Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was born on July 28 in the city of Sabaneta in the Venezuelan state of Barinas, in large family school teachers. His maternal ancestor was an active participant Civil War- years. He acted on the side of the liberals and fought under the leadership of the people's leader Ezequiel Zamora. My great-grandfather became famous for raising an anti-dictatorship uprising that year. It was brutally suppressed. He had two daughters, one of them Rosa, the grandmother of Hugo Chavez. Chavez's mother hoped that her son would become a priest, and he himself dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. Chavez still retains his passion for baseball. As a child he drew well, and at the age of twelve he received his first prize at a regional exhibition. Graduated this year with the rank of junior lieutenant. Military Academy Venezuela. Also reportedly studied at the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas.
Chavez served in the airborne units, and the red beret of the paratroopers subsequently became an integral part of his image. In the same year (according to other sources, while studying at the academy), Chavez and his colleagues founded the underground organization COMACATE (an abbreviation made up of the first and second letters in the names of middle and junior officer ranks). COMACATE was later transformed into the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement (Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario), named after the Latin American War of Independence hero Simon Bolivar.
February 1992 coup
On February 4, 1992, army columns under the command of Hugo Chavez took to the streets of the capital Caracas. The rebels stated that they were not planning to seize power, but to reorganize it and create a Constituent Assembly, where all groups of Venezuelan society would be truly represented, instead of the traditional bicameral parliament, which reflected the interests only of corrupt ruling groups. The rebellion was supported by part of the middle officers and soldiers. The conspiracy involved 133 officers and almost a thousand soldiers, not counting many civilians. The high command hastened to declare support for the president and gave orders to suppress the rebellion. Clashes continued until noon on February 4. As a result of the fighting, according to official figures, 17 soldiers were killed and more than 50 military and civilians were injured.
At noon on February 4, Hugo Chavez surrendered to the authorities, called on his supporters to lay down their arms and took full responsibility for the preparation and organization of this operation. At the time of the arrest, broadcast on live, Lieutenant Colonel Chavez said that he and his comrades were laying down their arms solely because this time they failed to achieve their goal and to avoid continued bloodshed, but their fight will continue. Chavez and a number of his supporters ended up in prison.
Beginning of a political career
After Chavez spent two years in prison, he was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera in 1994. Immediately upon his release, he created the V Republic Movement. In December of the same year I visited Cuba for the first time. Speaking at the University of Havana, he announced his revolutionary principles, which he later brought to life. At that time, Hugo Chavez was under the ideological influence of the Argentine Norberto Sesesole, who convinced him to pay attention to the ideas of the Libyan leader Gaddafi. Many years later - in November 2004 - Hugo Chavez will be awarded the Muammar Gaddafi International Prize in Tripoli for his contribution to the protection of human rights. While serving as President of the Republic, Chavez became famous for the fact that, despite the embargo against Iraq, he went to this country in order to personally meet with Saddam Hussein. In doing so, he became the first foreign head of state to meet with Saddam Hussein since the Iraqi aggression against Kuwait in 1990.
On parliamentary elections in November 1998, the Patriotic Pole coalition, which supported Chavez as part of his Fifth Republic Movement (DPR), Movement to Socialism (MAS), and the Motherland for All party, Communist Party Venezuela and other groups, received about 34% of the vote and won 76 of 189 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 17 of 48 seats in the Senate.
Coup
Throughout 2001, the confrontation between President Chavez and his opponents from among the old elites grew, and next year resulted in open confrontation. Opponents of the president initiated a national strike in solidarity with the management and employees of the state oil company, who were protesting against the appointment of new board members by President Chavez. The situation became seriously aggravated after the largest trade union and professional associations Venezuela announced the transformation of the 48-hour general strike into an indefinite one. On April 16, 2002, armed clashes between opponents and supporters of Chavez took place in Maraflores Square in Caracas, resulting in the death of more than 60 people, and on April 18, a military mutiny began. A group of military men led by the mayor of Caracas A. Pena and the commander of the ground forces E. Vazquez tried to overthrow W. Chavez. The putschists arrested the president and took him to an unknown location. General Lucas Rincón Romero informed the country that Chavez had resigned. The undersecretary of security and commander of the national guard, General Alberto Comacho Cayrus, said that the government of President Hugo Chavez is “not capable of governing the country” and has been removed from power, and the country is under the control of the national armed forces. Speaking on local television, General Comacho Cyrus blamed the ousted president for the bloodshed in the suppression of a large anti-government protest march.
The rebels nominated the president of the association of industrialists and entrepreneurs, Pedro Carmona, to the post of interim president. He dissolved parliament, suspended the attorney general and state comptroller, and repealed legislation passed during Chavez's presidency that redistributed some of the nation's wealth to the poor. The US welcomed the coup. However, most of the army remained loyal to the president, and many hundreds of thousands of his supporters, mobilized by the Bolivarian Committees, took to the streets, mainly in poor areas of cities. They demanded the release of the arrested president, whom the rebels had held for two days on a remote island, and the return of power to him. Carmona refused to lead the country, and the putschists, fearing punishment, took the president they had arrested to the presidential palace. The military coup failed triumphantly for Chavez. As a result of the counter-coup, Chavez returned to power; his leading opponents were arrested. Hugo Chavez's re-entry ceremony, which took place at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, was broadcast on television. Chavez said he did not expect to return to his office so quickly, and that he even began writing poetry, but did not finish his first poem. In a conciliatory statement, Hugo Chavez announced the resignation of members of the board of directors of the state oil company, whom he himself had appointed earlier.
