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{{Short description|President of Venezuela (1999–2002, 2002–2013)}}
{{other people}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Commander-in-chief|Comandante]]
| image = Hugo Chávez in Brasília 2011 (3x4 cropped) (2).jpg
| caption = Chávez in 2011
| order1 = 52nd
| office1 = President of Venezuela
| vicepresident1 = {{Collapsible list|title=''{{nobold|See list}}''|{{Unbulleted list|item_style={{longitem}}|Diosdado Cabello {{nowrap|(April 2002)}}|[[José Vicente Rangel]] {{nowrap|(2002–2007)}}|[[Jorge Rodríguez (Venezuelan politician)|Jorge Rodríguez]] {{nowrap|(2007–2008)}}|[[Ramón Carrizales]] {{nowrap|(2008–2010)}}|[[Elías Jaua]] {{nowrap|(2010–2012)}}|Nicolás Maduro {{nowrap|(2012–2013)}}}}}}
| term_start1 = 14 April 2002
| term_end1 = 5 March 2013
| predecessor1 = [[Diosdado Cabello]] (acting)
| successor1 = [[Nicolás Maduro]]
| vicepresident2 = {{Collapsible list|title=''{{nobold|See list}}''|{{Unbulleted list|item_style={{longitem}}|[[Isaías Rodríguez]] {{nowrap|(Jan–Dec 2000)}}|[[Adina Bastidas]] {{nowrap|(2000–2002)}}|Diosdado Cabello {{nowrap|(Jan–Apr 2002)}}}}}}
| term_start2 = 2 February 1999
| term_end2 = 11 April 2002
| predecessor2 = [[Rafael Caldera]]
| successor2 = [[Pedro Carmona]] (acting)
| office3 = President of the {{avoid wrap|[[United Socialist Party of Venezuela]]}}
| deputy3 = Diosdado Cabello
| term_start3 = 24 March 2007
| term_end3 = 5 March 2013{{efn|Eternal President since 26 July 2014}}
| predecessor3 = ''Position established''
| successor3 = Nicolás Maduro
| birth_name = Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1954|7|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sabaneta, Barinas]], Venezuela
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|3|5|1954|7|28}}
| death_place = [[Caracas]], Venezuela
| resting_place = Cuartel de la Montaña, Caracas
| party = [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela|PSUV]] (2007–2013)
| otherparty = {{Unbulleted list|[[Fifth Republic Movement]] (1997–2007)|[[Great Patriotic Pole]] (from 2011)}}
| spouse = {{Unbulleted list|{{marriage|Nancy Colmenares|1977|1995|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez|Marisabel Rodríguez]]|1997|2004|reason=divorced}}}}
| father = [[Hugo de los Reyes Chávez]]
| mother = [[Elena Frías de Chávez]]
| children = *Rosa Virginia Chávez
*[[María Gabriela Chávez]]
*Hugo Rafael Chávez
*Rosinés Chávez
*Génesis María Chávez
*Sara Manuela Chávez
| alma_mater = [[Military Academy of Venezuela]]
| signature = Hugo Chavez Signature.svg
| branch = {{army|Venezuela}}
| serviceyears = {{plainlist|
* 1971–1992
* 1999–2013
}}
| rank = {{plainlist|
* [[File:TCNELEJB-GNB.png|20px]] [[Lieutenant colonel]]
* [[Commander-in-chief]]
}}
| partner = Bexhi Segura (2004-2007) <br> Nidia Fajardo (2007-2013)
| relations =
}}
'''Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías'''{{family name footnote|[[Chávez (surname)|Chávez]]|[[Frías (name)|Frías]]|lang=Spanish}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɑː|v|ɛ|z}} {{respell|CHAH|vez}}, {{IPA|es-419|ˈuɣo rafaˈel ˈtʃaβes ˈfɾi.as|lang|ES - Hugo Chávez.ogg}}; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, [[Bolivarian Revolution|revolutionary]], and [[Officer (armed forces)|military officer]] who served as the 52nd [[president of Venezuela]] from 1999 until [[Death of Hugo Chávez|his death]] in 2013, except for [[2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt|a brief period of forty-seven hours in 2002]]. Chávez was also leader of the [[Fifth Republic Movement]] political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela]] (PSUV), which he led until 2012.
Born into a middle-class family in [[Sabaneta, Barinas]], Chávez became a career military officer. After becoming dissatisfied with the Venezuelan political system based on the [[Puntofijo Pact]],<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|title = The Unraveling of Representative Democracy in Venezuela|last1 = McCoy|first1 = Jennifer L|publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press|year = 2006|isbn = 9780801884283|___location = Baltimore, Maryland|page = 310|last2 = Myers|first2 = David J.|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rtJVhJZF6WgC }}</ref> he founded the clandestine [[Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200]] (MBR-200) in the early 1980s. Chávez led the MBR-200 in its unsuccessful [[Venezuelan coup attempts of 1992|coup d'état]] against the [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]] government of President [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]] in 1992, for which he was imprisoned. Pardoned from prison two years later, he founded the Fifth Republic Movement political party, and then receiving 56.2% of the vote, was [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|elected president of Venezuela in 1998]]. He was reelected in the [[2000 Venezuelan general election]] with 59.8% of the vote and again in the [[2006 Venezuelan presidential election]], with 62.8% of the vote. After winning his fourth term as president in the [[2012 Venezuelan presidential election]] with 55.1% of the vote,<ref name=extend>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008/ | title=Venezuela's Chávez re-elected to extend socialist rule | first=Andrew | last=Cawthorne | work=[[Reuters]] | date=8 October 2012 |archive-date=8 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008112247/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/08/venezuela-election-idUSL1E8L70WK20121008 |url-status=live}}</ref> he was to be sworn in on 10 January 2013. However, the inauguration was cancelled due to his [[cancer treatment]],<ref name=":10">{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/venezuela-postpones-inauguration-for-cancer-stricken-chavez-idUSBRE9070ZP/ | title=Venezuela postpones inauguration for cancer-stricken Chavez | first1=Brian | last1=Ellsworth | first2=Diego | last2=Ore | work=[[Reuters]] | date=8 January 2013}}</ref> and on 5 March at age 58, he died in [[Caracas]].<ref name=died>{{cite news | title=Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez dies | url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/05/world/americas/obit-venezuela-chavez/index.html | last=Castillo | first=Mariano | work=[[CNN]] | date=5 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSBRE92405420130305 |title=Venezuela's Hugo Chávez dies from cancer: VP | last=Cawthorne | first=Andrew | work=[[Reuters]] | date=5 March 2013 |archive-date=6 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306094116/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/05/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSBRE92405420130305 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Following the adoption of the [[1999 Venezuelan Constitution]], Chávez focused on enacting social reforms as part of the [[Bolivarian Revolution]]. Using record-high oil revenues of the 2000s, his government [[nationalized]] key industries, created participatory democratic [[Venezuelan Communal Councils|Communal Councils]] and implemented social programs known as the [[Bolivarian missions]] to expand access to food, housing, healthcare and education.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-vote-puts-chavismo-critical-test-172039207.html | title=Venezuela vote puts 'Chavismo' to critical test | publisher=Yahoo | date=4 October 2012 | access-date=2 February 2013 | first=Ian |last=James | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205183325/http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-vote-puts-chavismo-critical-test-172039207.html | url-status=live | archive-date=5 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="ECLAC">{{cite book|title=Social Panorama of Latin America 2014|publisher=[[ECLAC]]|date=March 2014|pages=91–92|url=http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/37627/S1420728_en.pdf?sequence=4|access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref><ref name=ENedu>{{cite news|last=Montilla K.