Biography of Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez: "The People's President" of Venezuela Hostile relations with the United States

The magazine "Vlast" and the radio station "Echo of Moscow" continue the joint project "Authorities". This time we will talk about one of the most eccentric politicians in the world - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

On Sunday in Venezuela there were presidential elections, on the eve of which all opinion polls predicted the unconditional victory of the current President Hugo Chavez. For example, a survey by the American research agency public opinion Zogby International showed that 60% of the country's citizens are going to vote for the current president of Venezuela. The president's rival, head of the oil-rich state of Zulia Manuel Rosales, trailed him by 29% of the vote.

Hugo Chavez was also absolutely confident of victory. At meetings with voters, he did not hide the fact that he did not consider Manuel Rosales a competitor, and in his speeches he criticized not him, but American hegemony. “We confront the devil, and we will defeat him. On December 3, we will knock out the most powerful empire on the planet,” said the Venezuelan leader.

For his election speeches, Hugo Chavez chose large areas, where hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans gathered to listen to the president. Those who have heard Chavez speak say that he is an excellent speaker with a sense of humor. “He speaks perfectly without a piece of paper, he can keep the audience in suspense for a long time,” says the author of books about Hugo Chavez, leading researcher at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences Emil Dabayan. “And he speaks differently with different listeners. With ordinary people, he uses slang that is understandable only to people on the street. If he speaks in an audience of educated people, he operates with philosophical concepts and demonstrates knowledge of history. He is a very temperamental, lively person." Therefore, it is not surprising that the Venezuelan president is irresistible to impressionable people. “The meeting with Chavez made a very strong impression on all of us,” says Yulia Barkova, a member of the Russian folk ensemble “Grenada”, who performed for the Venezuelan president during his visits to Moscow. “It’s simply amazing to follow his thoughts. You’re amazed at his erudition, how “how he feels the audience, how bright and interesting he speaks.”

Hugo Chavez is not just a good speaker - he puts on real performances. Recently, during a two-hour speech in front of several thousand of his supporters, Chavez made them dance salsa, sing songs, and then held a competition to see who could clap for him the loudest. After ten minutes of thunderous applause, the leader of Venezuela suddenly interrupted the fun: “Whoever breaks the silence first is an ass.” After which he was the first to laugh loudly at his own witty joke.

The public also remembered the speech of the President of Venezuela at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Upon entering the podium, Hugo Chavez made several energetic movements with his nose, as if he smelled an unpleasant odor, after which he announced that he smelled the devil: the day before, US President George W. Bush had spoken at the same podium. For those who didn't get the hint, Hugo Chavez clarified: "Yesterday's performance by Bush is a script for Hitchcock. I can even give it a title - 'The Devil's Recipe'. Everywhere he looks, he sees extremists. It's not that that we are extremists, but that the world is waking up, the world is getting up from its knees!”

A person with the biography of Hugo Chavez had practically no chance of becoming president of a Latin American country. Traditionally, in Latin America, representatives of national elites are in power. And Hugo Chavez was born into a poor family in 1954. His parents Hugo de Los Reyes Chavez and Elena Fries are rural teachers who lived in the town of Sabaneta in the southeast of the country. In addition, Hugo Chavez's ancestors included Indians and Africans. In Venezuela, these people are called "Indeos" and are contrasted with members of the elite with lighter skin.

But Hugo always believed that he would become a hero of Venezuela, like his famous great-grandfather, General Pedro Perez Delgado, nicknamed Maisanta, who became famous for leading an uprising against dictator Juan Vicente Gomez in 1914. Hugo and his friends often made forays into the places of heroic battles, trying to find shell casings lost in the sand.

After graduating from school, Hugo decided to become a military man and entered the military academy, from which he graduated in 1975 with the rank of junior lieutenant. Quickly advancing through the ranks, in 15 years he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. During his service, Hugo Chavez became seriously interested in baseball and began to dream of a career as a professional player. In 1969, as a member of the Criollitos de Venezuela team, he even participated in the national baseball championship.