A few months later, on October 6, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his intelligence services had foiled a coup attempt in the country. “We prevented a coup, I have little doubt about it,” Chavez said at a meeting of mayors and governors in Caracas. The president said that the plot involved prominent members of the opposition, as well as the military, who had already tried to overthrow Hugo Chavez in April this year. Shortly before this, Venezuelan intelligence services conducted a search in the house of the country's former Foreign Minister Enrique Tejera. In this house, the president said, evidence of a conspiracy was found. The search was carried out after military officers loyal to the current president attended opposition meetings at the former minister’s house. However, Tejera denied all the charges brought against him.
Back in the presidency
The failure of the April coup did not end the political crisis in Venezuela. During the year, the opposition, taking advantage of growing economic difficulties and inflation, organized four general strikes against the government of President Chavez. The largest of them began in early December 2002 and lasted more than 2 months. The protests were organized by the leaders of the trade union Confederation of Workers of Venezuela and the political bloc “Democratic Coordination”. They demanded Chavez's resignation and a referendum on his presidency. But this strike (like the previous one, in October 2003) ended in failure. On August 15, at the request of the right-wing opposition, a referendum was held on the early recall of Chavez from the presidency. 59.10% of voters who came to the polling stations voted against the recall.
Chavez has repeatedly been subjected to sharp criticism, mainly from representatives of the upper and middle strata of society. Opponents accuse Chavez of neglecting electoral laws, violating human rights and political repression, excessive wastefulness and the actual financing of the expenses of the Cuban state. They call Chavez a “new type of dictator.” But despite all this, Hugo Chavez has extraordinary popularity, as evidenced by unsuccessful attempt his removal from power in April.
Hugo Chavez and the "Axis of Good"
After the failed coup, cooperation between the two Latin American leaders became even stronger. Realizing that they could not cope alone in a hostile environment, they came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create a united anti-imperialist front capable of resisting the “aggressive regimes” of the Western Hemisphere. Hugo Chavez is trying to create an axis of like-minded states around Venezuela that share his revolutionary Bolivarian ideas. Such a regime has recently been established in Bolivia with the election of President Evo Morales. At the end of 2006, Hugo Chavez's potential allies, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Rafael Correa in Ecuador, won victories.
To designate the Venezuela-Cuba-Bolivia alliance, Hugo Chavez at the beginning of 2006 invented the term “axis of good” - as opposed to the American “axis of evil”. These states are brought together not only by the leftist anti-imperialist and anti-American rhetoric of their leaders, but also by the real mutual benefit from cooperation: according to the United States, Venezuela supplies Cuba with about 90 thousand barrels of oil every day at preferential prices - which allows Cuba to earn money from re-exporting oil. Cuba, as already mentioned, sent tens of thousands of its technical specialists to Venezuela, including about 30 thousand doctors. For Bolivia, Venezuela is a source of investment for the development of gas fields.
In early July 2006, Chavez, speaking as guest of honor at the African Union summit in Gambia, called on African countries to “resist American neocolonialism” and establish closer ties between Latin America and the 53 member states of the pan-African organization.
In July 2006, Hugo Chavez toured a number of states, which, in his opinion, should become participants in a united anti-imperialist front - after another meeting with Fidel Castro, he visited Belarus, Russia (Volgograd - Izhevsk - Moscow) and Iran (which he had already visited fifth time). The overseas tour initially also included a trip to the DPRK, but it was subsequently decided to visit Vietnam, Qatar, Mali and Benin instead.
In Iran, Hugo Chavez said: “Venezuela will always and everywhere be with Iran - at any time, in any situation. History shows that as long as we are united, we can resist and defeat imperialism.” This statement was made a day after the five permanent members of the UN Security Council issued a final warning to Iran on July 28 to stop enriching uranium. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for his part, responded: “I feel like I have met a brother and a person with whom you are in the same trench... Iran and Venezuela stand side by side and support each other. President Chavez is the source of the progressive and revolutionary current in South America and makes a significant contribution to the opposition to imperialism.” Hugo Chavez was awarded the highest state order of the Islamic Republic.
Upon his return, Hugo Chavez spoke live on the television program “Hello, President!”, where he spoke for about five hours on a variety of topics. In particular, he announced his intention to create a national air defense system that would "cover the entire Caribbean." New system Air defense will allow you to track air targets at a distance of 200 km and destroy them 100 km before approaching Venezuelan territory.
Chavez acts as a fierce critic of US expansionist policies and globalization. On September 20, at a session of the UN General Assembly, Chavez called Bush Jr. “the devil.” According to Chavez, Bush spoke the day before at the UN as the “master of the world,” and the world should be concerned about this approach of the American leadership.
In January 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Venezuela. Back in July 2006, Iran and Venezuela entered into 29 economic agreements, in particular on the creation of joint ventures in the field of oil production and refining, as well as in metallurgy, mechanical engineering and pharmaceuticals. At the same time, a $2 billion fund was created to finance joint projects. In January 2007, further agreements were signed and Ahmadinejad promised to increase Iranian investments in Venezuela to $3 billion within 3 years, and Hugo Chavez confirmed his readiness to defend Iran’s right to development peaceful nuclear technologies. Key event visit was the creation of a joint fund to counter US policies. At the same time, the Iranian president said: “We very much count on the support of all forces interested in Latin America, Asia and Africa.” According to observers, Ahmadinejad was referring to the People's Republic of China.
Domestic policy
Socialism of the 21st century
Entrance examinations to universities in the country are an outdated method that excludes the possibility of obtaining higher education for young people from the masses... In this regard, entrance exams are cancelled.