|first=Andrea|title=Hoy se inicia consulta nacional para el currículo educativo|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/sociedad/Hoy-consulta-nacional-curriculo-educativo_0_395960640.html|access-date=24 April 2014|newspaper=El Nacional|date=23 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424094406/http://www.el-nacional.com/sociedad/Hoy-consulta-nacional-curriculo-educativo_0_395960640.html|archive-date=24 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="Márquez">{{cite web |last=Márquez |first=Humberto |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112614/http://www.ipsnoticias.net/2005/10/educacion-venezuela-se-declara-libre-de-analfabetismo/|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead|title=Venezuela se declara libre de analfabetismo |publisher=[[Inter Press Service]]|url=http://ipsnoticias.net/nota.asp?idnews=35621|date=28 October 2005 |access-date=29 December 2006 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2008/02/28/propaganda-not-policy | title=Propaganda, not policy | date=28 February 2008 | access-date=3 May 2014 | newspaper=[[The Economist]] | archive-date=25 August 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825044345/http://www.economist.com/node/10766504 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title='Illiteracy' Revisited: What Ortega and Rodríguez Read in the Household Survey| url=http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/literacy_2008_05.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017203708/http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/literacy_2008_05.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2010 |url-status=live|access-date=3 May 2014|last1=Weisbrot|last2=Rosnick |first1=Mark|first2=David |date=May 2008}}</ref> While these initiatives led to temporary improvements in poverty reduction and social welfare during periods of high oil revenue, their reliance on state control and centralized planning exposed significant structural weaknesses as oil prices declined.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 March 2013 |title=Hugo Chavez Leaves Venezuela Rich in Oil, But Ailing |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130306-hugo-chavez-venezuela-oil |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=National Geographic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rapier |first=Robert |title=Charting The Decline Of Venezuela's Oil Industry |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/01/29/charting-the-decline-of-venezuelas-oil-industry/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> The high oil profits coinciding with the start of Chavez's presidency<ref name=FPpoverty>{{cite news|last1=Cristóbal Nagel|first1=Juan|title=Poverty Shoots Up in Venezuela|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/04/poverty-shoots-up-in-venezuela/|access-date=26 October 2015|agency=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=4 June 2014}}</ref> resulted in temporary improvements in areas such as poverty, literacy, income equality and quality of life between primarily 2003 and 2007,<ref name="UN"/><ref name=FPpoverty/><ref name="IACHRRequests">{{Cite news |last=Alonso |first=Juan Francisco |date=24 February 2010 |title=IACHR requests the Venezuelan government to guarantee all human rights |work=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]] |url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/02/24/en_pol_esp_iachr-requests-the-v_24A3481131.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=25 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514221603/http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/02/24/en_pol_esp_iachr-requests-the-v_24A3481131.shtml |archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref> though extensive changes in [[structural inequality|structural inequalities]] did not occur.<ref name="NACLAcrimeREV">{{cite journal|last1=Smilde |first1=David|title=Crime and Revolution in Venezuela|journal=[[NACLA Report on the Americas]]|date=14 September 2017|volume=49|issue=3|pages=303–08|doi=10.1080/10714839.2017.1373956|s2cid=158528940|issn=1071-4839|quote=Finally, it is important to realize that the reductions in poverty and inequality during the Chávez years were real, but somewhat superficial. While indicators of income and consumption showed clear progress, the harder-to-change characteristics of structural poverty and inequality, such as the quality of housing, neighborhoods, education, and employment, remained largely unchanged.}}</ref> On 2 June 2010, Chávez declared an "economic war" on Venezuela's upper classes due to [[shortages in Venezuela|shortages]], arguably beginning the [[crisis in Venezuela]].<ref name="ECONwarCHAVEZ">{{cite news |title=Chávez declara "guerra económica" a burguesía en Venezuela |url=https://www.eluniverso.com/2010/06/02/1/1361/chavez-declara-guerra-economica-burguesia-venezuela.html |access-date=16 July 2018 |work=[[El Universo]] |date=2 June 2010 |language=es-LA}}</ref> By the end of Chávez's presidency in the early 2010s, economic actions performed by his government during the preceding decade, such as deficit spending<ref name="ELPAISfeb2015">{{cite news|last1=Scharfenberg|first1=Ewald|title=Volver a ser pobre en Venezuela|url=http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/01/30/actualidad/1422646346_475356.html|access-date=3 February 2015|agency=El Pais|date=1 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="FPmarch2013">{{cite news|last1=Corrales|first1=Javier|title=The House That Chavez Built|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/07/the-house-that-chavez-built/|access-date=6 February 2015|agency=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=7 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="FPdontblame">{{cite news|last1=Corrales|first1=Javier|title=Don't Blame It on the Oil|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/07/dont-blame-it-on-the-oil-venezuela-caracas-maduro/|access-date=10 May 2015|agency=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=7 May 2015}}</ref> and price controls,<ref name="ECONfood" /><ref name="ENfood">{{cite news|title=¿Por qué faltan dólares en Venezuela? |url=http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/faltan-dolares-Venezuela_0_278372199.html |access-date=21 April 2014 |newspaper=El Nacional |date=8 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232634/http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/faltan-dolares-Venezuela_0_278372199.html |archive-date=22 April 2014 }}</ref> proved to be unsustainable, with Venezuela's economy faltering. At the same time, [[Poverty in Venezuela|poverty]],<ref name="FPpoverty" /><ref>{{cite web|title=2014 Panorama Social de América Latina|url=http://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/37626/S1420729_es.pdf?sequence=6|website=[[United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean]]|publisher=United Nations|access-date=24 October 2015}}</ref> [[Inflation in Venezuela|inflation]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/08/20/medieval-policies|access-date=23 February 2014|title=Venezuela's economy: Medieval policies|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=20 August 2011}}</ref> and shortages increased.