Revolutionary

At the same time, the energetic officer Chavez was actively involved in conspiracy activities. Not only his comrades knew about this, but also military counterintelligence. At the end of the 1970s, a secret organization was created within the army, the core of which was Chavez’s colleagues at the military academy. “An indelible impression on Chavez was made by his trip in 1974 as part of a group of cadets to Peru to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho, which brought a decisive victory to the patriots over the Spanish colonialists in the war for the independence of South America,” said Emil Dabayan. “This example inspired the future president The most important milestone in his self-identification was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Simon Bolivar, widely and solemnly celebrated both in Venezuela and far beyond its borders in 1983. This stimulated the military to a more in-depth study of the history of the creative activities of the national hero of Venezuela Simon Bolivar, "his views, worldview, ideological and political heritage. They were increasingly inclined to believe that, despite the significant distance in time, many of the behests of the liberator - as Bolivar is called in Venezuela - have not lost their relevance, that they are quite applicable in modern conditions."

On February 3, 1992, tanks appeared on the central streets of Caracas and other cities in the country. The rebels marched with eight battalions in four cities, including Caracas and Maracaibo. The reason for the speech was the riots that took place shortly before on the outskirts of Caracas and other major cities: Poor residents were driven to despair by the policies of President Carlos Andres Perez, who was introducing a liberal economic model in the country. One of the rebel leaders was Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez. The coup attempt ended in failure. At noon on February 4, Hugo Chavez surrendered to the authorities, calling on his supporters to lay down their arms. At the time of the arrest, broadcast live, Chavez said that he and his comrades had failed to achieve their goal this time and that they wanted to avoid senseless bloodshed. “But this does not mean the end of the fight. The fight will continue,” Chavez promised.

Chavez spent the next two years in prison. Upon learning of her husband's arrest, his first wife Nancy Colmenares, with whom Chavez lived for 18 years, left Hugo Chavez. They had three children: two girls and a boy. “Hugo Chavez is a person whom difficulties only make stronger,” says Ernest Sultanov, who worked as a correspondent for Kommersant Publishing House in Caracas in 2003-2004 and met with the President of Venezuela several times.

Chavez did not lose heart. And two years later, the next president of Venezuela pardoned him and released him from prison. During this time, Chavez's associates revised the tactics of fighting the unwanted regime and created a legal political party, the Fifth Republic Movement. The charismatic Hugo Chavez quickly became the party's leader. In the 1998 presidential elections, Chavez nominated his candidacy under the slogan of fighting corruption. During the election campaign, he was accompanied by his second wife, Marisabel Rodriguez de Chavez.

The president

Having come to power, the first thing Chavez did was change the constitution - in 1999, the new constitution was approved in a referendum. Since 2000, in honor of Simon Bolivar, the country has been called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. But the most important thing is that the president received the right to remain in power not for five, but for six years, as well as the opportunity to be elected for a second term.

In 2000, Chávez again won presidential elections, which were held under a new constitution, allowing him to remain in power until January 2007 and run for office in 2006.

The president's troubles began when he tried to take control of Venezuela's oil industry. In 2001, Chavez announced the nationalization of the main oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and fired all members of the board of directors, replacing them with his fellow former military officers.

In December 2001, oil magnates and labor unions openly opposed the president for the first time. The first general strike ended in nothing, but soon part of the army joined the opposition. The demonstration ended in a coup - Hugo Chavez was overthrown and sent to Archila Island, and Pedro Carmona was declared interim president. When this information began to flow into the country's barracks and garrisons, military officers loyal to the president declared their disobedience to the self-appointed government and demanded the immediate restoration of the constitution and the return of Hugo Chavez. Then hundreds of thousands of Chavistas took to the streets and the junta fell after only three days.

It was the poor sections of the population that became Chavez’s main support. “The migrants who moved from the village to the city did not adapt well; they lived in cardboard houses, which in Caracas were located even in the city center. And this population became the support of the new regime, its support predetermined both the first election victory and the second,” - says Emil Dabayan.

