Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died. He was 58 years old. The death was announced by the country's Vice President Nicolas Maduro. The flag outside the military hospital in Caracas, where the Venezuelan leader was treated for the last two weeks before the death of the country, is at half-staff.
The last lifetime and now historical footage: December 10, 2012, the President of Venezuela flies to Cuba. Hugo Chavez, in a tracksuit, smiles, pats a guardsman on the shoulder, clenches his hand firmly and characteristically in a Latin American manner into a mighty fist, and says: “We will win” and “Long live Venezuela.”
Venezuelans believed that the attack - an aggressive cancer - would again succumb to Hugo's inner strength, as they believed last summer when, after three operations, he declared that he had conquered death for his people. Already in the fall, Chavez again confidently won the presidential election.
Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias could become a priest - such was the will of his parents, poor rural teachers. But one day the boy got into a fight with the holy father and was expelled from the church. He could be a baseball player - Chavez dreamed of this himself. Already as the president of the country, he began each weekly newspaper column with baseball. However, as a young man, Hugo decided that military uniform it suits him much better. The red beret of the paratrooper, as well as the fist raised above his head, were an integral attribute of the unique image of Hugo Chavez until his last days.
Hugo Chavez's main dream is unlikely to come true. Dedicated to the cause of Simon Bolivar, who brought Venezuela freedom from the Spanish colonists, he preached Bolivarianism - the idea of uniting Latin America into one country. But in our time, it was this idealist and romantic who separated not only Venezuela, but also a good part of the continent from the seemingly eternal protectorate of the United States. American preacher Pat Robertson called: "We must kill Hugo Chavez. It is cheaper than starting a war. He is a dangerous enemy."
They used to call him an irreconcilable fighter against the United States, but in reality he simply responded with dignity to imperial attacks and criticized those who meekly carried out the directives of the State Department. This is how he spoke about US President George W. Bush from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly: “The devil was here, yesterday he stood in this very place. It still smells of sulfur. The US President is the devil in the flesh. He teaches us to live, speaks to us as the ruler of the world. He needs a psychiatrist. He wants world domination and teaches us how to behave. This is more serious than Hitchcock’s films. I came up with the name - “The Devil’s Cookbook.”
Like many in Latin America, he began his ascent with a coup: on February 4, 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Chavez with a thousand soldiers tried to seize power, but failed. He would return to politics after two years in prison and in 1998 he would win his first presidential election, promising drastic changes to Venezuela, which was then impoverished.
In 2002, he was almost overthrown. Dissatisfied with the nationalization of oil enterprises, US-incited liberals kidnapped Chavez and occupied the Miraflores presidential palace. But only for two days. Against new government Slum dwellers rebelled, those whose lives the ousted president tried to change with the help of oil revenues redirected to the Venezuelan treasury.
Before Chavez, half of Venezuelans lived below the poverty line, now the same is true - 30 percent. But the times when newspapers wrote about how to properly eat dog food, and there was such a thing, are long gone. Cable cars were installed in the breeze-swept slums, and kindergartens and schools appeared there. Recently, the UN recognized that illiteracy in the country has been eliminated; in every village there is a mercal - a store with fixed prices and a doctor, most often a Cuban. Hugo Chavez's best friends, brothers Fidel and Raul Castro, sent 30 thousand doctors to Venezuela.
Hugo Chavez was flattered by the nickname "Red Rebel". He could talk endlessly about the future of Venezuela, and once hosted his own TV show, “Hello, President,” for eight hours and six minutes without a break, distracted only by taking a sip of coffee. And he drank 17 cups of coffee a day.
Chavez's curiosity is legendary. He scrupulously studied how Belarusian tractors work, how Russian military planes and helicopters work, and spent a long time at construction sites in Caracas, where engineers from Moscow are building entire neighborhoods for Venezuelans.
Hugo Chavez is not your typical politician. He openly admitted mistakes, sincerely repented to the people if something did not work out, wrote poetry, and drew excellently. The gene responsible for fear was completely absent.
Even monarchs could not stand his criticism. Thus, in 2007, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, lost his temper at an Ibero-American meeting. “Why don’t you shut up,” he shouted to Hugo Chavez, irritably and turning his attention to everyone. The President of Venezuela just grinned at this.
The disease overtook the “Red Rebel” a year and a half ago, and since then American newspapers have written dozens of times that Hugo Chavez has died. But after each operation in Cuba, he returned to Miraflores and even went on the radio from his hospital room.
The last operation lasted six hours and was unsuccessful - a fatal infection entered the lungs. The Venezuelan leader's heart stopped. It was as if he had a presentiment of death: he managed to appoint a successor. Chavez always hoped that the Bolivarian Revolution would survive him.
Hugo Chavez is the current President of Venezuela. Socialist and anti-globalist, known as an ardent opponent of US foreign policy actions.
Full name Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias was born in the city of Sabaten in Venezuela on July 28, 1954. Both parents are school teachers. Since childhood, Chavez has been interested in baseball, a hobby he has not given up until today. During his school years, Hugo Chavez was not only a participant, but also a repeated winner of art exhibitions.