Under Chávez, Venezuela experienced [[democratic backsliding]], as he suppressed the press, manipulated electoral laws, and arrested and exiled government critics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Svolik|first=Milan W.|date=2012|title=The Politics of Authoritarian Rule by Milan W. Svolik|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/politics-of-authoritarian-rule/7F78A8828A5714F0BE74E44A90A44868|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=24|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139176040 |isbn=9781107024793 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/competitive-authoritarianism/20A51BE2EBAB59B8AAEFD91B8FA3C9D6|title=Competitive Authoritarianism by Steven Levitsky|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|last2=Way|first2=Lucan A.|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511781353|isbn=9780511781353|language=en|access-date=22 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rhodes-Purdy|first1=Matthew|last2=Madrid|first2=Raúl L.|date=27 November 2019|title=The perils of personalism|journal=Democratization|volume=27|issue=2|pages=321–339|doi=10.1080/13510347.2019.1696310|s2cid=212974380|issn=1351-0347}}</ref> His use of [[enabling act]]s<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2010/12/28/a-coup-against-the-constitution|title=Enabling laws in The Economist|date=28 December 2010|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref> and his government's use of [[Bolivarian propaganda|propaganda]] were controversial.<ref name="Moloney">{{cite news|url=http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/506/photo-feature-ch-vezs-propaganda|title=Photo Feature: Chavez's Propaganda|last=Moloney|first=Anastasia|date=29 January 2007|newspaper=World Politics Review|access-date=10 March 2012|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190301/http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/506/photo-feature-ch-vezs-propaganda|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="VenezuelaBans">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11818451|title=Venezuela bans unauthorised use of Hugo Chavez's image|last=Grant|first=Will|date=23 November 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="PresidentsEar">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/world/americas/05venezuela.html|title=In Venezuela, an American Has the President's Ear|last=Romero|first=Simon|date=4 February 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="Channeling">{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2005/07/27/channeling_his_energies/?page=1|title=Channeling his energies Venezuelans riveted by president's TV show|last=Lakshmanan|first=Indira|date=27 July 2005|newspaper=The Boston Globe|access-date=14 April 2012}}</ref> Chávez's presidency saw significant increases in the country's murder rate<ref name="Venezuela murder-rate quadrupled under Chávez: NGO" />{{sfn|Holland|2008}} and continued [[Corruption in Venezuela|corruption]] within the police force and the government.<ref name="Wills">{{cite news|url=http://fusion.net/leadership/story/world-corrupt-worst-offenders-22588|title=The World Is Getting More Corrupt, and These Are the 5 Worst Offenders|last=Wills|first=Santiago|date=10 July 2013|newspaper=Fusion|access-date=18 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825063459/http://fusion.net/leadership/story/world-corrupt-worst-offenders-22588|archive-date=25 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="scotsman.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/venezuela-police-corruption-blamed-for-kidnapping-epidemic-1-1667444|title=Venezuela: Police corruption blamed for kidnapping epidemic|date=30 May 2011|newspaper=The Scotsman|access-date=18 March 2014}}</ref>
Across the political spectrum, Chávez is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial politicians in the modern history of [[Venezuela]] and Latin America. His 14-year presidency marked the start of the socialist "[[pink tide]]" sweeping Latin America{{mdash}}he supported [[Latin American integration|Latin American and Caribbean cooperation]] and was instrumental in setting up the pan-regional [[Union of South American Nations]], the [[Community of Latin American and Caribbean States]], the [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas]], the [[Bank of the South]] and the regional television network [[TeleSUR]]. Internationally, Chávez aligned himself with the [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] governments of [[Fidel Castro|Fidel]] and then [[Raúl Castro]] in Cuba, as well as the socialist governments of [[Evo Morales]] in Bolivia, [[Rafael Correa]] in Ecuador and [[Daniel Ortega]] in Nicaragua. Chávez's ideas, programs, and style form the basis of "[[Chavismo]]", a political ideology closely associated with [[Bolivarianism]] and [[socialism of the 21st century]]. Chávez described his policies as [[anti-imperialist]], being a prominent adversary of the [[Foreign policy of the United States|United States's foreign policy]] as well as a vocal opponent of [[neoliberalism]] and ''[[laissez-faire]]'' [[capitalism]]. He described himself as a [[Marxist]].<ref name=BBCmarx>{{cite web|first=Yolanda |last=Valery |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2010/01/100123_chavez_marx_amab.shtml |title=BBC Mundo – América Latina – El marxismo según Chávez |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref><ref name=N24marx>{{cite web |first=Zurimar |last=Campos |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/139693/yo-asumo-el-cristianismo-como-el-marxismo/ |title=Chávez afirma que es "marxista" pero reconoce que todavía no ha leído "El Capital" en |publisher=Noticias24.com |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205020035/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/139693/yo-asumo-el-cristianismo-como-el-marxismo/ |archive-date=5 December 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=ABCmarx>{{cite web|first=Ludmila |last=Vinogradoff |url=http://www.abc.es/20100116/internacional-iberoamerica/chavez-declara-marxista-201001162021.html |title=Chavez se declara marxista – Internacional_Iberoamerica – Internacional |publisher=ABC.es |date=3 June 2010 |access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref><ref name=CLARINmarx>{{cite web |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2010/01/16/elmundo/i-02120928.htm |title=Chávez se declara marxista en un mensaje ante el Congreso |publisher=Edant.clarin.com |date=16 January 2010 |access-date=19 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061050/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2010/01/16/elmundo/i-02120928.htm |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life==
{{
[[File:Hugo Chávez adolescent.png|thumb|left|130px|Chávez as an adolescent]]Chávez was born on 28 July 1954 in his paternal grandmother Rosa Inés Chávez's home, a modest three-room house located in the rural village [[Sabaneta, Barinas|Sabaneta]], [[Barinas State]]. The Chávez family were of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]], [[Afro-Venezuelan]], [[Spanish immigration to Venezuela|Spanish]] and [[Italian Venezuelans|Italian]] descent.<ref>[[#Bea06|Beaumont 2006]].</ref> His parents, [[Hugo de los Reyes Chávez]] – described as a proud [[COPEI]] member<ref name=Carroll193>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|___location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=193–94}}</ref>– and [[Elena Frías de Chávez]], were schoolteachers who lived in the small village of Los Rastrojos.<ref name="Carroll193"/>
Hugo was born the second of seven children.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 7–8, 247.</ref> Chávez's childhood of supposed poverty has been disputed as he possibly changed the story of his background for political reasons.<ref name=Carroll193/> Attending the Julián Pino Elementary School, Chávez was particularly interested in the 19th-century [[Federalism#Latin America|federalist]] general [[Ezequiel Zamora]], in whose army his own great-great-grandfather had served.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 11.</ref> With no high school in their area, Hugo's parents sent Hugo and his older brother [[Adán Chávez|Adán]] to live with their grandmother Rosa, who lived in a [[lower middle class]] subsidized home provided by the government, where they attended [[Daniel Florence O'Leary|Daniel O'Leary]] High School in the mid-1960s.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 7, 24–26.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Rory|first1=Carroll|title=Comandante: Hugo Chavez's Venezuela|date=2014|publisher=New York|___location=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0143124887|pages=86–90}}</ref><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 8–9.</ref> His father, despite having the salary of a teacher, helped pay for college for Chávez and his siblings.<ref name=Carroll193/>