"First Lady of Cuba"

“The First Lady of Cuba” is what members of the Venezuelan opposition call Hugo Chavez. This is a reference to Chavez's close friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Recently, a scandal erupted in Venezuela over the publication of the book "Tango for Two", on the cover of which Hugo Chavez was depicted dancing with Fidel Castro. Fidel is Chavez's godfather. It was Fidel's support and influence that helped Chavez gain recognition in Latin America at one time. “Chavez was in Cuba in 1994 at the invitation of Fidel Castro. And we must pay tribute to him: Fidel Castro invited an unknown rebel lieutenant colonel, saw in him a future political figure. Since then, the friendship between Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez began, which continues to this day day,” says Emil Dabayan. Having gained recognition in Latin America, Chavez in 2006 made Venezuela a member of Mercosur, the Latin American common market that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Chavez clearly aims to be the heir of Fidel Castro, the permanent leader of the socialist revolution and the main enemy of the United States in Latin America. Just as relatives who want to receive an inheritance sit for days at the bedside of their dying rich uncle, Hugo Chavez visits the President of Cuba almost every month, who underwent a serious operation on July 31, 2006. It is Chavez who notifies the world about the state of the commander’s health: “Fidel is feeling better,” “He is already walking more than lying in bed,” “Fidel is at the stage of full recovery.” And the photograph of Chavez in a red shirt next to Fidel Castro lying on high pillows, which has spread all over the world, should leave no doubt about who is the most faithful follower of the leader of the Cuban revolution.

In calling Chavez “the first lady of Cuba,” the Venezuelan opposition is also right because their president influences the Cuban economy: Venezuela is the main supplier of oil to Cuba.

When Fidel Castro is gone, Chavez expects to become the informal leader of all of Latin America. But unlike the Cuban leader, who, due to the poverty of his country, could influence the mood in Latin America only with the help of ideology, Hugo Chavez has great financial resources. Hugo Chavez is the main supplier of weapons to revolutionaries on the continent. According to the US, Colombian rebels, who have been fighting the government for 30 years, are receiving weapons from the Chavez regime.

The President of Venezuela is constantly increasing arms purchases. Last year, Venezuela signed a contract with Russia for $3 billion. “We must protect every street, every hill, every corner of our country from the threat of American military invasion,” Hugo Chavez convinces Venezuelans. And, surprisingly, Venezuelans still believe him.

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]. In 1982 (according to other sources, while studying at the academy), Chavez and his colleagues founded the underground organization COMACATE (an abbreviation made up of the first and second letters in the names of middle and junior officer ranks). COMACATE was later transformed into the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement (Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario), named after the hero of the Latin American War of Independence, Simon Bolivar.

In February 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Chavez led a military coup against Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, who was unpopular due to high level corruption and reduction policies government spending. . . The uprising, during which 18 people were killed and 60 injured, was suppressed by the government. Chavez surrendered to the authorities and was placed in a military prison. In November 1992, Chavez's associates launched a new, again unsuccessful, coup attempt. Chavez spent two years in prison and was released in 1994 under an amnesty. He reorganized his supporters into the Fifth Republic Movement (Movimiento V Republica) and moved from armed struggle to legal political activity.

In 1998, Chavez ran for president on the slogan of fighting corruption. At the time, he refrained from radical political rhetoric, and the reform program he proposed could not be called revolutionary. In the elections of December 6, 1998, Chavez won with 56.5 percent of the votes. The policies of the Chavez government included a number of large-scale social programs, including the creation of universal education and health care systems. The government established tight control over the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, the profits of which were directed to the needs of society: the construction of hospitals and schools, the fight against illiteracy, the implementation of agrarian reform and others. Having thus won the support of the poor majority of the population, Chavez began to nationalize enterprises in various industries.

In 1999, a new constitution of Venezuela was adopted, which increased the presidential term from five to six years. In the subsequent presidential elections on July 30, 2000, Chavez won 60 percent of the votes. In the subsequent period, Chavez's political course, called the "Bolivarian movement towards socialism", shifted to the left. The president made harsh statements against the “predatory oligarchs” - the leaders of the oil industry, as well as the hierarchs of the Catholic Church and opposition journalists. In foreign policy, Chavez took an anti-American position. In 2001, he condemned the US military operation in Afghanistan. According to the Venezuelan president, the Americans themselves used terrorist methods to fight against terror. It is quite natural that many, including the Venezuelan leader himself, blamed the United States for the attempt to overthrow Chavez in 2002.

On April 11, 2002, as a result of a coup d'etat, Chavez was deprived of power, but on April 14 he returned to the presidency with the support of loyal army units and numerous supporters. Until April 14, the state was headed by Pedro Carmona Estanga. He dissolved parliament, suspended the attorney general and state comptroller, and repealed legislation passed during Chavez's presidency that redistributed part of the nation's wealth to the poor. The United States readily welcomed the coup, which was "good for Venezuelan democracy." When Chavez returned to power, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice advised the Venezuelan president to learn a lesson from recent events. After 2002, the opposition tried to fight Chavez using constitutional methods. In 2004, opponents of the president achieved a referendum on confidence in the country's leadership. The majority of Venezuelans (more than 59 percent) then supported the president, and his power only strengthened.