Brief biography Hugo Chavez: early years
The official biography is full of white spots and ambiguities. It is still not known exactly where he studied. Some say that Chavez graduated from a military academy, others confidently claim that he was a student at a university in Caracas. According to some sources, in 1982 he became the head of SOMASATE (a revolutionary organization), according to others, this was much earlier. Later, the organization which included comrades from the military academy and Hugo Chavez himself began to be called the Bolivarian movement.
One of the key moments in the life of the president was the 1992 coup. He was the leader of this military action. The uprising was unsuccessful and the Peres regime remained in power. Many revolutionaries were seriously injured, 18 of them died. Hugo Chavez was arrested, but after 2 years he was released under an amnesty.
His political career began in 1994 after Rafael Calder was pardoned. Chavez wasted no time and created his own movement. That same year I was in Cuba. At that time, Norberto Ceresole had great influence on the current president and it was he who convinced him to follow the ideology of the Libyan leader Gaddafi. Hugo Chavez announced his own revolutionary beliefs for the first time at the University of Havana. All principles were successfully implemented into reality. In November 2004, the work was crowned with success and Chavez was awarded the Muammar Gaddafi International Prize for his significant contribution to the protection of human rights.
As President of the Republic, Chavez is famous for being the first to meet personally with Saddam Hussein after the conflict in Kuwait in 1990.
1998 was marked by victory in the presidential and at the same time parliamentary elections. The parliamentary elections confirmed that Hugo Chavez was successful as a politician. He was supported by the coalition, the Fifth Republic Movement, as well as various leftist parties MAS, "Homeland for All". The enemy was Communist Party Venezuela, it took 76 of 189 seats in parliament and, accordingly, 17 of 48 in the Senate. In percentage terms, this amounted to 34%.
The program was of a general nature. First of all, the promises concerned constitutional reform, then the program described the fight against corruption, and its leaders promised to end it. The abuses of the political elite must also come to an end. A program for social justice and a democratic society has been developed. The masses were promised participation in government. The main trump card of the DPR were the “Bolivarian committees”; they were created mostly in poor urban areas.
Here's a short biographical biography:
1998 - Chavez ran for the presidency for the first time
On April 11, 2002, Chavez lost power due to a coup d'etat, but this did not last long and three days later the presidency returned to its sovereign owner
July 2006 - Chavez paid his first visit to Russia, here he settled some political issues with the leader Russian Federation Vladimir Putin
On September 10, 2009, during his next official visit to Russia, Chavez announced that on behalf of the Venezuelan government he recognizes the complete political independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
February 2010 - Chavez took quite bold measures. An "electrical crisis" was declared. At this time, the country was experiencing problems associated with power outages. The population was ordered to reduce their electricity consumption, and the same requirements were imposed on businesses. In case of disobedience to the presidential decree, sanctions and increased tariffs were applied.
January 2011 - Chavez announced that the crisis had been overcome. However, only the severity of the problem was removed, but the problem itself was still relevant. The media have repeatedly reported about the outages.
June 2011 - Chavez begins to have health problems. He underwent surgery for the first time in one of the Cuban clinics.
On June 30 of the same year, he made an official statement regarding this issue, saying that during the operation he had a cancerous tumor removed
February 2012 showed that the 2011 operation was not enough and the doctors had to perform another operation to remove another tumor.
May 31, 2012 - great resonance in the press. Hugo Chavez gave the three millionth follower of his Twitter page a decent house as an incentive prize.
June 25 - Venezuela decided to protest the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo and recalled its ambassador from Paraguay. Hugo Chavez personally spoke on this matter. He said that neither he nor his country recognizes the new government and for them the same Fernando Lugo remains president.
July 10 - Hugo Chavez's new election campaign began, he began traveling around the provinces with his program. At the same time, he announced that he was completely cured of cancer.
October 11, 2012 - with the light hand of Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, also the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, becomes vice-president of the country
December 10, 2012 - flies to Cuba again for another operation. Cancer does not leave the leader alone
December 13, 2012 - it is officially reported that the state of health has improved and stabilized
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There is a category of people who claim that in order to achieve high-quality results, special conditions/skills/equipment are needed (we are not talking about the one that threatens to turn the Earth upside down if there is an appropriate fulcrum). But there is another category of people who, in spite of everything, destroy the beliefs of the former with their examples. The biography of one Venezuelan statesman and political figure is a vivid example of this.
Childhood and youth
The future speaker and leader of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, was born in Sabaneta, a small village located in the state of Barinas. This event took place on July 28, 1954. The boy became the second of seven children of Hugo de los Reyes Chavez and his wife Helen Friaz de Chavez.
Hugo spent his early childhood in the village of Los Rastrojos, which he left with his older brother Adan after finishing primary school. The parents sent the boys to their grandmother in Sabanet so that, while living with her, Hugo and Adan studied at the Lyceum named after General Daniel O'Leary.