==Military career==
===Military academy===
Aged 17, Chávez studied at the [[Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences]] in Caracas, following a curriculum known as the [[Andrés Bello]] Plan, instituted by a group of progressive, nationalistic military officers. This new curriculum encouraged students to learn not only military routines and tactics but also a wide variety of other topics, and to do so civilian professors were brought in from other universities to give lectures to the military cadets.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 30.</ref>
[[File:Hugo Chávez military academy.png|alt=|thumb|249x249px|Chávez as a student in the military academy]]
Living in Caracas, he began to get involved in activities outside of the military school, playing baseball and softball with the ''Criollitos de Venezuela'' team, progressing with them to the Venezuelan National Baseball Championships. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and drama, and painted.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 35.</ref> He also became interested in the Marxist revolutionary [[Che Guevara]] (1928–1967) after reading his memoir ''The Diary of Che Guevara''.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 29–30.</ref> In 1974, he was selected to be a representative in the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the [[Battle of Ayacucho]] in Peru, the conflict in which Simon Bolívar's lieutenant, [[Antonio José de Sucre]], defeated royalist forces during the [[Peruvian War of Independence]]. In Peru, Chávez heard the leftist president, General [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] (1910–1977), speak, and was inspired by Velasco's ideas that the military should act in the interests of the working classes when the ruling classes were perceived as corrupt.<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka. p. 36">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 36.</ref>
Befriending the son of Maximum Leader [[Omar Torrijos]], the leftist dictator of Panama, Chávez visited Panama, where he met with Torrijos, and was impressed with his land reform program that was designed to benefit the peasants. Influenced by Torrijos and Velasco he saw the potential for military generals to seize control of a government when the civilian authorities were perceived as serving the interests of only the wealthy elites.<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka. p. 36"/> Chávez later said, "With Torrijos, I became a Torrijist. With Velasco I became a Velasquist. And with Pinochet, I became an anti-Pinochetist".<ref>Chávez quoted in [[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 36–37.</ref> In 1975, Chávez graduated from the military academy as one of the top graduates of the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cidob.org/en/documentacio/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/hugo_chavez_frias |title=Hugo Chávez Frías / Venezuela / América del Sur / Biografías Líderes Políticos / Documentation / CIDOB home page |publisher=Cidob.org |date=23 March 2012 |access-date=14 April 2012 |archive-date=6 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406221518/http://www.cidob.org/en/documentacio/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/hugo_chavez_frias |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 37.</ref>
===Early
{{
Following his graduation, Chávez was stationed as a communications officer at a [[counterinsurgency]] unit in Barinas.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 38.</ref>
In 1977, Chávez's unit was transferred to [[Anzoátegui]], where they were involved in battling the [[Red Flag Party]], a Marxist–[[Hoxhaist]] insurgency group.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 39.</ref> After intervening to prevent the beating of an alleged insurgent by other soldiers,<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka p.41">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 41.</ref> Chávez began to have his doubts about the army.<ref name="Chávez p. 59">Chávez, quoted in [[#Jon07|Jones 2007]]. p. 59.</ref>
In 1977, he founded a revolutionary movement within the armed forces, in the hope that he could one day introduce a leftist government to Venezuela: the Venezuelan People's Liberation Army (''{{lang|es|Ejército de Liberación del Pueblo de Venezuela}}'', or ELPV), consisted of him and a handful of his fellow soldiers who had no immediate plans for direct action, though they knew they wanted a middle way between the right-wing policies of the government and the far-left position of the Red Flag.<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka p.41"/> Nevertheless, hoping to gain an alliance with civilian leftist groups in Venezuela, Chávez set up clandestine meetings with various prominent Marxists, including Alfredo Maneiro (the founder of the [[Radical Cause]]) and [[Douglas Bravo]].
===Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200===
[[File:Hugo Chávez military.png|thumb|Chávez while serving in the [[Venezuelan Army]]]]
Five years after his creation of the ELPV, Chávez went on to form a new secretive cell within the military, the [[Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200|Bolivarian Revolutionary Army-200]] (EBR-200), later redesignated the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200).<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 48–49, 56.</ref> He was inspired by [[Simón Bolívar]], [[Simón Rodríguez]] and [[Ezequiel Zamora]], who became known as the "three roots of the tree" of the MBR-200.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2015 |title=Leyendo a Hugo Chávez en el segundo aniversario de su muerte |url=https://www.lamarea.com/2015/03/05/leyendo-a-chavez-en-el-segundo-aniversario-de-su-muerte/ |access-date=26 December 2022 |website=La Marea |language=es}}</ref>
In 1984 he met [[Herma Marksman]], a recently divorced history teacher with whom he had an affair that lasted several years.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 51–53.</ref> During this time [[Francisco Arias Cárdenas]], a soldier interested in [[liberation theology]], also joined MBR-200.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gott |first1=Richard |title=In the shadow of the liberator: Hugo Chávez and the transformation of Venezuela |date=2000 |publisher=Verso |___location=London; New York |isbn=9781859847756 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y24Enm_FeZgC |access-date=27 July 2024 |ref=GOTT}}</ref> After some time, some senior military officers became suspicious of Chávez and reassigned him so that he would not be able to gain any more fresh new recruits from the academy. He was sent to take command of the remote barracks at [[Elorza]] in [[Apure State]].<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 50.</ref>
==== 1992 coup attempt ====
{{Main|February 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt}}
In 1989, [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]] was elected president, and though he had promised to oppose the [[International Monetary Fund]]'s policies, once he got into office he enacted economic policies supported by the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]], angering the public.<ref>[[#Gib06|Gibbs 2006]]. p. 270.</ref> In an attempt to stop widespread lootings and protests that followed his spending cuts, known as ''[[Caracazo|El Caracazo]]'', Pérez initiated [[Plan Ávila]], a military contingency plan by the Venezuelan Army to maintain public order, and an outbreak of violent repression unfolded.<ref>[[#Int99|Inter-American Court of Human Rights 1999]].</ref><ref>[[#Pre05|Pretel 2005]].</ref> Though members of Chávez's MBR-200 movement allegedly participated in the crackdown,<ref name=NELSON>
{{cite book
|last1=Nelson
|first1=Brian A.
|title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion
|title=The silence and the scorpion: the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela
|date=2009
|publisher=Nation Books
|___location=New York
|isbn=978-1568584188
|page=24
|edition=[Online-Ausg.]