Anti-Americanism and anti-globalism have become Chavez's calling card. Under his leadership, Venezuela began to claim leadership in the opposition to the United States in the Western Hemisphere. According to press reports, the Venezuelan government provided assistance to Colombian guerrillas, spent considerable sums to help other Latin American states, and opposed the creation of a free trade area of ​​the Americas (FTAA, Free Trade Area of ​​the Americas). Moreover, Chavez tried to win sympathy within the United States itself. His American opponents argued that Venezuela allocates funds to lobby its interests in Congress. Groups of supporters of the Venezuelan president have emerged in the United States. Chavez agreed to supply heating oil at a reduced price to low-income areas in the northern United States.

With attacks against the United States, Chavez won sympathy all over the world. Americans could not help but be outraged by the list of Chavez's foreign friends, an alliance with whom he called the "axis of good": Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban President Fidel Castro, , . Venezuela has established particularly friendly relations with Cuba. Chavez sold energy to the island state at low prices and provided it with economic assistance. Castro responded by sending numerous Cuban specialists to Venezuela, in particular doctors, who played an important role in implementing the social programs of the Chavez government.

On August 22, 2005, a scandalous incident occurred related to the name of Chavez. On this day, American "televangelist" Pat Robertson publicly called on the US authorities to kill Chavez, who could turn Venezuela into a "springboard for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism" on the American continent. Although Chavez himself expressed indifference to the incident, other Venezuelan officials demanded that the US authorities call Robertson to account. A representative of the US State Department said that Robertson, as a private citizen, has the right to make any statements, emphasizing that the official US position does not correspond to the opinion of the preacher.

In July 2006, Chavez visited Russia, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two countries entered into important agreements. Firstly, an agreement was reached on supplies Russian weapons and military aviation to Venezuela. Secondly, a partnership was outlined in the energy field: in particular, the development of new oil fields in Venezuela was planned with the participation of Russian company"Lukoil", .

Chavez's speech at a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September 2006 became widely known: the Venezuelan leader called US President George W. Bush the devil and predicted the collapse of the "American Empire". During the 2006 election campaign, which Chavez waged under the slogan “in the name of love” (por amor), he promised his “main rival” Bush - “Mr. Devil” that “candidates from imperialism will be ground into powder.”

Before the 2006 elections, Venezuelan society was divided. Chavez's supporters, who constitute the majority of Venezuelans and who mainly represent low-income sectors of the population, saw him as a leader who defended the interests of the poor. The president's opponents accused him of populism, a penchant for autocracy, and attempts to imitate the communist regime of Cuba. Although Chavez's opponent, the governor of the oil-producing state of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, managed to unite the disparate forces of the opposition into a single whole, in the elections of December 3, 2006, Chavez won, , , , .

Even before the official announcement of the voting results, Rosales admitted defeat, and Chavez began to celebrate the victory, which he dedicated to his friend Castro, and proclaimed the beginning of a new era of socialist revolution, , , , , , . Before the elections, Chavez announced plans to amend the Venezuelan constitution to allow the president to be re-elected an unlimited number of times. Taking the presidential oath of office on January 10, 2007, Chavez promised to carry out intensive socialist reforms in Venezuela, including the nationalization of the largest energy and telecommunications companies.

Later in January 2007, parliament granted Chavez expanded powers for a period of one and a half years. The president was able to govern the country through decrees, bypassing the legislative branch. The promised nationalization of corporations in key industries began in February. Venezuela bought the assets of the largest energy company Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) from the American AES Corporation. An agreement was concluded to purchase shares of the telecommunications giant CANTV, owned by the American Verizon Communications.

On May 1, 2007, Chavez announced the suspension of Venezuela's cooperation with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The president cited the reason for this step as his desire to distance himself from international institutions controlled by the United States. At the end of June, the Venezuelan leader visited Russia again. Like the previous time, the main topics of the visit were the purchase of Russian weapons by Venezuela and cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas industry.