Chavez also supported the abolition of exams during university studies. He also promised students to increase the scholarship to $100 and open discounted student canteens, as well as equip classrooms with the latest equipment. Chavez’s speech was accompanied by jubilation among students and shouts: “This is how to lead a country!”
On May 1, 2008, by decree of the President in Venezuela, the “highest” level of minimum wages in Latin America - $372. In reality, according to the so-called “black dollar exchange rate,” which is used to calculate all prices in Venezuela, the minimum wage is about $140. A 30% increase in wages concerns more than 5 million workers and employees. More than $2.5 billion will be allocated annually from the country’s budget for this. Hugo Chavez stated that this was made possible due to the socialist nature of the Bolivarian revolution. The Venezuelan president pointed out that when the country was led by a pro-capitalist government, wage increases for workers never exceeded 2%.
Nationalization
In 2007, during the nationalization of the energy sector in Venezuela, all oil fields in the country were placed under state control, and Western companies Exxon Mobil and ChonocoPhilips, who refused to work under the new conditions, left the Venezuelan market. Other strategic sectors, such as energy and telecommunications, were also nationalized.
On April 3, 2008, the President of Venezuela announced the nationalization of the country's cement industry and said that the Venezuelan government would no longer tolerate private companies exporting the cement needed to eliminate the country's housing shortage. “Take all legal measures to nationalize the entire cement industry of the country in as soon as possible", he said in a televised address.
Cement production in Venezuela is mainly carried out by foreign companies. The Mexican company Cemex, which produces 4.6 million tons of cement a year in Venezuela, controls almost half the market. A significant share in it belongs to the French Lafarge and the Swiss Holcim Ltd. Chavez assured cement companies that the government would pay them adequate compensation. At the same time, the President of Venezuela indicated that the cement industry is a particularly important strategic sector of the Venezuelan economy.
On April 9, 2008, Vice President of Venezuela Ramon Carrizales announced the government’s decision to nationalize the country’s largest metallurgical plant, Sidor, owned after privatization in 1997 by the Argentine-Italian industrial group Techint. According to the Latin American Institute of Iron and Steel, Sidor is the fourth largest metallurgical company in Latin America, the main supplier of rolled products and metal to the countries of the Andean Community of Nations - Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
The nationalization of the enterprise is explained by a “long-term labor conflict” between workers and the owners of the enterprise, which did not allow the conclusion of a new collective agreement. On May 1, 2008, the decree on the nationalization of Sidor was signed.
Currency reform
"Hello, President"
On May 23, 1999, the program “Hello, President” was broadcast on television with the participation of the president of the country himself. Chavez explained his desire to try himself as a TV presenter by saying that he wants to convey the truth about what is happening in the country and around it to every Venezuelan. On air, Chavez asks questions to his ministers, communicates with local residents, conducts teleconferences with other regions, explains government policies, makes historical excursions, blows kisses and jokes. Since February 15, 2007, President Hugo Chavez began communicating with his people every weekday for an hour and a half from 20.00 to 21.30. But he didn't stop there. In August, Chavez set a record by communicating with the Venezuelan people for 7 hours and 43 minutes. During the broadcast from the presidential palace, Chavez did not take a single break and only occasionally drank a cup of coffee. And during the September television program, Hugo Chavez set a new record for its duration. Without interruption, in thirty-degree heat, he broadcast a popular program in the country for 8 hours and 06 minutes.
Chavez and Trotskyism
In the new presidential cabinet, the Trotskyist José Ramon Rivero became the Minister of Labor, about whom Chavez said:
Unlike the Stalinists, he admits that socialism of the 21st century will not be similar to the system that existed in the USSR, for example, shortly before declaring himself a socialist, Chavez acquired Trotsky’s book “Permanent Revolution” and noted after reading it that in the USSR
However, in the same way he stated that Bolivarian socialism has no relation to Marxism and comes from Latin American realities, unlike the Trotskyists, recognizes the positive role Soviet Union, and during a visit to Belarus in 2006, he stated that the Belarusian model could serve as an example for building a new society in Venezuela. Chavez's use of Alexander Lukashenko's recommendations drew criticism from one of the main Trotskyist ideologues, Alan Woods, condemning the policies of the Belarusian president.
Therefore, there is no need to talk about Chavez’s Trotskyism. Still he is the first statesman from the late 1920s, who publicly declared the acceptability of Trotsky's ideas in building a socialist society.
At the end of the year, the rebels agreed to release the assistant to former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt Clara Rojas and her three-year-old son, born in captivity, as well as ex-senator Consuelo Gonzalez. The FARC explained in its official statement that the release of the hostages would occur as a sign of gratitude to Chavez for his policies. Then Chavez re-entered the negotiations. Hugo Chavez explained the details of his plan to those present at a press conference in Caracas for two hours. The President of Venezuela proposed using Venezuelan planes and helicopters for the humanitarian mission. They must pick up three prisoners at a certain point. However, the Colombian government reacted differently:
On January 9, 2008, rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia freed two hostages held captive for about seven years without any preconditions. After thanking the Venezuelan president by satellite phone for his part in their fate, the women then approached the rebels standing at a distance, kissed the female fighters and shook hands with the FARC men. Having said goodbye to the former captives, the militants again went into the jungle, after which a helicopter took the former hostages to the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, where they were later met on the terrace of the presidential palace by President Hugo Chavez. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has repeatedly criticized his Venezuelan colleague, was forced to recognize the results of his work.