}}
</ref> Chávez did not, since he was then hospitalized with [[chicken pox]]. He later condemned the event as "[[genocide]]".<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 55.</ref>
[[File:San Carlos military stockade - Venezuela.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|The San Carlos military stockade, where Chávez was held following the 1992 coup attempt]]
Chávez began preparing for a military coup d'état known as Operation Zamora.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 64.</ref> The plan involved members of the military overwhelming military locations and communication installations and then establishing [[Rafael Caldera]] in power once Pérez was captured and assassinated.<ref name=ENHfeb2015>
{{cite news
|last1=Maria Delgado
|first1=Antonio
|title=Libro devela sangriento objetivo de la intentona golpista de Hugo Chávez
|trans-title=ook reveals bloody putsch goal of Hugo Chávez
|url=http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/venezuela-es/article10496285.html
|access-date=17 February 2015
|agency=El Nuevo Herald
|date=16 February 2015
}}
</ref> Chávez delayed the MBR-200 coup, initially planned for December, until the early twilight hours of 4 February 1992.<ref name="ENHfeb2015"/>
On that date five army units under Chávez's command moved into urban Caracas. Despite years of planning, the coup quickly encountered trouble since Chávez commanded the loyalty of less than 10% of Venezuela's military. After numerous betrayals, defections, errors, and other unforeseen circumstances, Chávez and a small group of rebels found themselves hiding in the Military Museum, unable to communicate with other members of their team. Pérez managed to escape [[Miraflores Palace]]. Officially, thirty-two civilians, police officers and soldiers were killed,<ref>{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=138}}</ref> and fifty soldiers and some eighty civilians injured during the ensuing violence.<ref name="sylvia66">[[#Syl03|Sylvia and Danopolous 2003]]. p. 66.</ref>
Chávez gave himself up to the government and appeared on television, in uniform, to call on the remaining coup members to lay down their arms. Chávez remarked in his speech that they had failed only "''por ahora''" (for now).<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 75.</ref><ref>[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 04.</ref> Venezuelans, particularly poor ones, began seeing him as someone who stood up against government corruption and [[kleptocracy]].<ref>[[#O'K05|O'Keefe 2005]].</ref> The coup "flopped militarily—and dozens died—but made him a media star", noted [[Rory Carroll]] of ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref name=chavshow>
{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/22/donald-trump-hugo-chavez-political-similarities
|author=Rory Carroll
|title=Insult, provoke, repeat: how Donald Trump became America's Hugo Chávez
|work=[[The Guardian]]
|date=22 June 2016
|access-date=27 June 2016
|language=en
|author-link=Rory Carroll
}}
</ref>
Chávez was arrested and imprisoned at the San Carlos military stockade, wracked with guilt and feeling responsible for the failure of the coup.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 75–77.
</ref><ref>[[#Int97|International Crisis Group 2007]]. pp. 4–5.
</ref> Pro-Chávez demonstrations outside San Carlos led to his transfer to [[Yare Prison]].<ref>
[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 91–92.
</ref> [[November 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt|Another unsuccessful coup]] against the government occurred in November,<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 95.</ref> with the fighting during the coups resulting in the deaths of at least 143 people and perhaps as many as several hundred.<ref name="Uppsala">{{cite web
|title=Venezuela
|website=[[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]] Conflict Encyclopedia
|publisher=Department of Peace and Conflict Research, [[Uppsala University]]
|url=http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167®ionSelect=5-Southern_Americas#
|access-date=22 April 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115040925/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167®ionSelect=5-Southern_Americas
|archive-date=15 January 2014
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> Pérez was impeached a year later, charged with malfeasance and misappropriating funds.<ref>
[[#Tar05|Tarver and Frederick 2005]]. p. 167.
</ref>
==Political rise==
[[File:HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS en Buenos Aires 1995.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Chávez speaking at an event in [[Buenos Aires]] in October 1995]]
While Chávez and the other senior members of the MBR-200 were in prison, his relationship with [[Herma Marksman]] broke up in July 1993.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 104–05.</ref> In 1994, [[Rafael Caldera]] (1916–2009) of the centrist [[National Convergence]] Party who allegedly had knowledge of the coup<ref name=ENHfeb2015/> was elected president and soon afterward he freed Chávez and the other imprisoned MBR-200 members, though Caldera banned them from returning to the military.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 107–08.</ref> After his release, on 14 December 1994, Chávez visited Cuba during the [[Special Period]], where he was received by [[Fidel Castro]] with head of state honors. During his visit, Chávez gave a speech at the Aula Magna of the [[University of Havana]] before Fidel and the Cuban high hierarchy where, among other things, he said "We have a long term strategic project, in which the Cubans have and would have much to contribute" and "it is a project of a twenty to forty year horizon, a sovereign economic model".<ref>{{Cite book|title=El Legado: Frases y Pensamientos de Hugo Chávez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9_0DwAAQBAJ&dq=chavez%2C+habana%2C+%22un+proyecto+estrategico+de+largo+plazo%22&pg=PT937|publisher=Softandnet|date=21 September 2017|access-date=2 September 2021|isbn=978-980-12-7509-1|first=Carlos|last=Herrera}}</ref>{{sfn|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=147}}
[[File:MBR-200 meeting.png|thumb|left|A 1997 image of MBR-200 members meeting ([[Nicolás Maduro]] is seen on the far left while Chávez is seen speaking in the center)]]
Travelling around Latin America in search of foreign support for his Bolivarian movement, he visited [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], Chile, [[Colombia]], and [[Cuba]], where he met Castro and became friends with him.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 214–215, 220.</ref> According to journalist [[Patricia Poleo]], during his stay in Colombia, he spent six months receiving guerrilla training and establishing contacts with the [[FARC]] and [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)]] [[Marxist]] guerrilla groups, and even adopted a ''[[nom de guerre]]'' Comandante Centeno.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perdue|first1=Jon B.|title=The War of All the People : The Nexus of Latin American Radicalism and Middle Eastern Terrorism|date=2012|publisher=[[Potomac Books]]|___location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-1597977043|page=100|edition=1st}}</ref>
By now Chávez was a supporter of taking military action, believing that the oligarchy would never allow him and his supporters to win an election.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 116.</ref> Chávez and his supporters later founded a political party, the [[Fifth Republic Movement]] (MVR – ''Movimiento Quinta República'') in July 1997 to support Chávez's candidacy in the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|1998 presidential election]].<ref name="sylvia66" /><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 119.</ref> Chávez went on a tour around the country. On his tours, he met [[Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez|Marisabel Rodríguez]], who would give birth to their daughter shortly before becoming his second wife in 1997.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 235–36.</ref>
===1998 election===
{{main|1998 Venezuelan presidential election}}
[[File:Logo MVR.jpg|thumb|A painted mural in support of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) found in [[Barcelona, Venezuela|Barcelona, Anzoátegui, Venezuela]]]]