In July 2007, Chavez announced his intention to introduce a bill to parliament that would allow the President of Venezuela to be re-elected an unlimited number of times. Chavez explained that citizens should not be deprived of the right to choose the leader they like as many times as they want.

On December 2, 2007, Venezuelan citizens did not support the constitutional amendments proposed by Chavez. A total of 69 amendments were submitted to the referendum: in addition to abolishing the limit on the number of presidential terms of government, it was proposed, for example, to increase the term of office of the head of state from six to seven years, abolish the autonomy of the Central Bank of Venezuela, give voting rights to sixteen-year-old citizens and introduce a six-hour working day. At the same time, Chavez initiated only 33 amendments, combined into block "A", while the other 36 amendments, combined into block "B", were proposed by parliament. According to the results of the referendum, the first block of reforms was supported by only 49.3 percent of voters, and the second - 48.9 percent; respectively, 50.7 and 51.1 percent of voters voted against.

Despite his defeat in the referendum, Chavez continued to consolidate power. Back in 2006, he announced the creation of a new party, which, together with the Fifth Republic Movement led by Chavez, would include other parties supporting the “Bolivarian movement towards socialism.” The first congress of the new party, called the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV), was held in January-March 2008. The new political organization was headed by Chavez himself, calling it “the party of social struggle and defense of the fatherland.”

In February 2008, after Kosovo declared independence, Chavez announced that he would not recognize the sovereignty of this republic, adding that such steps are aimed at weakening Russia, destabilize the region and create a number of dangerous precedents. According to Chavez, the United States also provoked unrest in Tibet in order to spoil the image of China the day before Olympic Games.

In June 2008, following an operation by the Colombian military against the guerrilla organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Chavez invited FARC leaders to release the hostages and lay down their arms.

Chavez was on the side of Russia during the conflict in South Ossetia in August 2008 (this conflict was subsequently referred to in the media as the “five-day war”). Chavez stated that he supports Russia's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, approved on August 26 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but did not say whether Venezuela intends to recognize the independence of the republics. Chavez also accused the United States of escalating the conflict.

In January 2009, in response to Israel's armed operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Venezuela expelled the Israeli ambassador from the country, while Chavez called the Israeli actions aggression and announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Israel. Bolivia has also taken similar steps. In response, Israel expelled the Venezuelan embassy from the country.

In early 2009, Chavez announced that he intended to write opinion columns, “Chavez Lines,” in a number of Venezuelan newspapers, the first of which was dedicated to Chavez’s favorite sport, baseball. According to experts, Chavez decided to engage in journalism, imitating Fidel Castro.

In January 2009, it became known that a referendum had been scheduled for February 15 of that year to abolish term limits for the President of Venezuela and other elected positions. A similar proposal failed in a referendum in 2007, but this time the proposal to change the constitution was supported by 55 percent of voters, thereby giving Chavez the right to stand for a third six-year term in the next presidential election in 2012. It is noteworthy that representatives State Department The United States stated that the referendum in Venezuela satisfied all democratic norms.

On September 10, 2009, during an official visit to Russia, Chavez announced that Venezuela would recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In response, Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili stated that Chavez is a fringe and his statement will not have any consequences. On September 15, 2009, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry transmitted a government note on the official recognition of the sovereignty of Abkhazia.

In 2009, El Niño caused a drought in Venezuela, causing critically low water levels in hydroelectric reservoirs that generate about 75 percent of the country's electricity. Because of this, power outages have become more frequent in Venezuelan cities, and the metro in Caracas has been operating intermittently. As a response, Chavez demanded that the country's residents save electricity: in particular, he suggested not playing football at night, washing cold water shower for no more than three minutes and do not use air conditioning. However, according to critics, the reason for the power outages was the nationalization of the country's energy complex, since the Chavez government did not take measures to modernize it. In February 2010, Chavez announced an “electric crisis” due to power outages and called on the population and businesses to reduce electricity consumption under the threat of sanctions and tariff increases. In January 2011, Chavez announced that the crisis had been overcome, but even after that the media wrote about problems with the electricity supply in the country.

In June 2011, Chavez underwent surgery in one of the Cuban clinics. On June 30, the president admitted that during an operation he had a cancerous tumor removed. In mid-July of the same year, Chavez returned to Cuba to undergo chemotherapy. Before treatment, he transferred part of his powers to the country's Vice President Elias Jaua and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani.