The day after the hostages were released in Colombia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on the international community to change its attitude towards Colombian militants and remove the FARC from the list of terrorist organizations.
Ecuadorian-Colombian crisis
On March 1, the Colombian army conducted a special operation in Ecuador. During the fighting, one of the leaders of the rebel organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Raul Reyes, was killed. After the battle ended, the Colombian military reported that it had discovered documents that confirmed ties between the rebels and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Ecuador responded immediately by expelling the Colombian ambassador and massing troops to the border. The conflict escalated further when 10 battalions of the Venezuelan army sent by Chavez approached the borders of Colombia from the other side. Hugo Chavez called Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a “criminal”, “Bush’s subordinate” and the head of a “narco-government”, while accusing him of provoking war in the region.
Military-technical cooperation with Russia
According to the US leadership, purchases of small arms are carried out with the aim of transporting them to other areas of Latin America - in particular, to the Colombian anti-government rebels (FARC). On March 23, 2005, when the impending deal first became known, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said:
In early February 2007, Hugo Chavez announced that he had approved the Ministry of Defense's proposal to purchase 12 Tor-M1 short-range anti-aircraft missile systems on a tracked chassis from Russia in the amount of $290 million. The air defense system is planned to be placed in the north of the country for cover
Name: Hugo Chavez
Age: 58 years old
Height: 173
Activity: statesman and politician, former President of Venezuela
Family status: was divorced
Hugo Chavez: biography
There is a category of people who claim that in order to achieve high-quality results, special conditions/skills/equipment are needed (we are not talking about the one that threatens to turn the Earth upside down if there is an appropriate fulcrum). But there is another category of people who, in spite of everything, destroy the beliefs of the former with their examples. The biography of one Venezuelan statesman and political figure is a vivid example of this.
Childhood and youth
The future speaker and leader of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, was born in Sabaneta, a small village located in the state of Barinas. This event took place on July 28, 1954. The boy became the second of seven children of Hugo de los Reyes Chavez and his wife Helen Friaz de Chavez.
Hugo spent his early childhood in the village of Los Rastrojos, which he left with his older brother Adan after graduation. primary classes. The parents sent the boys to their grandmother in Sabanet so that, while living with her, Hugo and Adan studied at the Lyceum named after General Daniel O'Leary.
Chavez, recalling his childhood, often said that it turned out to be poor, but happy. Then he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player when he grew up (this dream partially came true during his student years). After graduating from the Lyceum, Hugo entered the military academy. In parallel with his studies, the guy played baseball and softball - this led him to participate in the national championships in these sports.
Hugo Chavez in childhood and youth Also, as a student at the military academy, Chavez was interested in life and statements national hero- general. Later, he came across the book “Diary”, and Hugo became interested in the ideas of a Latin American revolutionary. At the same time, Chavez drew attention to the poverty of the Venezuelan working class and decided to correct this social injustice in the future.
In 1974, the academy's leadership sent its students to celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho, which took place during the Peruvian War of Independence. Head of State Juan Velasco Alvarado spoke at the event. President's speech on the need for military action in the interests of the working class due to corruption ruling class made a strong impression on twenty-year-old Hugo Chavez.
Young Hugo Chavez at the Military Academy Another significant event that happened to Chavez while studying at the academy was meeting the son of the Supreme Commander of the National Guard of Panama, Omar Torrijos, and visiting Panama. Velasco and Torrijos became Hugo's ideological inspirers - the ideas formed by Chavez and the removal of civilian power by the military leadership were based on their examples. In 1975, Hugo graduated with honors from a military university and joined the army.
Policy
While serving in an anti-partisan unit in Barinas, after another raid, the guy found a cache of literature of a communist nature (including works and). Hugo kept several books for himself and got acquainted with them in free time. What he read caused Chavez to become more deeply rooted in his leftist views.
Two years later, in the state of Anzoategui, Hugo’s detachment fought the Red Flag Party group. After communicating with the captured members of the group, Hugo began to understand that not only the civil authorities were thoroughly corrupt, but also the top of the military leadership. How else can we explain the fact that oil revenues do not go to help the poor people of the country.
This revelation leads to Chavez founding the Bolivarian Revolutionary Party 200 (later to become the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200) in 1982. The initial idea of the organization was to study the military history of the state with the aim of creating a new personal system for conducting combat operations.
Later, political scientist Barry Cannon argued that the “Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200” was in fact the formation of a new ideology that absorbed all the best from previous ideological models. In 1981, Hugo received the rank of captain and taught at his former university for a semester, sharing his ideas with students and recruiting colleagues among them.
After this, Chavez was sent by the leadership to the city of Elors. Hugo began to suspect that this was a link, since military leadership I started to worry about his actions. Chavez was not at a loss - instead, he made acquaintance with the Yaruro and Cuiba tribes, the indigenous inhabitants of the lands that at that time belonged to the Venezuelan state of Apure.
Having become friends with the Yaruro and Quiba, Chavez realized that it was necessary to stop the oppression of the indigenous population by the country's citizens and revise the laws protecting the rights of indigenous people (which he would later implement). In 1986, Hugo Chavez received the rank of major.
Two years later, Carlos Andres Perez took over the presidency. He managed to win the race during the elections thanks to the promises announced in the election campaign. In particular, a promise to stop following the monetary policy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In fact, Peres launched an even worse mechanism - a neoliberal model more profitable for the United States of America and the IMF. The citizens of Venezuela categorically did not like this. People went out to rallies, but by order of the president, all mass protests were brutally suppressed with the help of the military. Chavez was in the hospital at the time, so when the news reached him, he realized that a military coup was necessary.