At the start of the election run-up, front runner [[Irene Sáez]] was backed by one of Venezuela's two primary political parties, [[Copei]]. Chávez's revolutionary rhetoric gained him support from ''[[Patria Para Todos]]'' (Homeland for All), the ''[[Communist Party of Venezuela|Partido Comunista Venezolano]]'' (Venezeuelan Communist Party) and the ''[[Movement for Socialism (Venezuela)|Movimiento al Socialismo]]'' (Movement for Socialism). Chávez received support from different sectors: the lower class felt that Chávez cared about their needs and would offer a solution to their problems; members of the middle class, frustrated with corruption and wishing for a strong-handed government, also supported; Chávez also received support from members of the old left,<ref name=":2" /> as well as the members of the militarist right wing, some of them nostalgic for the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> By May 1998, Chávez's support had risen to 30% in polls, and by August he was registering 39%.<ref name=":2" /> Voter turnout was 63%, and Chávez won the election with 56.2% of the vote.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/Venezuela%27s%201998%20Presidential%2C%20Legislative%20and%20Gubernatorial%20Elections.pdf|title = Venezuela's 1998: Presidential, Legislative, and Gubernatorial Elections: Election Observation Report|date = 12 February 1999|access-date = 17 February 2015|website = Election Observation Report|publisher = International Republican Institute|page = 12|quote = Voter turnout rose significantly in the 1998 elections, reversing a two-decade trend toward lower participation.|archive-date = 4 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150904050524/http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/Venezuela%27s%201998%20Presidential%2C%20Legislative%20and%20Gubernatorial%20Elections.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/documentos/estadisticas/e006.pdf|title = Elecciones Presidenciales Cuadro Comparativo 1958–2000|access-date = 17 February 2014|publisher = Consejo Nacional Electoral}}</ref>
==Presidency (1999–2013) ==
{{further|History of Venezuela (1999–present)}}
===First presidential term: 2 February 1999 – 10 January 2001===
[[File:Hugo Chávez sworn in 1999.png|thumb|Chávez when he was sworn in on 2 February 1999]]
Chávez's presidential inauguration took place 2 February 1999. He deviated from the usual words of the presidential oath when he took it, proclaiming: "I swear before God and my people that upon this ''moribund'' constitution I will drive forth the necessary democratic transformations so that the new republic will have a [[Magna Carta]] befitting these new times".<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 127.</ref> Freedom in Venezuela suffered following "the decision of President Hugo Chávez, ratified in a national referendum, to abolish congress and the judiciary, and by his creation of a parallel government of military cronies".<ref name=FH1999>{{cite web|title=Venezuela Country report Freedom in the World 1999|url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/1999/venezuela|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728033454/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/1999/venezuela|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 July 2016|website=[[Freedom House]]|access-date=28 July 2016|date=28 July 2016}}</ref> Soon after being established into office, Chávez spent much of his time attempting to abolish existing [[checks and balances]] in Venezuela.<ref name=FH1999/> He appointed new figures to government posts, adding leftist allies to key positions and "army colleagues were given a far bigger say in the day-to-day running of the country".<ref name=FH1999/> For instance, he put [[MBR-200|Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200]] founder {{Interlanguage link|Jesús Urdaneta|es}} in charge of the [[National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services]] and made {{Interlanguage link|Hernán Grüber Ódreman|es}}, one of the 1992 coup leaders, governor of the Federal District of Caracas.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} His critics referred to these government officials as the "[[Boliburguesía]]" or "Bolivarian bourgeoisie",<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. xx.</ref><ref>[[#Rom10|Romero 2010]].</ref> and highlighted that it "included few people with experience in public administration".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The number of his immediate family members in Venezuelan politics also led to accusations of [[nepotism]].<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 250–55.</ref> Chávez appointed businessman Roberto Mandini president of the state-run oil company [[Petroleos de Venezuela]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB917899013133273000|title=PDVSA Names Mandini To Head State Oil Firm|date= 2 February 1999|agency=Dow Jones Newswires|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=27 June 2016}}</ref>
Although Chávez did not believe, as he put it in 1998, "in this paradigm of the Western capitalist, bourgeois democratic world,"<ref>Biardeau R. Javier . Del Árbol de las Tres Raíces al "Socialismo Bolivariano del siglo XXI" ¿Una nueva narrativa ideológica de emancipación?. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales [en linea]. 2009, 15(1), 57–113[fecha de Consulta 30 de Agosto de 2024]. ISSN: 1315-6411. Disponible en: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=17721678005</ref> he initially believed that capitalism was still a valid economic model for Venezuela, but only [[Rhenish capitalism]], not [[neoliberalism]].<ref name="Hard Talk">[[#SacCha10|Sackur and Chávez 2010]].</ref> Low oil prices made Chavez's government reliant on international free markets during his first months in office, when he showed pragmatism and political moderation, and continued to encourage foreign investment in Venezuela.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 148–49.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last1=Millard |first1=Peter |last2=Hoffman |first2=Cindy |last3=Gertz |first3=Marisa |last4=Lin |first4=Jeremy C. F. |title=A Timeline of Venezuela's Economic Rise and Fall |work=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-venezuela-key-events/ |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref> During a visit to the United States in 1999, he rang the closing bell at the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. His administration held formal talks with the [[International Monetary Fund]] until oil prices rose enough to let the government rule out the need for any financial assistance.<ref name=":1" />
Beginning 27 February 1999, the tenth anniversary of the ''[[Caracazo]]'', Chávez set into motion a social welfare program called [[Plan Bolívar 2000]]. He said he had allotted $20.8 million for the plan. The plan involved 70,000 soldiers, sailors and members of the air force repairing roads and hospitals, removing stagnant water that offered breeding areas for disease-carrying mosquitoes, offering free medical care and vaccinations, and selling food at low prices.<ref name="USb2000">{{cite web |title=Venezuelan Soldiers Leave Their Barracks ... To Implement Chavez's Civil-Military Public Works Program |url= https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143547.pdf |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=23 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231100518/https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/143547.pdf |archive-date = 31 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 138.</ref> Several [[scandals]] later affected the program as allegations of corruption were formulated against generals involved in the plan and that significant amounts of money had been diverted.<ref>[http://www.analitica.com/va/politica/opinion/6999189.asp Opinión y análisis – ¿Sabe el Ejército de Corrupción?<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306040647/http://www.analitica.com/va/politica/opinion/6999189.asp|date=6 March 2012}}</ref>
====Constitutional reform====
Chávez called a public referendum, which he hoped would support his plans to form a [[1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela|constituent assembly]] of representatives from across Venezuela and from indigenous tribal groups to rewrite the Venezuelan constitution.<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 130.</ref> Chávez said he had to run again; "Venezuela's socialist revolution was like an unfinished painting and he was the artist", he said,<ref name=chavshow /> while someone else "could have another vision, start to alter the contours of the painting".<ref name=chavshow />
There was a low turnout of 37.65% and an abstention of 62.35%, 88% of the voters supported his proposal.<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref name="CONS">{{cite book |last1=Rory |first1=Carroll |title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela |date=2014 |publisher=New York |isbn=978-0143124887 |___location=Penguin Books |page=41}}</ref>
