Hugo Chavez
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been in office since 1999 - a leftist reformer who started out as a revolutionary military man. His Presidency has been marked by controversy: his supporters recognize his aid to the poor, while critics call him neo-fascist. His "Bolivarian Revolution" set out to end disease, poverty and illiteracy and integrate Latin American countries. But his open criticism of U.S. foreign policy has made him a threat to the world's oil supply, since Chavez controls the hemisphere's largest oil reserves. Chavez was re-elected in 2000 and 2006, and he is largely expected to win again in the next Venezuelan election.
Chavez was born in Sabaneta, Barinas, and graduated from the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences. After his divorce from Nancy Colmenares, who bore three children, he married Marisabel Rodriguez de Chavez, who also had a daughter. Chavez is also divorced from his second wife.
- Hugo Chavez Profile
A profile of the Venezuelan President from the BBC.
- Chavez in Time Magazine
Chavez was listed as one of the People Who Shape Our World by Time Magazine in 2006. Find out why.
- MotherJones
An interview with the author of Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution.
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