After completing the treatment course, in August 2011, Chavez announced the nationalization of the gold mining industry in Venezuela: before his decree, the largest company operating in this sector in the country was a Canadian company with Russian capital, Rusoro Mining. In December 2011, its representatives reported that the Venezuelan government had not approached it with proposals to create joint venture or compensation, and promised to file a complaint in international arbitration. In addition, in August 2011, Chavez announced the return to the country of gold reserves, which were stored in banks in Europe and the United States (the main part is in the UK). In total, it was reported that the Central Bank of Venezuela intended to repatriate from 160 to 218 tons of gold, and place part of the gold and foreign exchange reserves in the banks of China, Russia and Brazil.

Meanwhile, the course of treatment Chavez underwent in the summer of 2011 was not enough: in February 2012, doctors in Cuba performed another operation on him to remove the tumor.

On June 11, 2012, Chavez registered as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela on October 7, 2012; his main rival was called the single opposition candidate, the former governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles. The day before, Chavez announced his full recovery. "Within a few last days here in Venezuela, I had a computed tomography, magnetic resonance examination, and all the results are absolutely normal after the surgery and courses of radiation therapy,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

In the presidential elections in Venezuela on October 7, 2012, Chavez was re-elected to a new six-year term with 54.4 percent of the vote. Capriles was supported by 44.9 percent of the country's voters.

Chavez was married twice. He divorced his first wife, Nancy Colmenares, in 1992, after which he began to live with his mistress, Herma Marksman. His second wife was journalist Marisabel Rodríguez Oropeza. Marizabel helped Chavez create the 1999 constitution, but filed for divorce in 2002 and denounced her ex-husband's reforms in 2007. Chavez has three children from his first marriage: Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela and Hugo Rafael, and one daughter from his second, Rosines.

Used materials

Ewan Robertson. Chavez Wins Venezuelan Presidential Election with 54% of the Vote. - Venezuelanalysis.com, 07.10.2012

Hugo Chavez registers for Venezuela's election. - BBC News, 11.06.2012

Dmitry Znamensky. Chavez announced his recovery a year after the first operation. - RIA News, 10.06.2012

Andrew Cawthorne. Ignore rumors, Venezuela says in Chavez cancer saga. - Reuters, 29.02.2012

Daniel Cancel. Rusoro May Turn to Arbitration to Resolve Venezuela Gold Mining Dispute. - Bloomberg, 17.12.2011

Venezuela Begins Return of Gold Reserves from Abroad to Central Bank. - Venezuelanalysis.com, 02.12.2011

Chavez repatriates Venezuela's foreign gold reserves. - BBC News, 26.11.2011

Roman Asankin, Seda Yeghikyan. Hugo Chavez nationalizes everything that glitters. - Kommersant, 19.08.2011. - № 153 (4694)

Chávez to nationalize the Venezuelan gold industry. - Reuters, 18.08.2011

Comandante Chavez delega al vicepresidente Elias Jaua para ejecutar un conjunto de funciones. - Venezolana de Television, 16.07.2011

Hugo Chavez delegates duties ahead of new therapy. - San Francisco Chronicle, 16.07.2011

Fernando Garcia. Chavez tiene cancer. - La vanguardia, 01.07.2011

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias(1954 - 2013) - President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from to the years, paratrooper, reserve lieutenant colonel, head, Trotskyist, participant in the events of February 1992.

Biography

9) the wages of workers and employees were increased by 30 percent. Despite the fact that during the era of capitalist rule, the increase in wages of Venezuelans did not exceed two percent.

10) the metallurgical industry was nationalized.

11) Several MAZ assembly plants began operating in Venezuela.