Chavez, recalling his childhood, often said that it turned out to be poor, but happy. Then he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player when he grew up (this dream partially came true during his student years). After graduating from the Lyceum, Hugo entered the military academy. In parallel with his studies, the guy played baseball and softball - this led him to participate in the national championships in these sports.
Hugo Chavez in childhood and youth Also, as a student at the military academy, Chavez was interested in life and statements national hero- general. Later, he came across the book “Diary”, and Hugo became interested in the ideas of a Latin American revolutionary. At the same time, Chavez drew attention to the poverty of the Venezuelan working class and decided to correct this social injustice in the future.
In 1974, the academy's leadership sent its students to celebrate the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho, which took place during the Peruvian War of Independence. Head of State Juan Velasco Alvarado spoke at the event. The president's speech about the need for military action in the interests of the working class due to the corruption of the ruling class made a strong impression on twenty-year-old Hugo Chavez.
Young Hugo Chavez at the Military Academy Another significant event that happened to Chavez while studying at the academy was meeting his son supreme commander in chief Panama National Guard, Omar Torrijos, and visit to Panama. Velasco and Torrijos became Hugo's ideological inspirers - the ideas formed by Chavez and the removal of civilian power by the military leadership were based on their examples. In 1975, Hugo graduated with honors from a military university and joined the army.
Policy
While serving in an anti-partisan unit in Barinas, after another raid, the guy found a cache of literature of a communist nature (including works and). Hugo kept several books for himself and read them in his free time. What he read caused Chavez to become more deeply rooted in his leftist views.
Two years later, in the state of Anzoategui, Hugo’s detachment fought the Red Flag Party group. After communicating with the captured members of the group, Hugo began to understand that not only the civil authorities were thoroughly corrupt, but also the top of the military leadership. How else can we explain the fact that oil revenues do not go to help the country's poor?
This revelation led to Chavez founding the Bolivarian Revolutionary Party 200 (later to become the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200) in 1982. The initial idea of the organization was to study military history states in order to create a new personal system of warfare.
Later, political scientist Barry Cannon argued that the “Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200” was in fact the formation of a new ideology that absorbed all the best from previous ideological models. In 1981, Hugo received the rank of captain and taught at his former university for a semester, sharing his ideas with students and recruiting colleagues among them.
After this, Chavez was sent by the leadership to the city of Elors. Hugo began to suspect that this was a link, as the military leadership began to worry about his actions. Chavez was not at a loss - instead, he made acquaintance with the Yaruro and Cuiba tribes, the indigenous inhabitants of the lands that at that time belonged to the Venezuelan state of Apure.
Having become friends with the Yaruro and Quiba, Chavez realized that it was necessary to stop the oppression of the indigenous population by the country's citizens and revise the laws protecting the rights of indigenous people (which he would later implement). In 1986, Hugo Chavez received the rank of major.
Two years later, Carlos Andres Perez took over the presidency. He managed to win the race during the elections thanks to the promises announced in election campaign. In particular, a promise to stop following the monetary policy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In fact, Peres launched an even worse mechanism - a neoliberal model more profitable for the United States of America and the IMF. The citizens of Venezuela categorically did not like this. People went out to rallies, but by order of the president, all mass protests were brutally suppressed with the help of the military. Chavez was in the hospital at the time, so when the news reached him, he realized that a military coup was necessary.
According to the plan developed by Hugo and his team, it was necessary to seize key military facilities and media, eliminate Peres, replacing him with a proven candidate - Rafael Caldera (one of the former presidents of the country). Everything was ready for this.
But, nevertheless, the coup attempt carried out in 1992 was unsuccessful. Due to the small number of supporters, numerous betrayals, unverified information and other unforeseen circumstances, Chavez's plan failed. On February 5 of the same year, Hugo personally surrendered to the authorities and went on television asking his supporters to surrender, saying that for now he had lost.
This event was covered in detail by the media around the world (articles with Hugo’s photo were in all major publications in the world) and brought fame to Chavez, imprisoned in the military prison of San Carlos. Also, these events did not bypass Carlos Andres Perez - in 1993, the president was convicted and removed from office for malfeasance and embezzlement of the state budget for personal and criminal purposes. He was replaced by Caldera.
Rafael Caldera released Hugo and his supporters, dropping all charges, but prohibiting them from serving in the country's armed forces. After this, Chavez immediately set out to propagate his ideas among his fellow citizens, as well as seek support abroad (that’s when he met Fidel Castro).
During a tour of Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Argentina, Chavez learned from associates that the actions of the current President Caldera were not much different from the actions of Perez. Suspecting something was wrong, Hugo returned to his homeland.
Chavez understood that he could only come to power by force, since the oligarchs would not allow him to win Caldera in the upcoming elections. However, Hugo decided to try to avoid armed conflict by founding the Fifth Republic Movement (later to become the United Socialist Party of Venezuela), a left-wing socialist party, in 1997.
In the 1998 presidential race, Hugo Chavez managed to beat Rafael Caldera, Irene Saez and Enrique Raemers, taking office as President of Venezuela in 1999.
