though one retired aide shared that while Chávez was married to Marisabel and afterward, he participated in liaisons with women and gave them gifts, with some rumors among his aides stating that some of the women bore children from Chávez. On May 1, 2005, his fifth daughter, Génesis María, was born; the result of his relationship with Barinas Municipality, Barinese, Bexhi Lisette Segura (1971); who was the Venezuelan Consul (representative), Consul in Guayaquil and on May 3, 2008, his last daughter, Sara Manuela, was born; the result of his relationship with the flight attendant, Nidia Coromoto Fajardo (1966); who was the Venezuelan consul in Lisbon and Montreal, respectively. He also had five grandchildren: Gabriela Alejandra Rivero, born in April 1998 (daughter of María). Manuel Alejandro Prieto and Jorge Alejandro Arreaza, born in September 2003 and 2007 respectively, (children of Rosa) and Hugo Rafael, born in March 2013 and Miranda, born in November 2014 (children of "Huguito"). Those who were very close to Chávez felt that he had bipolar disorder. Salvador Navarrete, a physician that treated Chávez during his first years in the presidency believed that Chávez was bipolar. In 2010, Alberto Müller Rojas, then vice president of Chávez's party, PSUV, stated that Chávez had "a tendency toward cyclothymia—mood swings that range from moments of extreme euphoria to moments of despondence". A different explanation was that such behavior was a tactic used by Chávez to attack opponents and polarize. Chávez was raised as a Roman Catholicism, Catholic, and he intended at one time to become a priest. He saw his socialist policies as having roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ ( liberation theology), and he publicly used the slogan of "Christ is with the Revolution!" Although he traditionally kept his own faith a private matter, Chávez over the course of his presidency became increasingly open to discussing his religious views, stating that he interpreted Jesus as a Communist. He was, in general, a liberal Catholicism, liberal Catholic, some of whose declarations were disturbing to the religious community of his country. In 2008, he said that an afterlife does not exist. He also believed in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, stating that "it is a lie that God created man from the ground". He cursed the state of Israel, and he had some disputes with both the Venezuelan Catholic clergy and Protestant groups like the New Tribes Mission,#Alf05, Alford 2005. whose evangelical leader he "condemned to hell". In addition, he showed syncretism, syncretistic practices such as the worship of the Venezuelan goddess María Lionza. In his last years, after he discovered he had cancer, Chávez became more attached to the Catholic Church.


Illness

On 30 June 2011, Chávez revealed in a televised address from Havana, Cuba, that he was recovering from 2 operations in Cuba, including an operation to remove an abscessed tumor with cancerous cells in the pelvic region. During the speech, he was noticeably thinner and paler and had a serious and at times sad expression, and stated that he regretted his lack of medical checkups. Analysts theorized that he was suffering from colorectal cancer. He returned to Venezuela from Cuba on 4 July, but on 17 July 2011, he returned to Cuba for further cancer treatments. At that time, some powers were delegated to cabinet ministers but he resisted requests by the opposition to give up all powers during his absence. Chávez gave a public appearance on 28 July 2011, his 57th birthday, in which he stated that his health troubles had led him to radically reorient his life towards a "more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted" outlook. On 9 July 2012, Chávez declared himself fully recovered from cancer just three months before the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, which he won, securing a fourth term as president. In November 2012, Chávez announced plans to travel to Cuba for more medical treatment for cancer. On 8 December 2012, Chávez announced he would undergo another operation after doctors in Cuba detected malignant cells; the operation took place on 11 December 2012. Chávez suffered complications from the surgery including a respiratory tract infection as well as unexpected bleeding. It was announced on 3 January 2013, that Chávez had a severe lung infection that had caused respiratory failures following a strict treatment regimen for respiratory insufficiency; he was then breathing through a tracheal tube but was giving orders to ministers by writing them down. However, he was reported to have overcome the infection by 26 January and was then undergoing further treatment. On 18 February 2013, Chávez returned to Venezuela after two months of cancer treatment in Cuba. On 1 March 2013, after opposition leader Henrique Capriles accused the government of lying about Chávez's condition, Vice President Nicolás Maduro said that Chávez had been receiving chemotherapy in Venezuela following his surgery in Cuba and "continues his battle for life". A Mass (liturgy), Mass, broadcast on live television, was held in the hospital in which Chávez was staying. On 4 March, it was announced that Chávez's breathing problems had worsened and he was suffering a new, severe respiratory tract infection.