Incident in Colombia

In 2007, Chavez arrived on a visit to Colombia. Official data describes Colombia as a prosperous and wealthy state, but there is one thing. In Colombia, there are revolutionary armed organizations that have been fighting the authorities for 40 years. It's strange, isn't it? The total number of armed oppositionists is over 20 thousand people. The ideology of these movements is leftist. They fight the authorities using all sorts of methods, including illegal ones. Because of the presence of such an ideology, they are persecuted, declared “terrorist”, and subject to all sorts of bans and sanctions. But they don't give up. So, in August 2008, Chavez offered his help to negotiate the release of hostages captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces Colombia (FARC), demanding the release of comrades from prison. The situation is clearly not clear-cut. On the one hand, of course, it’s wrong, after all, they are people. On the other hand, where should they go if they are being pressed like that? The government declared an information war on the rebels. Chavez offered his assistance in the negotiations. But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe refused Chavez's services. Well, how is it? Accept help from a socialist? Never! I don't care about people. He explained his refusal by saying that Chavez was interested in the rebels winning. However, the revolutionaries released some of the hostages, in honor of Chavez's policies. They appointed a collection point, but set the conditions that the hostages would be transported by representatives of Venezuela. So it was, however, Uribe had difficulty agreeing to it. Operation was successfully completed. The rebels publicly thanked the Venezuelan leader. Uribe also thanked him, despite his personal hostility. After all this, Chavez publicly called on the public to remove the FARC from the list of terrorist organizations. This is how it happened, Chavez gave people freedom and life, guided by purely humanistic values. And again, there is not a drop of blood on his hands.

Personal life

Chavez was married twice. Has five children.

Until recently, Chavez suffered from cancer, but now he has had a swollen organ removed and his life is not in danger, despite the endless rumors in the media. It is not surprising that Chavez suffered from such an illness. After all, one of the medical causes of cancer is nervous or mental overload. And no wonder. All his life Hugo Chavez has been fighting the enemies of the world and his homeland. In the summer he announced his complete recovery. And this is thanks to the best Cuban medicine in the world.

Flaws

Of course, Chavez has shortcomings. Firstly, he adheres to Totskian beliefs and professes Roman Catholicism. In addition, in December 2011, Chavez announced that the rally taking place in Moscow was the work of the United States. There are clear features of Putinism in this. However, all this pales in comparison to all those services not only to his homeland, but to the whole world.

Awards

Lieutenant Colonel (reserved) (since 1990)

Order of the Star of Carabobo.

Cross of the Ground Forces.

Order of Francisco Miranda.

Order of Rafael Urdaneta.

Order of the Liberator, V class.

Laureate of the José Martí International Prize (2005, UNESCO)

Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1st class (2006, Iran)

Order of Friendship of Peoples (2008, Belarus).

Order of Sandino (2007, Nicaragua)

Order “Uatsamonga” (July 7, 2010, South Ossetia) - in recognition of special merits in promoting justice and equality of rights of all nations and peoples in international relations, as well as for supporting the state independence of the Republic of South Ossetia and showing courage.

National Order of José Martí (Cuba).

Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (Cuba, 2004).

Umayyad Order, 1st class (Syria)

In the town of Sabaneta in the state of Barinas in southeastern Venezuela, in a large family of a school teacher.

His maternal ancestor was an active participant Civil War 1859-1863. My great-grandfather became famous for raising an anti-dictatorship uprising in 1914. Stories and legends about these heroic events in the family were passed down from generation to generation and had a strong influence on the formation of the future leader of the “Bolivarian revolution”.

Immediately after school, Hugo Chavez entered Military Academy Venezuela, from which he graduated in 1975 with the rank of junior lieutenant. Served in airborne units; The paratrooper's red beret subsequently became an integral part of his image.

In 1982 (according to other sources, while studying at the academy), Chavez and his colleagues created the organization COMACATE (COMACATE, an abbreviation of the first two letters military ranks- comandante, major, captain, teniente, which means lieutenant). Chavez immediately became the undisputed leader of the organization. Over time, KOMAKATE transformed into the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement, named after the hero of the Latin American War of Independence, Simon Bolivar.

In February 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez led a coup against Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, unpopular due to high levels of corruption and policies of cutting government spending. Chavez planned to create a military-civilian junta from among people untainted by corruption, as well as to convene a Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution. However, the government managed to stop the attempted rebellion.

Chavez surrendered to authorities and was placed in a military prison. He spent two years in prison and was released in 1994 under an amnesty. He organized his supporters into the Fifth Republic Movement and moved from armed struggle to legal political activity.

Hugo Chavez participated in the 1998 presidential campaign under the slogan of fighting corruption. On December 6, 1998, in the general elections held in Venezuela, he won a landslide victory, gaining 56.5% of the vote. Three months later, on July 25, elections to the unicameral assembly were held. They ended with the triumph of Chavez's supporters.