First presidential term Chavez lasted until 2001 and was marked by the repair of roads and hospitals, free treatment and vaccinations, the provision of social assistance, the revision of laws on the protection of indigenous people, as well as the launch of the weekly program “Hello, President,” in which anyone who called could discuss a pressing issue with Chavez or ask for help.
The first presidential term was followed by a second, third and even a short fourth. The oligarchy was never able to overthrow the people's favorite President Hugo Chavez, despite a coup in 2002 and a referendum in 2004.
Chavez's fourth presidential term began in January 2013 and ended in March of the same year due to Hugo's death. In fact, the role of head of state was played by the next president of Venezuela. And Hugo Chavez died at the age of 58.
Personal life
Was married twice. His first wife was Nancy Calmenares, with whom Chavez has daughters Rosa Virginia (1978) and Maria Gabriela (1980) and son Hugo Rafael (1983). After the birth of his son, Hugo separated from Calmenares, continuing to take care of his children.
From 1984 to 1993, he was in an unregistered relationship with Erma Marksman, his colleague. In 1997, he married again and became a dad for the fourth time - his second wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, gave birth to a daughter, Rosines. In 2004, the couple separated.
Death
In 2011, Chavez learned that he had cancer. Then, by personal invitation, he arrived in Cuba to undergo a course of operations. Hugo had his malignant tumor removed and began to feel better. However, at the end of 2012, the pain made itself felt again.
On March 5, 2013, Hugo Chavez died. For a long time details were not disclosed, but it was later announced that the cause of death was a massive heart attack. There were rumors that Chavez was actually poisoned by the Americans or his former comrade-in-arms turned defector, Francisco Arias Cardenas.
Initially, they wanted to embalm Hugo Chavez, but for certain reasons they did not do this. Instead, Chavez's body was taken from the Military Academy, where he studied and taught, to the Museum of the Revolution, where the farewell ceremony and funeral took place. Speeches were made by the heads of delegations from different countries, including from the United States (despite the fact that at a session of the UN General Assembly, Chavez spoke unflatteringly about the inhabitants of the White House).
Memory
On March 7, 2016, in Sabaneta, the locality where Hugo Chavez was born, a monument was erected to him - a gift from friends from Russia (including).
Quotes
“Some remains of steam, which used to be water, were recently discovered on Mars. It can be assumed that there was once a civilization on Mars. Mars is very similar to Earth. It even has rotation speeds around the Sun and around its axis that are similar to those on Earth. So, recently I was looking at a photograph of a dead planet with a magnifying glass, which was sent by an American apparatus from Mars. And it seemed to me that on one of the Martian rocks I distinguished three letters: IMF.”
“Yesterday the devil spoke at this podium. And it still smells of sulfur in here.”
“I swear, tirelessly, day and night, all my life to build Venezuelan socialism, a new political system, a new social system, a new economic system."
CHAVEZ FRIAS, HUGO RAFAEL(Chavez Frias, Hugo Rafael) (1954-2013), Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela.
Hugo Chavez was born in Sabaneta on July 28, 1954. His parents were school teachers. From 1971 to 1975 he studied at the Military Academy of Venezuela. He graduated with the rank of junior lieutenant.
Served in airborne units. He was fond of reading the literature of leftist theorists: K. Marx, V. Lenin and Mao Zedong.
In the 1980s, he organized an underground organization called COMACATE, and subsequently, on the basis of this organization, the underground Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement (MBR - Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario) was also created.
Since 1990, there has been some economic recovery, partly as a result of feverish privatization; in 1991 economic growth reached 10%, and in 1992 – 9%. However, by the end of 1992, growth slowed and inflation remained at 30%.
The crisis in the country continued to deepen. There was an outflow of capital, and a number of banks declared insolvency. Crime increased sharply, and prisoner riots occurred every now and then in overcrowded prisons. Former President Jaime Lusinchi, accused of corruption in 1993, was acquitted, but former president Perez was placed under house arrest, and in 1996 the Supreme Court found him guilty of illegally spending public funds.
Chavez spent two years in prison after his failed military coup attempt, was released and began to build his own electorate, appealing mainly to the poor for support. His supporters united in the so-called “Fifth Republic Movement” (FRM). Chavez's candidacy for the presidential elections in December 1998 was supported, in addition to the DPR, also by the MAS and a coalition of small left-wing groups.
In the parliamentary elections in November 1998, the coalition of the Patriotic Pole, which supported Chavez, consisting of his Fifth Republic Movement (FRF), the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), the Homeland for All Party and other groups, received about 34% of the votes and won 76 of 189 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 17 of the 48 Senate seats. The DD remained the largest of the individual parties (55 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 19 in the Senate). KOPEY received only 27 deputy and 7 Senate seats. In the elections of governors of the states and the capital district, Patriotic Pole and DD won 8 posts each, KOPEY – 5.
