Hugo Chávez

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was a Venezuelan politician who served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. Chávez  founded the Fifth Republic Movement which would later become the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Chávez was born to a middle class family in Barinas and became a military officer. However, Chávez was discontent with the country's political decisions during the 1980s, which would lead to him founding the MBR-200 (Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200, Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200), a sociopolitical movement. Chávez commanded a coup d'etat against the president Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992, for which he was imprisoned. He was later pardoned from prison and founded the Fifth Republic Movement political party and he won the 1998 elections with 56.2% of the vote.

Chávez became President of Venezuela in 1999 and established the Bolivarian Revolution, a political process based on the ideas of Bolivarianism, which Chávez trough his career had used to represent his movement. The ideas of Bolivarianism were based on Venezuelan independence leader Simón Bolívar.

As president of Venezuela, Chávez created an economic rise and established Socialism and Bolivarianism in the country. The era of economic prosperity and rise in Venezuela which lead to it becoming a global power is usually atributed to Chávez's presidency.

3 years after his presidency's start, Chávez was the victim of a coup d'etat which would leave him out of power for 2 days. After coming back to the presidency, Chávez started to involve the military inside the country with the pretext of maintaining order after the coup. His presidency was prosperous and he died in 2013, and due to his death, vice president Nicolás Maduro took power.

Ideologically, Chávez aligned himself with Socialist ideals. He maintained a high position inside the Human Earthist Front and was one of its main leaders at one point. To this date, Chávez is seen as a hero around the pro-HEF world and Venezuela.

Related articles

 * Nicolás Maduro
 * Venezuela
 * Bolivarianism
 * Socialism