According to the plan developed by Hugo and his team, it was necessary to seize key military facilities and media, eliminate Peres, replacing him with a proven candidate - Rafael Caldera (one of the former presidents of the country). Everything was ready for this.
But, nevertheless, the coup attempt carried out in 1992 was unsuccessful. Due to the small number of supporters, numerous betrayals, unverified information and other unforeseen circumstances, Chavez's plan failed. On February 5 of the same year, Hugo personally surrendered to the authorities and went on television asking his supporters to surrender, saying that for now he had lost.
This event was covered in detail by the media around the world (articles with Hugo’s photo were in all major publications in the world) and brought fame to Chavez, imprisoned in the military prison of San Carlos. Also, these events did not bypass Carlos Andres Perez - in 1993, the president was convicted and removed from office for malfeasance and embezzlement of the state budget for personal and criminal purposes. He was replaced by Caldera.
Rafael Caldera released Hugo and his supporters, dropping all charges, but prohibiting them from serving in the country's armed forces. After this, Chavez immediately set out to propagate his ideas among his fellow citizens, as well as seek support abroad (that’s when he met Fidel Castro).
During a tour of Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Argentina, Chavez learned from associates that the actions of the current President Caldera were not much different from the actions of Perez. Suspecting something was wrong, Hugo returned to his homeland.
Chavez understood that he could only come to power by force, since the oligarchs would not allow him to win Caldera in the upcoming elections. However, Hugo decided to try to avoid armed conflict by founding the Fifth Republic Movement in 1997 (later to become the United Socialist Party of Venezuela), a left-wing socialist party.
In the 1998 presidential race, Hugo Chavez managed to beat Rafael Caldera, Irene Saez and Enrique Raemers, taking office as President of Venezuela in 1999.
Chavez's first presidential term lasted until 2001 and was marked by the repair of roads and hospitals, free treatment and vaccinations, the provision of social assistance, the revision of laws protecting the indigenous population, and the launch of the weekly program "Hello, President", in which anyone who called could discuss with Chavez urgent question or ask for help.
The first presidential term was followed by a second, third and even a short fourth. The oligarchy was never able to overthrow the people's favorite President Hugo Chavez, despite a coup in 2002 and a referendum in 2004.
Chavez's fourth presidential term began in January 2013 and ended in March of the same year due to Hugo's death. In fact, the role of head of state was played by the next president of Venezuela. And Hugo Chavez died at the age of 58.
Personal life
Was married twice. His first wife was Nancy Calmenares, with whom Chavez has daughters Rosa Virginia (1978) and Maria Gabriela (1980) and son Hugo Rafael (1983). After the birth of his son, Hugo separated from Calmenares, continuing to take care of his children.
From 1984 to 1993, he was in an unregistered relationship with Erma Marksman, his colleague. In 1997, he married again and became a dad for the fourth time - his second wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, gave birth to a daughter, Rosines. In 2004, the couple separated.
Death
In 2011, Chavez learned that he had cancer. Then, by personal invitation, he arrived in Cuba to undergo a course of operations. Hugo had his malignant tumor removed and began to feel better. However, at the end of 2012, the pain made itself felt again.
On March 5, 2013, Hugo Chavez died. For a long time details were not disclosed, but it was later announced that the cause of death was a massive heart attack. There were rumors that Chavez was actually poisoned by the Americans or his former comrade-in-arms turned defector, Francisco Arias Cardenas.
Initially, they wanted to embalm Hugo Chavez, but for certain reasons they did not do this. Instead, Chavez's body was taken from the Military Academy where he studied and taught to the Museum of the Revolution, where the farewell ceremony and funeral took place. Speeches were made by the heads of delegations from different countries, including from the United States (despite the fact that at a session of the UN General Assembly, Chavez spoke unflatteringly about the inhabitants of the White House).
Memory
On March 7, 2016, in Sabaneta, the locality where Hugo Chavez was born, a monument was erected to him - a gift from friends from Russia (including).
Quotes
“Some remains of steam, which used to be water, were recently discovered on Mars. It can be assumed that there was once a civilization on Mars. Mars is very similar to Earth. It even has rotation speeds around the Sun and around its axis that are similar to those on Earth. So, recently I was looking at a photograph of a dead planet with a magnifying glass, which was sent by an American apparatus from Mars. And it seemed to me that on one of the Martian rocks I distinguished three letters: IMF.”
“Yesterday the devil spoke at this podium. And it still smells of sulfur in here.”
“I swear, tirelessly, day and night, all my life to build Venezuelan socialism, a new political system, new social system, a new economic system."
In the town of Sabaneta in the state of Barinas in southeastern Venezuela, in a large family of a school teacher.
His maternal ancestor was an active participant in the Civil War of 1859-1863. My great-grandfather became famous for raising an anti-dictatorship uprising in 1914. Stories and legends about these heroic events in the family were passed down from generation to generation and had a strong influence on the formation of the future leader of the “Bolivarian revolution”.
Immediately after school, Hugo Chavez entered the Venezuelan Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1975 with the rank of junior lieutenant. Served in airborne units; The paratrooper's red beret subsequently became an integral part of his image.
In 1982 (according to other sources, while studying at the academy), Chavez, together with his colleagues, created the organization COMACATE (COMACATE, an abbreviation of the first two letters of military ranks - comandante, major, captain, teniente, which means lieutenant). Chavez immediately became the undisputed leader of the organization. Over time, KOMAKATE transformed into the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement, named after the hero of the Latin American War of Independence, Simon Bolivar.
