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Hugo was born in a small town in Venezuela. Both of his parents were schoolteachers and didn’t have enough money to provide for all six of their kids. So Hugo and his older brother went into the city and lived with their grandmother
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In 1971 Hugo entered the Venezuelan military Academy. He didn't want to be a soldier, he wanted to be a professional baseball player and they had very good baseball coaches there. So that's why he signed up. But he ended up graduating close to the bottom of his class in 1975.
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On February 4, 1992 him and a few other military officers attempted to overthrow the governor. Sadly for them their attempt failed. Many Venezuelans at that time were frustrated with their elected leaders, and they were inspired by Chavez and praised his bold ideas to reform the country. He was then imprisoned until 1994 when he was gaining more fame so they dropped all charges on Hugo.
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Hugo decided because he was so popular that he was going to run for president. So that's what he did. So on December 1998 he won the presidential election with 56 % of the votes.
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Hugo started working as president in 1999 during his first year the approval rate was at 80% so most people liked him, and the decisions he was making. Chavez oversaw the drafting of a new constitution that gave him unprecedented control over the three branches of government. There was a huge election in 2000 and that is when Chavez was elected for his 6th term.
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By early 2002 his approval rating had fallen to 30 percent, some anti Chavez marches started. Even some of his allies had started turning. For example his military friends had started to turn on him. On april 11 2002 they estimated that more than 1 million people were protesting and demanding that he resign.
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In December 2006 Chavez was elected for a 3rd time which insured him another 6 years in power. During his time as president he made clear that he was an anti-american, particularly in his attacks against Pres. George W. Bush, whom he called “the Devil” in front of the United Nations General Assembly.
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In June 2011 Chavez was operated on in Cuba to remove a cancer tumor. The kind of cancer was not told. Then after he returned to Cuba for follow up treatment that he needed. Some weren't sure if he would be able to do the re election, but he made it and won again.
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In December 2012 Chavez underwent his fourth cancer surgery in Cuba. Before leaving for Cuba, Chavez had designated Vice President Nicolas Maduro in case he would not survive the surgery. Chavez remained in Cuba into the new year to heal up from a lung infection that was a consequence of the surgery.
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Hugo Chavez died on March 5, 2013. It was said that he died from a massive heart attack. He had an eager to live an eager for power. It was also said that he couldn't talk but he mouthed the words of how much he still wanted to live.
