Hugo Chavez

Early Life and Military Career

- July 28, 1954 - Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is born in Sabaneta, Venezuela.

- Chávez grew up in Sabaneta, a small town in the southwestern plains of Venezuela. He was the second of six surviving children, all boys. His parents, both schoolteachers, did not have enough money to support all their children, so Hugo and his eldest brother, Adán, were raised in the city of Barinas by their grandmother, Rosa Inés Chávez.

- As a teenager, Chávez was heavily influenced by José Esteban Ruiz Guevara, a local historian, who introduced him to the teachings of Simón Bolívar and Karl Marx, both of which had a profound impact on Chávez’s political philosophy.

- 1975 - Chávez graduates from the Venezuelan Military Academy and begins his military career.

- Chávez started his military career as a second lieutenant in the army. His first assignment was to capture the remaining leftist guerrillas. But as he pursued the insurgents, Chávez began to empathize with them, seeing them as peasants fighting for a better life.

- During his time in the military, Chávez becomes disillusioned with the Venezuelan political system and forms the clandestine Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 MBR-200 in the early 1980s.

- February 4, 1992 - Chávez leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Andres Perez.

- Chávez is imprisoned for his role in the coup attempt but is pardoned two years later.

Political Rise and Presidency

- 1998 - Chávez founds the Fifth Republic Movement political party and is elected president of Venezuela.

- December 6, 1998 - Chávez wins the presidential election, promising to seek a “third way” between socialism and capitalism.

- 1999 - Chávez assumes the presidency and begins implementing his Bolivarian Revolution, a leftist political project aimed at addressing social and economic inequality in Venezuela.

- February 2, 1999 - Hours after being sworn in, Chávez decrees a referendum on whether to rewrite the constitution.

- April 25, 1999 - Venezuelans overwhelmingly approve Chávez’s proposal to draft a new constitution.

- July 25, 1999 - Allies of Chávez win 122 of 128 seats in the constitutional assembly, allowing them to draft a document tailored to his wishes.

- December 15, 1999 - Venezuelans vote to accept the Chávez-backed constitution. It eliminates the Senate, changes the country’s name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and lengthens the presidential term from five years to six, clearing the way for Chávez to stay in office as long as 13 years.

- July 30, 2000 - In the presidential election, Chávez is elected to a six-year term.

- During his presidency, Chávez implements a range of socialist policies, including nationalization of industries, social welfare programs, and land reforms.

- 2002 - Chávez faces a brief coup attempt but is returned to power within 48 hours.

- April 11, 2002 - Gunfire erupts as protesters demanding the president’s resignation march toward the presidential palace; 19 people are killed. That spurs a revolt by dissident generals who arrest Chávez and usher in an interim government.

- April 14, 2002 - Loyal army officers rescue Chávez and restore him to power.

- December 3, 2002 - Business organizations, labor unions, political parties, and executives from the state-run oil company call a strike demanding that Chávez agree to a nonbinding referendum on his rule. The strike fizzles after two months, and the government regains control of the oil industry.

- April 7, 2003 - Chávez fires seven top executives at the state oil company for joining the strike. Within weeks, 18,000 employees are fired for participating in the strike.

- August 15, 2004 - Venezuelans overwhelmingly vote “no” in a referendum asking if Chávez should leave office immediately.

- December 14, 2004 - Chávez and Castro sign an agreement deepening cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba. The pact evolves into the leftist ALBA bloc as other Latin American and Caribbean nations join.

- 2005 - Chávez creates the Petrocaribe agreement that sells oil on preferential credit terms to more than a dozen countries.

- October 31, 2005 - Telesur, the Caracas-based television network launched by Chávez, begins broadcasting as an alternative to corporate media outlets. Telesur is financed mainly by Venezuela with help from Argentina, Cuba, and Uruguay.

- December 4, 2005 - Chávez’s allies win all 167 seats in the National Assembly as major opposition parties boycott the election.