In February 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez led a coup against Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, who was unpopular due to high level corruption and government spending reduction policies. Chavez planned to create a military-civilian junta from among people untainted by corruption, and also to convene constituent Assembly to develop a draft of a new Constitution. However, the government managed to stop the attempted rebellion.
Chavez surrendered to authorities and was placed in a military prison. He spent two years in prison and was released in 1994 under an amnesty. He organized his supporters into the Fifth Republic Movement and moved from armed struggle to legal political activity.
Hugo Chavez participated in the 1998 presidential campaign under the slogan of fighting corruption. On December 6, 1998, in the general elections held in Venezuela, he won a landslide victory, gaining 56.5% of the vote. Three months later, on July 25, elections to the unicameral assembly were held. They ended with the triumph of Chavez's supporters.
The government established tight control over the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, whose profits were directed to the needs of society: the construction of hospitals and schools, the fight against illiteracy, agrarian reform and others. social programs. All this contributed to the mass popularity of the new leader among the poor majority. Relying on his support, Chavez began to nationalize enterprises in various industries.
In 1999, Venezuela adopted a new constitution, and on July 30, 2000, new general elections were held, which Hugo Chavez won with 60% of the vote.
In the subsequent period, Chavez's political course, called the "Bolivarian movement towards socialism", shifted to the left.
Taking advantage of favorable conditions on the global energy market, as well as a certain US dependence on Venezuelan oil supplies, Chavez changed his foreign policy course. In a matter of years, Venezuela has emerged as a respected regional leader and has effectively led the movement against neoliberalism in the Western Hemisphere. Sharp criticism of the policies of the United States, the IMF and the WTO, attempts to rally other Latin American countries around them on the basis of anti-Americanism led to an acute confrontation between Venezuela and the United States.
The opposition, frightened by the statements and, most importantly, by the actions of Chavez, tried by all means to get rid of him. On April 12, 2002, Chavez was overthrown in a coup d'etat, but two days later, on April 14, thanks to the help of his supporters and loyal army units, he returned to power.
Chavez suffered from cancer, which required him to undergo long-term treatment in Cuba and in Venezuela itself. He underwent several surgeries and underwent chemotherapy. After another operation performed on him in Cuba in early December 2012, Chavez’s condition was complicated by a pulmonary infection.
By medical indications inauguration of the elected President of Venezuela.
In February, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to his homeland from Cuba, as he announced on his microblog on Twitter. Since then, he was in a military hospital in Caracas, but never appeared on television after returning home.
On March 6, 2013, Agence France-Presse, citing the country's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Hugo Chavez had organizational talent, vigorous energy, enormous capacity for work, eloquence, and the ability to convince people that he was right. He quoted the Bible and the works of Bolivar from memory, and was interested in Zen Buddhism. He wrote poems and stories and was fond of painting.
At the end of 2007, Chavez published a collection of songs, which included popular Venezuelan and Mexican songs performed personally by the president in a special television and radio program; in 2008, he recorded a composition for the musical collection of revolutionary songs "Musica Para la Batalla" ("Music for Struggle").
As a child, Chavez dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and retained his passion for baseball throughout his life.
Chavez was married twice. He divorced his first wife, Nancy Colmenares, in 1992. His second wife was journalist Marisabel Rodriguez. Marisabel helped Chavez create the 1999 constitution, but filed for divorce in 2002 and condemned the reforms carried out by her ex-husband.
Chavez has four children from his first marriage: Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela, Hugo Rafael and Raul Alfonso, and one daughter from his second, Rocines.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
It would be absurd to believe that the past 20th century was poor in the birth of people who played a tremendous role in the history of the whole world. But when such people are mentioned, the imagination of the average person more often draws military and political figures, scientists and artists from Europe or the USA.
Meanwhile, in Latin America at the same time, serious passions were seething, the results of which predetermined the development of the entire region for many years to come. One of the people who became famous precisely in the field of their political ambitions and achievements was the President of Venezuela Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.
Initial stages of biography
He was born on July 28, 1954. The place of his birth, the village of Sabaneta, located in the state of Barinas, did not stand out in anything special. The future president was born into the family of an ordinary school teacher. In addition to the newborn Hugo, his parents had several more children. However, the family was not the most ordinary, with glorious revolutionary roots.
Thus, one of the Chavez on his mother’s side was an active participant in the Civil War of 1859-1863. And his great-grandfather in 1914 managed to start an uprising aimed at overthrowing the power of another dictator. It is not surprising that the stories about the deeds of his ancestors, passed down orally in the Chavez family, had a significant influence on all his future actions and aspirations. As soon as the future president of Venezuela graduated from the course secondary school, then immediately entered the Military Academy. At the age of 21, he graduated from it, leaving the walls of his alma mater with the rank of senior lieutenant.
Creating your own organization
Served in airborne units. It was from there that he went without which the commandant subsequently did not appear in public. Already in 1982 (but many believe that at the academy) he created his own organization, KOMAKATE. The decoding of the name is simple - this word means “senior lieutenant”, being composed of the first letters of the average military ranks. Of course, the future president of Venezuela immediately became its permanent leader. It is also not surprising that this organization almost immediately turned into an exclusively revolutionary one.
Failure on the path to power
In 1992, he attempted to overthrow incumbent President Carlos Andres Perez. To be fair, he really wasn't very good ruler: the level of corruption was frankly off the charts, and government spending was constantly being reduced. Chavez pursued quite sound ideas: he wanted to assemble a new Government from people who had not stained themselves with extortions and bribes, to rewrite the Constitution, which had a huge number of shortcomings. But the Peres government managed to prevent the coup attempt in time.
