Hugo Chávez was president of Venezuela from 1999 to 2013 and developed a political regime he called “Bolivarianism ”. He became popular in Venezuelan politics after participating in a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Pérez in 1992. He was elected president in 1998 and led the country until he died of cancer.
Early years of Hugo Chávez's life
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias was born on July 28, 1954, in a town called Sabaneta, which is located in the province of Barinas, Venezuela. His parents, Hugo de los Reyes Chávez and Elena Frías, were primary school teachers. A member of a humble family, during his youth, Chávez saw in the military life a career option.
Hugo Chávez's entry into the Venezuelan army was mainly due to his desire to pursue a career as a professional baseball player, a very popular sport in the country. This is because the Venezuelan army had great professionals in the area and would enable it to achieve its objectives.
The plan to be a professional baseball player It didn't work out, and Hugo Chávez pursued a career in the Venezuelan army, after completing his studies at the Military Academy. In the Venezuelan army, Chávez reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.
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Chavez's participation in the 1992 military coup
In the 1980s, Hugo Chávez and several other Venezuelan military personnel were supporters of revolutionary ideals. This adherence of the Venezuelan military to leftist ideals was the result of a theoretical training program that the military of that country went through since the 1970s.
In the case of Chávez, he and other comrades decided to found the Movimento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 , group well known by the acronym MBR-200. This group was inspired by the figure of Simón Bolivar , a very important character in the history of Venezuela. Other names in Venezuelan history that inspired the MBR-200 were:Ezequiel Zamora and Simón Rodriguez .
The main objective of the MBR-200 was to seize power from Venezuela to implement a nationalist economic agenda in the country. The military coup attempt by the members of the MBR-200 took place in 1992 against President Carlos Pérez, but it failed . Hugo Chávez and other Venezuelan military personnel were arrested, and the Fourth Venezuelan Republic survived.
Carlos Pérez, however, was ousted from the presidency the following year (1993), and the new president who assumed power in Venezuela, Rafael Caldeira, ordered the amnesty of those involved in the coup d'état. 1992. Hugo Chávez gained fame in Venezuela, mainly for announcing on national TV that his comrades would lay down their weapons, as they had been momentarily defeated.
After being released under Rafael Caldeira's amnesty, Hugo Chávez realized that Venezuela's seizure of power would not be by force. Thus, he decided that he would run for the presidency of the country and achieve power through party politics. To this end, Chávez and other people on the Venezuelan left founded the Movimento V República , also known as MVR .
MVR managed to win the support of the vast majority of Venezuela's left-wing parties for Hugo Chávez's campaign. Hugo Chávez's candidacy support group became known as Polo Patriotic . Chávez promised to rebuild Venezuela's democracy, taking advantage of the country's main product:oil.
Chavez's speech appeared as a radical path for Venezuela, and the population of the country, saturated with the political system of the Fourth Republic, marked by corruption, bought Chavez's speech. The result was Hugo Chávez's victory in obtaining 56% of the votes in the 1998 election. Elected, he took office as president of Venezuela in February 1999.
Chávez Government
Chávez's election campaign was interpreted by many political analysts as a radical departure, and when he became president, a series of transformations began in the country. The first of these was the drafting of a new Constitution for Venezuela. This new Constitution was drafted by a Constituent and was drafted and promulgated by politicians who supported Hugo Chávez.
When the new Constitution was enacted, Chávez called a new presidential election to extend his government under the new Constitution that stipulated that the presidential term would be six years. Chávez also won this one by winning 60% of the votes , which guaranteed him another six years in the Venezuelan presidency.
This was the beginning of chavismo in Venezuela, a regime understood by political scientists as populist and which openly contributed to the weakening of the democratic system in the country.
One of Hugo Chávez's main actions in his government was the promotion of actions that were responsible for the income distribution in the country. This took place through social welfare programs and the establishment of public policies that contributed to increasing the share of the population that was served by health and education services.
Chavismo's success in promoting improvements in the lives of the country's poorest population ensured strong support from this population for the Chavista political project. This program was also responsible for creating strong opposition to Chavismo in the country's upper classes, who were against these social welfare programs.
2002 Coup d'Etat
Venezuela's wealthiest classes were not satisfied with the programs of the Chávez government, mainly because of the president's stance on fighting the privileges of the upper classes as a way of promoting income distribution. With that, a conspiracy began to be organized against the government and put into practice in 2002.
That year, the country's economy was not doing well, which generated dissatisfaction and increased government disapproval. A hit against Chávez was organized by members of the army, who carried it out on April 11, 2002, declaring the dismissal of Hugo Chávez and appointing Pedro Carmona as president of the country.
Chavista resistance, however, ensured that, on April 14, the coup against Chavez failed, and thus the president was reinstated to power. After surviving a coup, Chávez came out politically strengthened and began to create mechanisms to strengthen his power. He strengthened his position in the Executive, weakened the foundations of Venezuelan democracy, and strengthened his power by allying himself with the military.
In 2006, a new presidential election was held, and Hugo Chávez achieved another victory, winning 63% of the votes . This victory reinforced his power and that of his project, known as Bolivarianism or, in the words of Hugo Chávez, “socialism for the 21st century ”.
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Death of Hugo Chávez
In 2011, Chávez received the news that he had cancer in the pelvic region. Then the Venezuelan president began treatment with doctors in Cuba and Venezuela. While in treatment, he contested his 4th presidential election, and his competitor was the opponent Henrique Caprilles. Chávez only participated in that election after amending the Constitution, which allowed him to run as many re-elections as he wanted.
The result of this election was a new victory for Chávez after winning 55% of the votes . The new term, however, was interrupted by his passing on April 5, 2013 . Chávez's death took place at a time when the crisis in the country was already perceptible, and the deputy appointed by Chávez, Nicolás Mature , temporarily assumed the presidency of the country. In 2013, Maduro was ratified president of the country by winning the presidential election.
The Chávez government is controversial , because, at the same time that it implemented measures that fought social inequality and reduced poverty, others were also implemented that weakened Venezuela's democracy, such as the rigging of the country's Supreme Court. The government of his successor, Maduro, ended up worsening the internal situation of Venezuela.
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