What type of president is hugo chavez

In foreign affairs, President Chavez followed an aggressively anti-imperialist policy in which verbal attacks on the US became frequent.

He went out of his way to cultivate enemies of the US and deepened the relationship with Cuba. Yet his most important goal was the building of an alliance among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean that would fulfil the frustrated dream of his great hero, South American independence leader Simon Bolivar, two centuries before. The first step towards the Bolivarian dream had been Petrocaribe - a scheme to provide cheap oil to the countries of Central America and the Caribbean that depend on imports.

It was hugely popular, with only Barbados refusing to take part. This was followed by Alba, a regional integration scheme that would grow to include Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras until and Nicaragua, as well as a few small independent Caribbean states. It also led to a development bank designed to counter the influence of the IMF. Mr Chavez's ambitions to join Mercosur the regional integration scheme founded by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay were long blocked by the Paraguayan senate.

But political upheaval in Paraguay led to the country being suspended from the bloc, so clearing the way for Venezuela to be admitted in July President Chavez's electoral success he lost only one nationwide vote did not rest, it is safe to say, on his foreign policy.

This was very clear in the presidential election in October , which he won despite a strong challenge from the opposition. Scores of anti-government protesters have been killed in clashes with the security forces since And yet, despite the outrage from within and beyond Venezuela, he remains a commanding figure there - and not just because of his 1.

In August , Mr Maduro controversially set up a new constituent assembly with the power to rewrite the constitution, or to bypass and even dissolve the opposition-led National Assembly. He pitched it as a way of promoting "reconciliation and peace", but critics saw an attempt to strengthen his grip on power. He found himself further isolated after his re-election. Bush as the devil in front of the United Nations General Assembly. At home, business interests accused him of scaring off investment by abusing the power of expropriation.

In addition to domestic social programs, the Chavez government pumped money into his foreign policy interests. He invested millions of dollars in oil and cash in countries that were ideologically similar. Chavez considered former Cuban leader Fidel Castro a mentor, and aligned his country with Iran and other nations opposed to the United States.

Cuba loses a benefactor in Chavez, whose provision of an oil lifeline at below-market prices could be at risk under a new government. While Chavez admired Castro, he found most inspiration from Bolivar, even renaming the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

An affable, if sometimes bombastic, man, Chavez had a disarming manner that even his critics could not deny. Who comes after Chavez? Some called his style buffoonish, but he spoke like an ordinary Venezuelan -- not like a bureaucrat -- and voters reacted positively.

Chavez could also be secretive. He was slow to publicly admit that he had cancer, and never shared what type of cancer affected him. The government kept a tight seal on details of the president's treatment and declining health. The death of the Venezuelan president leaves a sharply polarized country, with no clear successor for his party and an untested opposition.

Chavez' passing means new elections will be held, although he had said previously he wanted Maduro to succeed him. Chavez was born in the plains state of Barinas, in southwest Venezuela, on July 28, , the third of the seven children of two educators. As a child, he was an altar boy who went on to develop a great love of baseball. Recently, even as questions arose about his health, the media-savvy Chavez sought to reassure the public by playing catch with his foreign minister on state television.

As a young man, he enrolled in the Military Academy of Venezuela, reaching the rank of sub-lieutenant in He joined the parachute corps of the army and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel.

A decade later, on February 4, , he led a failed military rebellion against then-President Carlos Andres Perez. He also made his first public appearance in front of the television cameras.

You did it very well out there, but now is time to avoid more bloodshed. Now is time to reflect and new situations will come. Chavez served two years in prison before then-President Rafael Caldera granted him amnesty.

Chavez went on to form a new political party, the Fifth Republic Movement, which carried him to a presidential election victory in His fiery campaign speeches blamed the traditional parties for corruption and poverty. Chavez married twice and divorced twice. Years later, he married Marisabel Rodriguez, with whom he had a fourth daughter, Rosa Ines. He divorced in ; Venezuela has had no first lady since then. Upon taking office, Chavez made rewriting the constitution one of his first orders of business.

A July referendum affirmed the new constitution, which the government printed as a little blue book that Chavez used regularly as a prop during speeches. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.

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