Legitimate President
To Andres Perez's credit, he did not physically destroy his opponent. And this very rare, if we talk about Latin American dictators. Chavez himself surrendered to the authorities, having previously ordered his supporters not to stage an armed coup. For this, the authorities sentenced him to only four years in prison, and already in 1994 he was released under an amnesty. After this, Chavez rejected the idea of an armed coup. In his cell, he thought a lot about political topics, and therefore firmly decided to seek power exclusively through legal means.
In 1998, right before the upcoming presidential elections, Hugo began his election campaign. Unlike many of his rivals, his slogans were simple, and the candidate himself was a person who was already remembered by the potential electorate for his actions, and not for his lack thereof. In addition, Chavez vowed to finally end corruption in the country. It is not surprising that he achieved his goal. The new president of Venezuela received just over 54% of the vote, but it was a real triumph.
Democratic rulers of the country
By the way, how many heads did the country have? Unfortunately, it is impossible to provide a complete list of Venezuelan presidents here, since there were 48 of them in total. So we will limit ourselves to the list of heads of state who have held this post since 1952 (around the time Chavez himself was born). So here they are:
- Marcos Jimenez, who served in this position from 1952 to 1958.
- Wolfgang Ugueto. He ascended to the “throne” in 1958 as a result of a military coup. He didn’t manage to be president even for one year.
- Edgar Sanabria. Interim ruler, lawyer.
- Romulo Betancourt. He was president from 1959 to 1964.
- Raoul Leoni. In office from 1964 to 1969.
- Rafael Caldera, who reigned from 1969 to 1974.
- The same Carlos Andres Perez who once put Hugo behind bars. He remained in office from 1974 to 1979.
- Luis Herrera Campins. Ruled from 1979 to 1984
- Jaime Lusinchi. The period of his tenure as president was from 1984 to 1989.
- And... Carlos Perez again. He was president again from 1989 to 1993.
- From June 1993 to 1994, Octavio Lepage and Ramon José Velázquez alternated in holding the presidency. Were
- Finally, Rafael Caldera. He held the post from 1994 to the end of 1998.
So, the presidents of Venezuela, the list of which we provided in the article (even if it is incomplete), ruled for an average of five years. Before them, people rarely held the position of president for more than two or three years, and especially during revolutionary periods, this post was replaced by three or four people per year. So his “sworn friend” Andres Perez is a unique phenomenon in the political environment of Venezuela. The former served in office for almost 12 years, and Perez for a total of nine years.
Innovation in the economic and political sphere
What did Hugo Chavez do after taking office? First of all, he established strict state control over the oil company Petroleos de Venezuela: all its profits were directed to social programs. Thus, the money was spent on the construction of new schools and hospitals, educational programs for the masses, and the development of agricultural programs in the country. Hugo knew what to do: since at least 70% of the country's population at that time lived below the poverty line, the support of the electorate was automatically guaranteed. Relying on the support of the people, Venezuelan President Chavez prepared projects for the nationalization of other enterprises.
A year after his election, he created a draft of a new Constitution, and in 2000 he again won the last elections, this time gaining 60% of the votes. But it’s not worth considering Chavez as just another “shtetl king” who “went out” to work competently with the electorate: Hugo really did a lot for the country.
Black blood of the economy
Since the United States was and still is heavily dependent on South American oil, and given the favorable environment in the energy markets in the early 2000s, it is not surprising that the president decided to change the state’s political course. In just a few years, poor and corrupt Venezuela has become a major and authoritative player in the region. Due to a stable financial position, as well as thanks to sharp criticism of the United States, the former president of Venezuela managed to consolidate around himself all the more or less large countries of Latin America.
Re-election history
The country's opposition was very dissatisfied and frightened by Hugo's actions, and therefore repeatedly tried to get rid of the politician by all available means. On April 12, 2002, he was overthrown as a result of a coup d'etat, but the junta lasted only two days: already on April 14, Chavez was returned to the presidency by military units loyal to him. In 2006, another re-election takes place.
Thus, the President of Venezuela (whose biography is discussed in the article) has become one of the most “long-lasting” politicians in the world. What can we say about Latin America, where the presidential term rarely lasts more than a year!
In 2007, Chavez created the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, under whose wing he gathered almost all of his like-minded people and simply talented politicians. Five years later, in 2012, he was once again re-elected as president of the country.
Beginning of the End
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has long suffered from cancer. In any case, he underwent treatment courses at least four or five times both in his own country and in Cuba. It is difficult to say how many operations and chemotherapy procedures he had to endure. The surgery, which was performed in 2012 in a Cuban clinic, was suddenly complicated by a severe lung infection.
It is for this reason that the next inauguration of Chavez in January 2013 was recognized as having taken place, although the “newly-minted” president himself was not present. It would seem that everything worked out well: already in February, the president, using Twitter, announced his return. But since then he has not left the military hospital in Caracas.
Then everyone became wary. As it turned out, it was not in vain: on March 6, 2013, he announced that the former President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez had died from a serious cancer. Although many citizens of the country initially suspected the possibility of such a sad event, it still came as a severe shock to them.
"Behind the Scenes" Talents
This man is remembered throughout the world for his inexhaustible optimism and enthusiasm, an ebullient thirst for activity and all-round hobbies. What could this Venezuelan president do? The most interesting thing is that many Latin Americans, being ardent Catholics, cannot always accurately quote a passage from the Bible. Hugo could do it. Moreover, he recited huge passages of Scripture from memory, easily returning to an interrupted conversation after an hour or more. The President adored Bolivar's works, was fond of watercolors, loved music, and in this area his interests were extremely diverse.
