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Birth
Hugo Chavez was born on July 28, 1954. He was born in Sabaneta, Venezuela. His full name was Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. -
Joined Military Academy
Chavez joined the Venezuelan Military Academy in 1971. It was located in Caracas, his nation’s capital. He didn’t join to be a soldier but to be a professional baseball player and he knew there were good coaches there. He planned on staying to excel in baseball and then quit. He graduated bottom of his class in 1975. -
Start of Bolivarian Movement 200
In 1982 Hugo was still in the army. He had stated “He inspired me and I realized I wouldn’t be leaving the army”. He was talking about a man named Bravo. In this time him and some of his fellow military officers formed the Bolivarian Movement 200 to spread their revolutionary ideas. Their goal was to take power in a civilian-military. -
Overthrow The Government in Pres
On February 4th, 1992 and a group of military officers led an attempt to overthrow the government in Pres. Unluckily for him the rebellion quickly collapsed, while the other officers were able to successfully complete their target. Chavez was unable to complete a key part in his mission, which was capturing President Perez. He eventually got caught and surrender on one condition, that he could talk on tv to address his co conspirators. -
Taking Office
In 1999 he took office. During this time is approval percent went up to 80%. Which advocated(made people support) to end corruption. He was popular during this time so he oversaw a new constitution which would give him more power over the three branches of government. This new constitution required new elections for every elected official. In this election he was elected for a 6 year term. He also increased his power in the National Assembly. -
March for Hugo's Resignation
On April 11th, 2002, a rally of about 1 million people marched through the president palace to demand Hugo’s resignation. This rally had an interaction with Chave’s gunmen and National Guards troop. This interaction ended in a gun battle leaving people dead and injured on both sides. -
March for Hugo's Resignation (Continued)
The violence started a military revolt and resulted in Hugo being in custody of the military. They had decided to chose Pedro Carmona to be an interim president. This didn’t end well because Pedro ended up causing an uproar when he dissolved most of the country’s democratic and suspended the constitution. -
President for Third Term
In 2006 Chavez was elected for president for his third term. He won with 63% of the vote. He knew had another 6 years of being president so he made some plans for “21st-century socialism” by nationalizing key industries, including electric and telecommunications. He also talked more about his anti-American rhetoric, specifically on his attacks on Pres. -
Changes in Consitution
In 2007 Hugo sponsored a bunch of changes in the constitution. Some of this changes were liked by the people but of course some weren’t. For example they liked that the maximum work day was 6 hours. Also most of these changes would increase the power of the executive branch, including greater power over the Central Bank and to have power without legal ruling. The controversial decision was allowing the president’s indefinite reelection. -
Even More Unfair Changes
In February, 2009 there were even more changes to the constitution. These ones cleared Chavez perpetual reelection. Supported by the victory, the government launched an aggressive program to stifle dissent. With this aggressive program they arrested key politician opponents, closing dozens of opposition radio stations, and moving close to Globovision which was the only remaining tv show that was critical to the government. -
Hugo's Cancer
In June 2011 was operated on to get rid of a cancerous tumour. They didn’t know what the nature of his cancer was, but then for the second time he went back to Cuba for follow up treatment, that included chemotherapy. They didn’t think he would be physically capable of standing for reelection, yet Chavez gave an aggressive campaign against his opponent Henrique Radonski. This time he only got 10% of the vote instead of 63% has as last time. -
More of Hugo's Cancer
In 2012 Chavez overwent his fourth surgery for cancer in Cuba. Before leaving Cuba he resigned for vice president. He remained in Canada longer then he implied to caused by a lung infection that resulted in another surgery. During this time the government got mad because they were not given all of the details on Hugo’s health. -
More of Hugo's Cancer (continued)
When Chavez was not well enough to go to his inauguration, in January 2013, it became a constitutional issue. The National Assembly voted to allow Hugo’s swear in to be delayed. Chavez died on March 5th and Maduro became interim president.