Chávez called an election on 25 July to elect the members of the constituent assembly. Over 900 of the 1,171 candidates standing for election were Chávez opponents. To elect the members of the assembly, Chávez used a formula designed by mathematical experts and politicians, known at the time as the ''kino'' (lottery) or the "keys of Chávez". Chávez obtained 51% of the votes, but his supporters took 95% of the seats, 125 in total, including all of the seats assigned to indigenous groups, while the opposition won six seats.<ref name=":2">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=152}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Harvsp|Arráiz Lucca|2007|p=199}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05">[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 05.</ref>
On 12 August 1999, the new constituent assembly voted to give themselves the power to abolish government institutions and to dismiss officials who were perceived as corrupt or as operating only in their own interests. Opponents of the Chávez regime argued that it was dictatorial.<ref>[[#Bel99|Belos 1999]].</ref> Most jurists believed that the new constituent assembly had become the country's "supreme authority" and that all other institutions were subordinate to it.<ref name="Gott">
{{cite book|last=Gott|first=Richard|title=Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian revolution|year=2005|publisher=Verso|___location=London [u.a.]|isbn=978-1844675333|page=147|edition=New}}</ref> The assembly also declared a "judicial emergency" and granted itself the power to overhaul the judicial system. The Supreme Court ruled that the assembly did indeed have this authority, and was replaced in the 1999 Constitution with the Supreme Tribunal of Justice.<ref name="Nelson1">
{{cite book|last1=Nelson|first1=Brian A.|title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion |title=The silence and the scorpion : the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela|date=2009|publisher=Nation Books|___location=New York|isbn=978-1568584188|pages=1–8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/31/world/venezuelan-congress-stripped-of-its-last-remaining-powers.html|title = Venezuelan Congress Stripped of Its Last Remaining Powers|date = 31 August 1999|access-date = 15 May 2015|newspaper = The New York Times|last = Rohter|first = Larry}}</ref> The constituent assembly put together [[1999 Venezuelan Constitution|a new constitution]],<ref name="CONS" /> which was voted on at a referendum in December 1999. Seventy-two percent of those who voted approved of the new constitution. There was a low turnout and an abstention vote of over 50%.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05" /> The new constitution provided protections for the environment and indigenous people, socioeconomic guarantees and state benefits, while giving greater powers to the president.<ref name=CONS/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06">[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 06.</ref> The presidential term was extended to six years, and a president was allowed to serve for two consecutive terms. Previously, a sitting president could not run for reelection for 10 years after leaving office. It also replaced the bicameral Congress with a unicameral Legislative Assembly and gave the president the power to legislate on citizen rights, to promote military officers and to oversee economic and financial matters.<ref name=CONS/><ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06"/> The assembly also gave the military a mandated role in the government by empowering it to ensure public order and aid national development, which the previous constitution had expressly forbidden.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup06" />
In the new constitution, the country, until then officially known as the Republic of Venezuela, was renamed the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (República Bolivariana de Venezuela) at Chávez's request.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup05" /> Chávez's actions following the ratification the 1999 Venezuelan constitution government weakened many of Venezuela's checks and balances, allowing the government to control every branch of the Venezuelan government for over 15 years after it passed until the [[2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election|Venezuelan parliamentary election in 2015]].<ref name=FH1999/><ref>
{{cite news
|last1=Ma
|first1=Alexandra
|title=Will A Venezuelan Opposition Party's Election Victory Bring Real Change?
|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-elections-david-smilde_56745723e4b0b958f6567bd8?ir=Latino+Voices§ion=latino-voices
|access-date=19 December 2015
|agency=[[HuffPost]]
|date=19 December 2015
}}
</ref>
In May 2000 he launched his own Sunday morning radio show, ''[[Aló Presidente]]'' (''Hello, President''), on the state radio network. This followed an earlier Thursday night television show, ''De Frente con el Presidente'' (''Face to Face with the President'').<ref name="petro">
{{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Colgan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=enReCU97-zQC |title=Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War |date=31 January 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107029675 |page=209 |language=en |quote=For Chávez the show accomplishes a number of political objectives. First, it sustains and builds popular support for his leadership. By spending hours each week in front of a camera Chávez reinforces the message that he is the leader of his political movement and the government of Venezuela, its living symbol. Second, the television show is oriented to, and popular among, the lower classes of Venezuela who have traditionally remained outside of the political process. |access-date=27 June 2016 |via=Google Books}}
</ref> He founded two newspapers, ''El Correo del Presidente'' (''The President's Post''), founded in July, for which he acted as editor-in-chief, and ''Vea'' (''See''), another newspaper, as well as ''Question'' magazine and Vive TV.<ref name="petro" /> ''El Correo'' was later shut down among accusations of corruption and mismanagement.<ref>
[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 193–95.
</ref> In his television and radio shows, he answered calls from citizens, discussed his latest policies, sang songs and told jokes.<ref name="petro" />
In June 2000 he separated from his wife Marisabel, and their divorce was finalised in January 2004.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 243.</ref>
===Second presidential term: 10 January 2001 – 10 January 2007===
Under the new constitution, it was legally required that new elections be held in order to re-legitimize the government and president. This [[2000 Venezuelan presidential election|presidential election in July 2000]] would be a part of a greater "megaelection", the first time in the country's history that the president, governors, national and regional congressmen, mayors and councilmen would be voted for on the same day.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 140.</ref> Going into the elections, Chávez had control of all three branches of government.<ref name=Nelson1/> For the position of president, Chávez's closest challenger proved to be his former friend and co-conspirator in the 1992 coup, [[Francisco Arias Cárdenas]], who since becoming a governor of Zulia state had turned towards the political centre and begun to denounce Chávez as autocratic. Some of his supporters feared that he had alienated those in the middle class and the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy who had formerly supported him. Chávez was re-elected with 60% of the vote, a larger majority than his 1998 electoral victory.<ref name="ReferenceC">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 141.</ref><ref name="Ramírez 2005. p. 79">[[#Ram05|Ramírez 2005]]. p. 79.</ref>