So, at the end of 2007, a collection of songs that he performed personally, and which listeners could previously appreciate as part of a radio broadcast, saw the light of day. A year later, he recorded a number of compositions of his own composition, which were included in the collection entitled “Musica Para la Batalla” (“Music for the Fight”). He deeply respected sports. Since childhood, he was a good baseball player, even at the end of his life he always found time to throw a couple of balls.
Personal life
How many times was Chavez Hugo married? The biography (in which the President of Venezuela appears almost as an ascetic) actually shows him as an exemplary family man. But he still wasn’t very lucky in his personal life. So, in 1992, when Hugo was behind bars, his first wife broke up with him. The second life partner was Marisabel Rodriguez, a fairly famous journalist.
She is one of the creators of the country's new Constitution. For unknown reasons, which the president himself never discussed, they divorced in 2002. Wherein ex-wife publicly criticized all the reforms of her ex-husband. Chavez has five children: four from his first marriage and one daughter from his second marriage.
End of an era
Who is Venezuela holding on to now? President Maduro, a loyal associate of the late Chavez, has been in office since March 2013 to this day. Considering that in the period from 2011 to 2013, almost all the responsibilities of the president in the country were already his, Nicolas Maduro can already be considered a political long-liver.
He follows the same course as Hugo. True, under Maduro, many industries (especially the oil industry) were given significant relief. Many skeptics believe that under Nicolas, Venezuela has every chance of once again becoming a country that has absolutely no influence in the region. Well, we can only guess. Time will tell how right the bearers of such views were.
If new president will not go too far and will continue the social programs that his predecessor began, he will certainly achieve impressive success. In any case, the people of Venezuela received the news of his presidency quite warmly. Of course, the margin of votes was only 1%, but he is quite an experienced politician, knowing all the needs and problems of his state.
Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias(1954 - 2013) - President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from to the years, paratrooper, reserve lieutenant colonel, head, Trotskyist, participant in the events of February 1992.
Biography
9) the wages of workers and employees were increased by 30 percent. Despite the fact that during the era of capitalist rule, the increase in wages of Venezuelans did not exceed two percent.
10) the metallurgical industry was nationalized.
11) Several MAZ assembly plants began operating in Venezuela.
Incident in Colombia
In 2007, Chavez arrived on a visit to Colombia. Official data describes Colombia as a prosperous and wealthy state, but there is one thing. In Colombia, there are revolutionary armed organizations that have been fighting the authorities for 40 years. It's strange, isn't it? The total number of armed oppositionists is over 20 thousand people. The ideology of these movements is leftist. They fight the authorities using all sorts of methods, including illegal ones. Because of the presence of such an ideology, they are persecuted, declared “terrorist”, and subject to all sorts of bans and sanctions. But they don't give up. So, in August 2008, Chavez offered his help to negotiate the release of hostages captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), demanding the release of his comrades-in-arms from prison. The situation is clearly not clear-cut. On the one hand, of course, it’s wrong, after all, they are people. On the other hand, where should they go if they are being pressed like that? The government declared an information war on the rebels. Chavez offered his assistance in the negotiations. But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe refused Chavez's services. Well, how is it? Accept help from a socialist? Never! I don't care about people. He explained his refusal by saying that Chavez was interested in the rebels winning. However, the revolutionaries released some of the hostages, in honor of Chavez's policies. They appointed a collection point, but set the conditions that the hostages would be transported by representatives of Venezuela. So it was, however, Uribe had difficulty agreeing to it. Operation was successfully completed. The rebels publicly thanked the Venezuelan leader. Uribe also thanked him, despite his personal hostility. After all this, Chavez publicly called on the public to remove the FARC from the list of terrorist organizations. This is how it happened, Chavez gave people freedom and life, guided by purely humanistic values. And again, there is not a drop of blood on his hands.
Personal life
Chavez was married twice. Has five children.
Until recently, Chavez suffered from cancer, but now he has had a swollen organ removed and his life is not in danger, despite the endless rumors in the media. It is not surprising that Chavez suffered from such an illness. After all, one of the medical causes of cancer is nervous or mental overload. And no wonder. All his life Hugo Chavez has been fighting the enemies of the world and his homeland. In the summer he announced his complete recovery. And this is thanks to the best Cuban medicine in the world.
Flaws
Of course, Chavez has shortcomings. Firstly, he adheres to Totskian beliefs and professes Roman Catholicism. In addition, in December 2011, Chavez announced that the rally taking place in Moscow was the work of the United States. There are clear features of Putinism in this. However, all this pales in comparison to all those services not only to his homeland, but to the whole world.
Awards
Lieutenant Colonel (reserved) (since 1990)
Order of the Star of Carabobo.
Cross of the Ground Forces.
Order of Francisco Miranda.
Order of Rafael Urdaneta.
Order of the Liberator, V class.
Laureate of the José Martí International Prize (2005, UNESCO)
Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1st class (2006, Iran)
Order of Friendship of Peoples (2008, Belarus).
Order of Sandino (2007, Nicaragua)
Order “Uatsamonga” (July 7, 2010, South Ossetia) - in recognition of special merits in establishing justice and equality of rights of all nations and peoples in international relations, as well as for supporting the state independence of the Republic of South Ossetia and showing courage.
National Order of José Martí (Cuba).
Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (Cuba, 2004).
Umayyad Order, 1st class (Syria)