The government established tight control over the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, whose profits were directed to the needs of society: the construction of hospitals and schools, the fight against illiteracy, agrarian reform and other social programs. All this contributed to the mass popularity of the new leader among the poor majority. Relying on his support, Chavez began to nationalize enterprises in various industries.

In 1999, Venezuela adopted a new constitution, and on July 30, 2000, new general elections were held, which Hugo Chavez won with 60% of the vote.

In the subsequent period, Chavez's political course, called the "Bolivarian movement towards socialism", shifted to the left.

Taking advantage of favorable conditions on the global energy market, as well as a certain US dependence on Venezuelan oil supplies, Chavez changed his foreign policy course. In a matter of years, Venezuela has emerged as a respected regional leader and has effectively led the movement against neoliberalism in the Western Hemisphere. Sharp criticism of the policies of the United States, the IMF and the WTO, attempts to rally other Latin American countries around them on the basis of anti-Americanism led to an acute confrontation between Venezuela and the United States.

The opposition, frightened by the statements and, most importantly, by the actions of Chavez, tried by all means to get rid of him. On April 12, 2002, Chavez was overthrown in a coup d'etat, but two days later, on April 14, thanks to the help of his supporters and loyal army units, he returned to power.

Chavez suffered from cancer, which required him to undergo long-term treatment in Cuba and in Venezuela itself. He underwent several surgeries and underwent chemotherapy. After another operation performed on him in Cuba in early December 2012, Chavez’s condition was complicated by a pulmonary infection.

By medical indications inauguration of the elected President of Venezuela.

In February, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to his homeland from Cuba, as he announced on his microblog on Twitter. Since then, he was in a military hospital in Caracas, but never appeared on television after returning home.

On March 6, 2013, Agence France-Presse, citing the country's Vice President Nicolas Maduro, reported that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Hugo Chavez had organizational talent, vigorous energy, enormous capacity for work, eloquence, and the ability to convince people that he was right. He quoted the Bible and the works of Bolivar from memory, and was interested in Zen Buddhism. He wrote poems and stories and was fond of painting.

At the end of 2007, Chavez published a collection of songs, which included popular Venezuelan and Mexican songs performed personally by the president in a special television and radio program; in 2008, he recorded a composition for the musical collection of revolutionary songs "Musica Para la Batalla" ("Music for Struggle").

As a child, Chavez dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and retained his passion for baseball throughout his life.

Chavez was married twice. He divorced his first wife, Nancy Colmenares, in 1992. His second wife was journalist Marisabel Rodriguez. Marisabel helped Chavez create the 1999 constitution, but filed for divorce in 2002 and condemned the reforms carried out by her ex-husband.

Chavez has four children from his first marriage: Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela, Hugo Rafael and Raul Alfonso, and one daughter from his second, Rocines.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

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 ex-president Perez was placed under house arrest, and in 1996 Supreme Court found him guilty of illegal expenditure of 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). In addition to the DPR, Chavez's candidacy for the presidential elections in December 1998 was also supported by MAS and a coalition of small left-wing groups.

In the parliamentary elections in November 1998, the Patriotic Pole coalition, which supported Chavez, consisting of his Fifth Republic Movement (MRF), 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 downturn, which began as a result of falling oil prices, financial policy mistakes and political instability, led to a fall in gross internal product in 1998 by 0.7% (in 1999 the crisis continued, despite the fact that oil prices increased 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 market mechanisms, the regime of “austerity” and economic orientation toward the United States, did not imply the nationalization of the main industries and finances. 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 the increase in wages in the public sector, so that it lagged significantly behind the growth of inflation, introduced a tax on Bank operations 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 legislative and judicial authorities 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 assembly, ignoring the opinion of the courts, announced the assumption of emergency powers to reform government bodies, and on August 19 introduced 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. On August 25, 1999, the Constituent Assembly decided to strip the 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 the 1992 military uprising, Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Arias Cardenas, now in opposition to 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 field of 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 ( largest association entrepreneurs) Pedro Carmona. However, most of the army remained loyal to the president, and many hundreds of thousands of his supporters, mobilized by the Bolivarian Committees, took to the streets, mainly in poor areas 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 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 adopted 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. The largest number of votes was received by Hugo Chavez (55.26%) and Henrique Capriles Radonski, the single opposition candidate (approx. 45%). 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 a successor to N. Maduro, 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.