The presidential elections that followed in December 1998 turned out to be a real political earthquake. They demonstrated the decline of the influence of the DD and KOPEY, which dominated the country for almost 40 years. The result of their rule was corruption, increased poverty and a sharp deterioration in basic public services, including health and education. Despite Venezuela's oil wealth, more than 80% of the population lived in poverty, 40% even lower living wage. The economic recession, which began as a result of falling oil prices, mistakes in financial policies and political instability, led to a drop in gross domestic product by 0.7% in 1998 (in 1999 the crisis continued, despite the fact that oil prices rose again).
On the wave of general discontent, Hugo Chavez won the presidential election (56.2% of the vote), far ahead of his rivals - banker and former governor Enrique Salas Roemer (39.9%) and “Miss Universe 1981” Irena Saez (2.8% ). The traditional parties DD and COPEY refused to nominate their own candidates and expressed support for Salas.
Having assumed the presidency on February 2, 1999, Hugo Chavez refused to take an oath on the 1961 constitution, declaring it “dead.” He announced his intention to achieve the adoption of a new constitution, which was supposed to provide for a profound reform of the entire political, legal and economic system, and the fight against poverty and corruption. Chavez proclaimed the beginning of a “peaceful revolution” and threatened to dissolve Congress and the Supreme Court if they resist the planned changes.
Chavez's socio-economic policy did not provide for a fundamental rejection of market mechanisms, the regime of "austerity" and economic orientation towards the United States, and did not imply the nationalization of major industries and finance. At the same time, the new authorities sought to increase state intervention in the economic and social sphere. Chavez introduced the Bolivar 2000 Plan, according to which 70 thousand military personnel and 80 thousand government employees were sent to infrastructure development projects, health care, and education agriculture and road construction. At the same time, the government continued its policy of further reducing government spending, including for social needs, limited salary increases in the public sector so that it lagged significantly behind the growth of inflation, introduced a tax on banking transactions, etc.
Chavez's rise to power led to a sharp polarization of political forces. A sharp struggle developed between his authoritarian regime and the old party, legal, business and trade union elites. The President immediately went on the offensive against the legislative and judicial authorities of Venezuela. On February 17, 1999, he demanded the adoption of a law granting him emergency powers. At the end of March, Congress was forced to recognize the president’s rights to legislative measures to improve the budget for a period of 180 days, and on April 15, after Chavez’s threats to introduce a state of emergency, additional emergency powers in the economic field.
In April 1999, Chavez held a referendum, during which 90% of the participants (only 47% of voters voted) were in favor of convening a Constituent Assembly to develop a new constitution for the country. Assembly elections took place in July; 120 of the 128 seats (another three seats were reserved for Indian communities) were won by supporters of the president, and he was re-confirmed in office. The Supreme Court tried to limit the powers of the Constituent Assembly by ruling that it did not have the power to dissolve democratically elected bodies. However, on August 12, the meeting, ignoring the opinion of the courts, announced the assumption of emergency powers to reform government agencies, and on August 19 declared a “state of emergency” in the field of justice. It also decided to conduct an investigation into the activities of all judicial authorities in the country, including the Supreme Court, and also to purge them of persons involved in corruption. After this, the resistance of the Supreme Court was broken, and its chairman, Cecilia Sosa Gomez, resigned. The authorities opened cases against 75 judges at various levels on charges of abuse of office and corruption.
Now the main blow of the Chavez government was directed at the opposition National Congress. August 25, 1999 Constituent Assembly decided to deprive Congress of legislative powers; its meetings were banned and a commission was appointed to investigate the activities of deputies and senators. The severity of the conflict was softened by the mediation of the Catholic Church (Hugo Chavez himself is a deeply religious Catholic). According to the compromise reached, Congress was able to resume its meetings on October 1, 1999, but was forced, in essence, to accept its own powerless situation. The Supreme Court rejected the claim of parliamentarians who sought the repeal of emergency laws passed by the Constituent Assembly. Finally, both the assembly and the congress approved the text of the new constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and on December 15 it was approved by a popular referendum. The provisions contained in the text, which provided for the expansion of government intervention in the economy, caused discontent among business organizations.
After the constitution came into force in January 2000, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and replaced by a temporary congress committee until new elections.
The next conflict arose between the Chavez government and the press. By order of the authorities, an opposition television magazine was closed, which caused violent protests by journalists who accused the regime of violating press freedom. Venezuela's private television channels openly opposed the president.
The presidential elections on July 30, 2000 were won by a large margin by Hugo Chavez, who received more than 59% of the votes and began a new term in office on August 19. The president's main rival this time was his former comrade-in-arms in the 1992 military uprising, Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Arias Cardenas, who has now joined the opposition against Chavez. Having united around himself the opponents of the current president, Arias Cardenas collected more than 37% of the votes. 3% went to another opposition candidate, Claudio Fermin. The Patriotic Pole also won the parliamentary and gubernatorial elections, winning 99 seats in the National Assembly and 13 governorships.
The economic situation in the country was aggravated by rising unemployment, falling living standards and capital flight abroad. Civil servants and trade unions responded with mass protest demonstrations and threats of strikes.
In the area foreign policy Chavez sought to expand contacts with oil-producing countries and establish cooperation with Cuba, but at the same time did not want relations with the United States, the main consumer of Venezuelan oil, to deteriorate.