Death

On 5 March 2013, Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced on state television that Chávez had died in a military hospital in Caracas at 16:25 Time in Venezuela, VET (20:55 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). Maduro said Chávez died "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years". According to the head of Venezuela's presidential guard, Chávez died from a massive heart attack, and his cancer of the pelvic region was very advanced when he died. José Ornella said that near the end of his life Chávez "couldn't speak but he said it with his lips ... No quiero morir, por favor no me dejen morir'' ('I don't want to die. Please don't let me die'), because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country". Chávez is survived by four children and four grandchildren. Chávez was entombed in a marble sarcophagus at the Mountain Barracks in Caracas. His death triggered a constitutional requirement that a 2013 Venezuelan presidential election, presidential election be called within 30 days. Maduro, Chavez's vice president, was elected president on 14 April 2013.


Rumors surrounding Chávez's death

After defecting from Venezuela, former bodyguard for Chávez, Leamsy Salazar, stated that he died in December 2012, months before his death was officially announced. In July 2018, former Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz also said that Chávez had actually died in December 2012 and the announcement of his death was delayed for political reasons. In an interview cited by Venezuelan daily El Nacional (Caracas), ''El Nacional'', the former Chávez supporter said that the Venezuelan president died on 28 December, but his closest allies decided to delay the announcement and never submitted the death certificate to the Office of the Attorney General. The supposed delay in announcing Chávez's death raised concerns that laws signed in his name during that period were forged for political purposes.


Honors and awards


Recognition

The United States–based ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine included Chávez among their list of the world's Time 100, 100 most influential people in 2005 and 2006, noting the spreading of his anti-globalization efforts and anti-US sentiment throughout Latin America.#Pad05, Padgett 2005.#Pad06, Padgett 2006. In a 2006 list compiled by the left-wing British magazine ''New Statesman'', he was voted 11th in the list of "Heroes of our time". In 2010 the magazine included Chávez in its annual ''The World's 50 Most Influential Figures''.#New10, ''New Statesman'' 2010. His biographers Marcano and Tyszka believed that within only a few years of his presidency, he "had already earned his place in history as the president most loved and most despised by the Venezuelan people, the president who inspired the greatest zeal and the deepest revulsion at the same time". In the Belarus's capital Minsk a park was named after Chávez on 18 October 2014. In addition in Al-Bireh and in Moscow, streets were also named after Chávez.


Honorary degrees

Chávez was awarded the following honorary degrees: * Kyung Hee University, South Korea; Honorary Doctorate in Political Science – Granted by Rector Chungwon Choue on 16 October 1999. * Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Honorary Doctorate in Jurisprudence, 9 March 2001. * University of Brasília, Brazil; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Alberto Pérez on 3 April 2001. * Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (Nicaragua), Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Nicaragua; Honorary Doctorate in Engineering – Granted by Rector Aldo Urbina in May 2001. * Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia; Honorary Doctorate, 15 May 2001. * Beijing University, China; Honorary Doctorate in Economics, 24 May 2001. * Higher University of San Andrés, Bolivia; Honorary Doctorate, 24 January 2006. * University of Art & Social Sciences (Chile), UARCIS, Chile; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Carlos Margotta Trincado on 7 March 2006. * University of Damascus, Syria; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Wael Moualla on 30 August 2006. * University of Tripoli, Libya; Honorary Doctorate in Economy and Human Sciences, 23 October 2010.