- September 20, 2006 - Chávez calls U. S. President George W. Bush “the devil” in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, raising tensions with Washington.

- December 3, 2006 - Chávez wins reelection to a six-year term, capturing 63 percent of the vote.

- December 5, 2006 - Emboldened by victory, Chávez tells countrymen his political movement aims to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

- January 8, 2007 - Chávez announces plans to nationalize Venezuela’s electrical and telecommunications companies.

- January 31, 2007 - Pro-government lawmakers grant Chávez sweeping powers to legislate by decree for 18 months.

- February 8, 2007 - The government nationalizes Venezuela’s largest private electric company, signing an agreement to buy a controlling stake in Electricidad de Caracas from U. S.-based AES Corp.

- February 12, 2007 - Officials sign an agreement to purchase Verizon Communications Inc.’s stake in Venezuela’s largest telecommunications company.

- February 27, 2007 - Chávez orders the takeover of oil projects run by foreign companies in the Orinoco River region, giving the government a majority stake in the joint ventures.

- May 28, 2007 - Radio Caracas Television, the country’s oldest private network, goes off the air after Chávez refuses to renew its broadcasting license.

- October 14, 2007 - Ailing Fidel Castro calls Chávez’s radio show, making his first live appearance on Cuban airwaves since falling ill 14 months earlier, in an example of how close the two men have become.

- December 2, 2007 - Voters reject amendments proposed by Chávez to make more sweeping changes to the constitution, a setback for his drive to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

- April 3, 2008 - Chávez orders the nationalization of Venezuela’s cement industry.

- April 9, 2008 - The government announces it will nationalize the country’s largest steelmaker.

- July 31, 2008 - Chávez announces plans to nationalize the Bank of Venezuela, owned by the Santander Central Hispano banking group of Spain.

- September 12, 2008 - Chávez orders the U. S. ambassador to leave Venezuela, accusing him of conspiring against the government. Patrick Duddy later returns to finish his assignment, but Venezuelan and U. S. officials fail to agree on a replacement.

- November 23, 2008 - Chávez’s party wins 17 of 24 gubernatorial races, while opposition candidates triumph in Venezuela’s most populous states and cities.

- February 15, 2009 - Chávez wins voter approval to eliminate term limits, allowing him to run for reelection indefinitely; he vows to remain in power for at least another decade.

- September 26, 2009 - Chávez, along with allies including Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, sets up a regional development lender called the Bank of the South. It’s billed as a Latin American alternative to institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.

- September 27, 2010 - In congressional elections, Chávez’s allies lose the two-thirds majority that has allowed them to ignore opponents in rewriting fundamental laws and appointing key officials such as Supreme Court justices. Chávez’s allies still retain a majority.

- December 17, 2010 - The outgoing Congress grants Chávez the power to enact laws by decree for 18 months.

- Chávez wins re-election in 2000, 2006, and 2012.

- October 7, 2012 - Chávez wins another six-year term, beating challenger Henrique Capriles by an 11-point margin.

- December 9, 2012 - Chávez announces that his cancer has returned and that he needs surgery again. He also says for the first time that if he is unable to stay on as president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should take his place and should be elected president.

- December 11, 2012 - Chávez undergoes his fourth cancer-related operation in Cuba. Officials describe it as a complicated six-hour surgery.

Death and Legacy

- March 5, 2013 - Chávez dies from cancer at the age of 58.

- March 6, 2013 - The government announces the death of Hugo Chávez.

- Chávez's death sparks mourning among his supporters and uncertainty about the future of Venezuela.

- Chávez's legacy remains a subject of debate, with some praising his social programs and others criticizing his authoritarian tendencies and economic policies.

- Chávez's political ideology, known as Chavismo, continues to influence Venezuelan politics.

Video Resources

- Hugo Chavez, a Revolutionary in Power 1992-2013

I have some information about Hugo Chavez that I would like to share.