Throughout 2001, the confrontation between President Chavez and his opponents from among the old elites grew, and the following year resulted in open confrontation. Dissatisfaction among some of the top military circles increased, some of whose representatives publicly called on Chavez to resign. In April 2002, the government replaced the entire leadership of the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, and in response, opposition leaders of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers called for an indefinite general strike. The speech of oil workers and trade unions was supported by entrepreneurs' unions. After clashes between hundreds of thousands of supporters and opponents of the president took place in Caracas, during which dozens were killed and wounded, military commanders carried out a military coup on April 11; Chavez was forced to resign and was arrested. At the head of the transitional government, the rebel generals installed the President of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Associations (the largest association of entrepreneurs), Pedro Carmona. However most The army remained faithful to the president, and many hundreds of thousands of his supporters, mobilized by the Bolivarian Committees, took to the streets, mainly in poor neighborhoods of cities. As a result of the counter-coup, Chavez returned to power; his leading opponents were arrested.
The failure of the April coup did not end the political crisis in Venezuela. During the year, the opposition, taking advantage of growing economic difficulties and inflation, organized four general strikes against the government of President Chavez. The largest of them began in early December 2002 and lasted more than 2 months. The protests were organized by the leaders of the trade union Confederation of Workers of Venezuela and the political bloc “Democratic Coordination”. They demanded Chavez's resignation and a referendum on his presidency. But this strike (like the previous one, in October 2003) ended in failure.
In 2004, a referendum was held in which the main issue was the question of confidence in the president of the country. Over 59% of the population supported Chavez that he should remain in office.
Chavez strengthened cooperation with Cuba because... an understanding arose that it was necessary to unite against the imperialist encirclement. In 2006, Chavez coined the term "Axis of Good" and he tried to consolidate countries like Cuba and Bolivia. Later, Iran, Nicaragua, and Belarus joined the axis of good as potential allies.
On December 4, 2006, Hugo Chavez again won a convincing victory over the candidate from the Venezuelan opposition, the governor of the state, in the next presidential election. Zulia M. Rosales.
In early January 2007, Hugo Chavez announced the nationalization of Venezuela's largest telecommunications and electricity companies - Compania Nacional de Telefonos de Venezuela (СANTV) and EdC, controlled by American firms.
On January 18, 2007, the country's parliament passed a law granting U. Chavez emergency legislative powers for the next year and a half.
On October 7, 2012, the next presidential elections took place. 6 candidates took part in the presidential race. Largest quantity Hugo Chavez (55.26%) and Enrique Capriles Radonski, the single opposition candidate (approx. 45%) received votes. Chavez was re-elected president of the country for the fourth time.
After his re-election, Chavez changed the composition of the government. He appointed Nicolás Maduro, a former foreign minister, as vice president.
A few months before the elections, Hugo Chavez underwent several operations because... He was diagnosed with cancer. After his re-election, he underwent treatment in Cuba and, in fact, the country was led by the vice president. Chavez realized the seriousness of his situation, so in one of his speeches he announced N. Maduro’s successor, in case it was necessary to hold early elections.
Chavez died on March 5, 2013 in Venezuela after long treatment, including in Cuba for cancer.
“Comandante, wherever you are, thank you, thank you a thousand times from this people, which you defended, which you loved, and which never let you down,” Vice President Maduro said in his funeral speech, addressing the departed Chavez.
After Chavez returned to Caracas from Cuba, where he was undergoing treatment after another cancer operation, the Venezuelan president did not appear in public. The fact that the president's affairs are very bad became obvious after the Venezuelan authorities announced that 58-year-old Chavez was diagnosed with a new severe respiratory tract infection. Venezuelan Minister of Communications and Information Ernesto Villegas said that Chavez’s respiratory system, weakened after undergoing a course of chemotherapy, began to fail: “Our commander and president clings to Christ and life. He understands the severity of his condition and fully complies with all the doctors’ orders.”
People poured into the streets of Venezuelan cities to mourn the death of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution. Chavez's coffin will remain on public display until Friday, when the funeral takes place. A week of mourning has been declared in the country.
WHO WILL REPLACE CHAVEZ?
It is believed that after the death of the president, the powers of the head of the Bolivarian Republic should pass to the vice president. True, the problem may lie in the fact that Chavez, due to illness, was unable to take the oath after his next re-election. The military command of Venezuela has already declared allegiance to the vice president and parliament of the country and called on the people to remain calm. And according to the head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, Elias Jaua, early presidential elections after the death of Hugo Chavez will be held in the country no later than in a month; During this time, Vice President Nicolas Maduro will act as head of state.
As previously the question of the succession of power in Venezuela in the event of Chavez’s departure, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Latin America” Vladimir TRAVKIN, Vice President Nicolas Maduro “is not a successor appointed by Chavez, but an official who was chosen along with the president during the recent elections. He has the same number of votes as Chavez, i.e. more than 56 percent. The majority of the population is behind him. This is a person who is considered not only in Venezuela, but also in Latin America, a worthy successor to the work of the current Venezuelan leader.” However, some observers doubt that Maduro, a former driver and trade unionist, has charisma comparable to that of the late Chavez - and this could make it very difficult for him to face the opposition in the upcoming presidential elections.