In popular culture

* Syndicated cartoonists from around the world created cartoons, illustrations, and videos of Hugo Chávez's controversial political career and the reactions to his death. * Chávez was indirectly/subliminally portrayed in two Venezuelan telenovelas from the 2000s, which were critical of his government: A calzón quita'o, A Calzón Quitado from 2001 (with the character of Pedro Elías Ferrer), produced by RCTV, and Cosita rica from 2003 (with the character of Olegario Pérez), produced by Venevisión. In both telenovelas Chávez was "played" by the actor Carlos Cruz (actor), Carlos Cruz, with whom he shares a similar physical appearance. His ex-wife (current wife at that moment), Marisabel Rodríguez, was also portrayed in the first production, by Alba Roversi (with the character of Clara Inés Ramírez). * Oliver Stone directed the 2009 documentary ''South of the Border (2009 film), South of the Border'', where he "sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America, while interviewing seven of its elected presidents". Chávez appears in one segment being interviewed by Stone. * In 2011, he appeared in a game ''Postal III''. * On 5 March 2014, Oliver Stone and teleSUR released the documentary film ''Mi amigo Hugo'' (''My Friend Hugo''), a documentary about his political life, one year after his death. * Hugo Chávez and most of the other Latin American presidents are parodied in the animated web page ''Isla Presidencial''. *The 2016 documentary ''El ocaso del socialismo mágico'' explores the effects of Chávez's populism and his victory in the 1998 Venezuelan presidential election, 1998 presidential elections, as well as his mistakes. * Sony Pictures Television produces a TV series called El Comandante (TV series), ''El Comandante'' about the life of Hugo Chávez with 102 episodes. *The 2018 documentary ''Chavismo: The Plague of the 21st Century'' (), analysis of the causes, social, political and economic that caused the rise of Chávez as president of Venezuela; "his abuse of power and the response of civil society, including the student movement; his political fall and as the secrecy that surrounded his illness and the succession of Nicolás Maduro". *The documentary film released in 2018 ''El pueblo soy yo'' (English: ''I am the people''), directed by Venezuelan filmmaker and produced by Mexican historian Enrique Krauze, explores the populism of Chávez.


Notes


References


Citations


Sources


Books

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Academic articles

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News articles, reports and essays

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Interviews

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Websites and e-publications

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External links


Official personal blog


Multimedia

* PBS ''Frontline'' documentary
The Hugo Chávez Show
* ''The Guardian:'
"The Rise and Rule of 'Hurricane Hugo
audio slide show * Democracy Now! 16 September 2005 Interview
Part I
an
Part II
with Hugo Chávez, in New York City * ABC News video, 27 April 2007
Barbara Walters interviews Hugo Chávez
* Interview with October 2009 * NPR audio report, 18 February 2008
"The Politics of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez"
*


Articles and interviews

* BBC News
"Profile: Hugo Chávez"
* Michael Shifter, Shifter, Michael
"In Search of Hugo Chávez"
''Foreign Affairs'', May/June 2006 issue * Greg Palast, Palast, Greg
"Hugo Chávez Interview"
''The Progressive'', July 2006 * * * *


Miscellaneous


Extended biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Hugo Hugo Chávez, 1954 births 2013 deaths 21st-century Venezuelan politicians Activists for Palestinian solidarity Anti-American sentiment in South America Anti-imperialism in South America Anti-imperialists Anti-Zionism in South America Catholic socialists Chávez family Deaths from colorectal cancer in Venezuela Fifth Republic Movement politicians Heads of government who were later imprisoned Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism in South America Left-wing populists People from Barinas (state) People of the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts People of the Crisis in Venezuela Presidents of Venezuela Recipients of Venezuelan presidential pardons Socialism of the 21st century South American democratic socialists United Socialist Party of Venezuela politicians Venezuelan anti-capitalists Venezuelan Christian socialists Venezuelan nationalists Venezuelan people of Italian descent Venezuelan people of Spanish descent Venezuelan politicians convicted of crimes Venezuelan rebels Venezuelan Roman Catholics Venezuelan socialists Venezuelan soldiers