Chavez is Always in the News

Hugo Rafael Chavez, the president of Venezuela, was born July 28, 1954. As the fiery leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, he promotes the political doctrine of socialism. He also pushes heavily for more Latin American and Caribbean cooperation. He is big critic of liberalism, globalization, and the United States.

A career military officer, he founded a new left-wing political group after failing with a coup against former President Carlos Andres Perez in 1992. He was sent to prison, but Pérez was impeached one year later. Chavez was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera in 1994. The revolutionary was later elected president in 1998 with a campaign centering on promises of aiding Venezuela's poor. He was re-elected in 2000 and 2006. Over the years, he has maintained connections to other left-wing politicos and revolutionary groups like FARC in Colombia.

His new policies have caused a lot of controversy in Venezuela and abroad. The government of the United States claims that the Venezuelan president
is a dangerous threat to democracy in Latin America. But other governments sympathize with his opinions and they welcome his agreements. In 2005 and 2006, he was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

His government survived a coup attempt in 2002. A strike organized later by the big Venezuelan national oil company had tried to force him out of office by creating an economic crisis and cutting off oil revenue. An attempt to remove the president from office by recall referendum in 2004 also failed.

The charismatic politico has focused Venezuelan foreign policy on Latin American economic and social integration by making various trade and mutual aid agreements. He has increased arms purchases from Brazil, formed trade arrangements with Cuba, and created barter arrangements with Argentina. Chavez worked closely with other Latin American leaders following the Summit of the Americas in many areas, especially energy.

In 2006, he announced that the license for Venezuela's second largest TV channel was not going to be renewed. RCTV was then accused of supporting the opposition. In a poll,
70 percent of Venezuelans opposed the shut-down, but most were more upset about the loss of their favorite novelas rather than concerned about freedom of speech.