There is an opinion that presidential powers should have temporarily passed to the President of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, who was supposed to hold early elections.
The main Venezuelan opposition leader, who fought against Chavez in the presidential elections, Enrique Capriles, expressed condolences on the death of the president and called on the country's population to unite at a difficult moment. But it seems that he is already ready to enter the fight for the post of head of state. As Vladimir Travkin, editor-in-chief of the magazine Latin America, noted in a commentary to MK, Enrique Capriles “has his own approach to the development of Venezuela, but he is not an anti-socialist, he simply opposes the regime of personal power, which is personified by Chavez. This is the most visible opposition force, although it does not have entirely positive features for a country like Venezuela. Capriles, although a Catholic, is Jewish. In addition, he is homosexual. In Venezuela, for all its political correctness, not everyone likes this. However, there is no other candidate yet.”
WHAT WAS HUGO CHAVEZ WAS?
Chavez took office as Venezuelan president in 1999. This was preceded by many events.
Unlike many Latin American countries, Venezuela has not been ruled by a military junta since 1958, there has been no dictatorship, and there has been a well-established democratic system with two successive parties. At the same time, corruption was corroding society, proceeds from oil sales were squandered by the powers that be (namely, thanks to oil in the 1970s, Venezuela achieved quite good economic indicators, which gave rise to wits to call it “Saudi Venezuela”). At the same time, the people received only crumbs from the export of black gold.
In February 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez, a paratrooper with 17 years of military service, attempted to stage a military coup in Venezuela.
According to Chavez's plan, five army units were to take control of key positions in Caracas. Chavez's rebels even managed to occupy the presidential palace, but they failed to capture the head of state, Carlos Perez - he fled through the garage.
At that time, no more than 10% of the military supported Chavez’s army. A bunch of inconsistencies led to the coup not succeeding. The conspirators failed to make a televised address to the nation, but the fugitive president went straight to TV. The case was lost in Caracas, although “on the ground” the rebels managed to take control of the situation. The loser, Chavez, did not hide - he even came on TV with the consent of the winners. It was a very successful trick: having promised to make a brief appeal to stop the bloodshed, Chavez suddenly burst out on air with a fiery speech: “Comrades! Unfortunately, the goals we set have not yet been achieved in the capital!”
Chavez was imprisoned for two years. There he developed serious vision problems. Difficulties with his eyes plagued him for the rest of his life. While the lieutenant colonel was behind bars, there was another coup attempt in the country that same year - and also failed.
Ironically, a year later, the same Perez whom the lieutenant colonel tried to overthrow was imprisoned in the same prison where Chavez was imprisoned on charges of corruption.
In 1994, Chavez was pardoned by the next Venezuelan president and was released, greeted by a crowd of journalists. The failure of the coup with the final address nevertheless played in Chavez’s favor - the broad masses saw in him a strong fighter and a charismatic leader who is capable of change. From a PR point of view, it was a clear victory.
In prison, Chavez decides to take power peacefully. Having gained freedom, Chavez took up politics. The doctrine that inspired Chavez is called “Bolivarism” - in honor of the hero of the struggle of South American countries against Spanish rule, Simon Bolivar. Even Chavez, having come to power, renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Chavez entered the 1998 presidential elections under the banner of the fight against corruption: 56.5% of the votes ensured his victory. Along with corruption, poverty has been declared the number one enemy. The fight against poverty is entrusted to the Bolivarian Missions. Chavez establishes tight control over the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. Excess oil revenues are used for the construction of hospitals and schools, the implementation of agrarian reform, the eradication of illiteracy, and others. social programs. Among the poor, Chavez's popularity is growing by leaps and bounds.
One of Chavez’s first moves in power is to launch his “Bolivar 2000” plan. Forty thousand soldiers began to help the population in need: conduct mass vaccinations, distribute food to slum residents. Thousands of sick poor people who did not have the money to travel around the country were transported by military helicopters and transport planes.
Critics argue that despite high oil revenues and proclaimed reforms, Chavez's successes in the socio-economic sphere look more than modest. Poverty (about half of Venezuelans are poor), unemployment (its level is one of the highest on the continent) - these ulcers have not disappeared. But the declared fight against corruption remained a declaration.
I have communist friends, but I am a nationalist! “I am a revolutionary in the spirit of Bolivar!” Chavez himself declared. “The Lord is the supreme commander, followed by Bolivar, and then me,” proclaimed Chavez, who considered himself the leader of the “Bolivarian, nationalist and Christian revolution.”
Some experts have characterized Chavez as an "authoritarian nationalist", comparing him to Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser or the early Fidel Castro.
It is likely that if a number of circumstances had not developed in a certain combination, Chavez’s fame would hardly have crossed the borders of Latin America. One of these circumstances may have been a surge in anti-globalist activity. Chavez was a welcome guest at anti-globalization forums; he was considered the most promising revolutionary leader in Latin America. But no popularity among anti-globalists can compare with the extent to which the United States of America helped Chavez gain charisma at the global level.
Chavez's rise to power was received in Washington by the Bill Clinton administration without much drama. And Chavez himself did not persist too much in anti-American rhetoric. The situation changed radically with Bush coming to power. Chavez did not support the “war on terror” declared by Bush. At the end of 2001, Chavez showed on TV photos of Afghan children who were victims of the American military operation.
“Venezuela is one of the main problems of the United States in Latin America. The rapprochement of this country with Cuba poses a serious threat,” then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the time. In response, Chavez compared the White House to a madhouse.
During the time of President Woodrow Wilson, the United States ousted its rival Britain from oil-rich Venezuela and supported the then-corrupt regime of Juan Vicente Gomez, which gave American companies free reign in the country. As American professor Noam Chomsky wrote in his book Hegemony or the Struggle for Survival: The US Quest for World Dominance, “the policy of open door and free trade was formulated in the usual format: putting pressure on Venezuela in order to prevent partnerships with the UK , while continuing to defend and strengthen US rights to oil developments in the Middle East, where Great Britain and France held leading positions. By 1928, Venezuela had become a major oil exporter, with American companies running the oil fields. This policy led to the fact that by 2003, Venezuela was a country with record levels of poverty, while its potential and resources were aimed at serving the interests of foreign investors rather than its own citizens.”
The confrontation between Chavez and the White House has moved to the ideological level. The main Bolivarian took up arms against the American model of neoliberalism, designating it as “the highest stage of capitalist madness.” It is the neoliberal model that “makes the development of democracy impossible, because it interferes with the achievement of social justice, without which democracy is unthinkable,” Chavez assured in response to accusations of being anti-democratic And the aggressiveness of the United States towards Venezuela is explained by Chavez by the fact that Caracas does not accept the model of “neoliberal capitalism”.
Under Chavez, Venezuela, rich in “black gold,” considered itself the engine of Latin American integration. The famous Monroe Doctrine “America for Americans” was developed here into the formula “Latin America for Latin Americans.” " North America- this is one continent, South America“completely different,” Chavez said, calling on Latin American states to introduce a single currency, the “sucre,” in order to oust the “weakening US dollar” from circulation on the continent.
Chavez will remain in people's memory as a tireless speaker who could speak for hours at rallies (he learned this from his older comrade Fidel) and not mince words. Emotionality and willingness to get personal, without hesitation in the selection of expressions - this was the signature style of Hugo Chavez. Suffice it to recall how he attacked American President Bush Jr.: “He is in this place because he is his daddy’s son. It was they who brought him to power. He was an alcoholic. Your president is an alcoholic. This is true. It pains me to say this, but it's true. He's an alcoholic. Sick man."
Revenues from oil exports made possible the successes of Chavez’s “Bolivarian missions”. And it was “black gold” that largely gave Chavez weight in the world. Venezuela is one of the world leaders in oil production and export, one of the founders of OPEC. Chavez himself once said that he became an enemy of the United States largely due to the fact that “Venezuela resurrected OPEC by organizing a summit of the leaders of the states that are members of this organization.”
Chavez had many enemies - inside and outside Venezuela. “We have the opportunity to destroy him, and I think the time has come for us to realize this opportunity,” - in August 2005, the famous American televangelist Robertson publicly made such a “Christian” attack on Chavez. The Christian Coalition of America, which he heads, helped Bush Jr. a lot in his election to the presidency. There was a terrible embarrassment - the State Department had to call the televangelist’s words “inappropriate” and disavow him, meanwhile, accusations of dictatorship and the word “oil” in the speech against Chavez, who “is going to turn Venezuela into a launch site.” platform for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism on the continent,” were heard equally often.
There are plenty of people who want to deal with the Venezuelan leader. Back in late 1999, Fidel Castro told Venezuelan journalists that counter-revolutionary elements from Miami held a secret meeting where they discussed the details of organizing an alleged terrorist attack against Chavez. The conspirators planned to arrive in Caracas with false documents through some third country in order to attract less attention from border guards and customs officers. In April 2002, Chavez was removed from power for two days when the opposition carried out a coup. Proclaimed interim president, Pedro Carmona immediately abolished all the main provisions of socio-economic policy. But the military loyal to Chavez staged a counter-coup and freed their president from military base, where he was held by the rebels. The failed coup did not improve relations between Venezuela and the United States. Chavez has repeatedly accused the Americans of complicity in the coup. Although after the failure of the coup, America condemned it, and there is no direct evidence of US involvement in the events of 2002, it is easy to assume that the American intelligence services were aware of what was happening. Even the illness that killed Chavez is attributed by his supporters to the machinations of his enemies. And who knows?
Hugo Chavez was re-elected as President of Venezuela in October 2012, but he failed to complete his next term...
MK TV: In memory of Hugo Chavez