That year, Chávez improved ideological ties with the Cuban government of Fidel Castro by signing an agreement under which Venezuela would supply Cuba with 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates, in return receiving 20,000 trained Cuban medics and educators. In the ensuing decade, this would be increased to 90,000 barrels a day (in exchange for 40,000 Cuban medics and teachers), dramatically aiding the Caribbean island's economy and standard of living after its "[[Special Period]]" of the 1990s.<ref name="convenio">{{cite news |title=Conozca los acuerdos petroleros que dejó Hugo Chávez|url=http://www.finanzasdigital.com/2014/08/conozca-los-acuerdos-petroleros-que-dejo-hugo-chavez/|page=Finanzas Digital|date=22 August 2014|access-date=3 June 2017}}</ref> However, Venezuela's growing alliance with Cuba came at the same time as a deteriorating relationship with the United States. Chávez opposed of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|2001 American-led invasion of Afghanistan]] in response to the [[11 September attacks]] against the U.S. by Islamist militants. In late 2001, Chávez showed pictures on his television show of children said to be killed in a bombing attack. He commented that "They are not to blame for the terrorism of [[Osama bin Laden]] or anyone else", called on the American government to end "the massacre of the innocents", and described the war as "fighting terrorism with terrorism." The U.S. government responded negatively to the comments, which were picked up by the media worldwide<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 208–09.</ref> and recalled its ambassador for consultations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/03/world/us-irritated-by-criticism-calls-envoy-home-from-venezuela.html|title=U.S., Irritated by Criticism, Calls Envoy Home From Venezuela|last=Rohter|first=Larry|date=3 November 2001|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
[[File:Mision robinson wayuu by Franklin Reyes.png|thumb|left|Chávez's second term in office saw the implementation of social missions, such as this one to eliminate illiteracy in Venezuela]]
Meanwhile, the 2000 elections had led to Chávez's supporters gaining 101 out of 165 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, and so in November 2001 they voted to allow him to pass 49 social and economic decrees. This move antagonized the opposition movement particularly strongly.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup07"/><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 143.</ref> At the start of the 21st century, Venezuela was the world's fifth largest exporter of [[crude oil]], with oil accounting for 85% of the country's exports, therefore dominating the country's economy. Before the election of Chávez, the state-run oil company, [[Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.]] (PDVSA) ran autonomously, making oil decisions based on internal guidance to increase profits.<ref name=":5">Wiseman, Colin and Daniel Béland. "The Politics of Institutional Change in Venezuela: Oil Policy During the Presidency of Hugo Chávez." ''Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies,'' Vol 35, No. 70 (2010), pp. 141–164. ''JSTOR''. Accessed 3 November 2018.</ref> Once he came to power, Chávez started directing PDVSA and effectively turned it into a direct government arm whose profits would be injected into social spending.<ref name=":5" /> The result of this was the creation of "[[Bolivarian missions]]", oil funded social programs targeting poverty, literacy, hunger, and more.<ref name=":5" /> In 2001, the government introduced a new Hydrocarbons Law through which it sought to gain greater state control over the oil industry. The law increased the transnational companies taxation in oil extraction activities to 30% and set the minimum state participation in "mixed companies" at 51%, whereby the state-run oil company, [[Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.]] (PDVSA), could have joint control with private companies over industry.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=27 July 2006|archive-date=17 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060817050451/http://www.mpd.gov.ve/decretos_leyes/Leyes/ley_hidrocarburos.pdf|title=Ley Orgánica de Hidrocarburos aprobada en 2001|url=http://www.mpd.gov.ve/decretos_leyes/Leyes/ley_hidrocarburos.pdf}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>{{Primary source inline|date=December 2022}} By 2006, all of the 32 operating agreements signed with private companies during the 1990s had been converted from being primarily or privately run to being at least 51% controlled by PDVSA.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Chávez had also removed many of the managers and executives of PDVSA and replaced them with political allies, stripping the state-owned company expertise.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/16/how-venezuela-struck-it-poor-oil-energy-chavez/|title=How Hugo Chávez Blew Up Venezuela's Oil Patch|last=Johnson|first=Keith|date=16 July 2018|website=[[Foreign Policy]]|language=en|access-date=21 July 2018|quote=The fuse for the bomb that is now blowing up Venezuela’s oil industry – and the country along with it – was deliberately lit and fanned by ... the strongman Hugo Chávez ...}}</ref>
====Opposition and the Coordinadora Democrática====
Much of Chávez's opposition originated from the response to the "cubanization" of Venezuela.<ref name="Nelson1"/> Chávez's popularity dropped due to his relationship with Fidel Castro and Cuba, with Chávez attempting to make Venezuela in Cuba's image.<ref name=Nelson1/> Chávez, following Castro's example, consolidated the country's [[bicameral legislature]] into a single [[National Assembly (Venezuela)|National Assembly]] that gave him more power<ref name=CONS/> and created community groups of loyal supporters allegedly trained as paramilitaries.<ref name=Nelson1/> Such actions created great fear among Venezuelans who felt like they were tricked and that Chávez had dictatorial goals.<ref name=Nelson1/>
The first organized protest against the Bolivarian government occurred in January 2001, when the Chávez administration tried to implement educational reforms through the proposed Resolution 259 and Decree 1.011, which would have seen the publication of textbooks with a heavy Bolivarian bias. Parents noticed that such textbooks were really Cuban books filled with [[Bolivarian propaganda|revolutionary propaganda]] outfitted with different covers. The protest movement, which was primarily by middle-class parents whose children went to privately run schools, marched to central Caracas shouting out the slogan ''Con mis hijos no te metas'' ("Don't mess with my children"). Although the protesters were denounced by Chávez, who called them "selfish and individualistic", the protest was successful enough for the government to retract the proposed education reforms and instead enter into a consensus-based educational program with the opposition.<ref name=Nelson1/><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 143–45.</ref>
Later into 2001, an organization known as the ''{{lang|es|[[Coordinadora Democrática (Venezuela)|Coordinadora Democrática de Acción Cívica]]}}'' (Democratic Coordinator, CD) was founded, under which the Venezuelan opposition political parties, corporate powers, most of the country's media, the [[Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce]], the Institutional Military Front and the [[Central Workers Union]] all united to oppose Chávez's regime.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup07">[[#Int07|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 7.</ref><ref>[[#Ram05|Ramírez 2005]]. p. 80.</ref> The prominent businessman [[Pedro Carmona]] (1941–) was chosen as the CD's leader.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup07"/> [[File:Hugo Chávez on USS Yorktown.jpg|thumb|right|Chávez visiting the [[USS Yorktown (CG-48)|USS ''Yorktown'']], a U.S. Navy ship docked at [[Curaçao]] in the [[Netherlands Antilles]], in 2002]] The Coordinadora Democrática and other opponents of Chávez's Bolivarian government accused it of trying to turn Venezuela from a democracy into a dictatorship by centralising power among its supporters in the Constituent Assembly and granting Chávez increasingly autocratic powers. Many of them pointed to Chávez's personal friendship with Cuba's Fidel Castro and the [[Politics in Cuba|one-party socialist government in Cuba]] as a sign of where the Bolivarian government was taking Venezuela.<ref name="InternationalCrisisGroup07"/>
====Coup, strikes and the recall referendum====
{{Main|2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt|Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003|Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004}}
[[File:Anti-chavez march.jpg|thumb|A 2004 rally against Chávez in [[Caracas]], demanding [[Recall election|his removal from the presidency]]]]
Chávez sought to make PDVSA his main source of funds for political projects and replaced oil experts with political allies to support him with this initiative.<ref name=":6" /> In early-2002, he placed a leftist professor as the president of PDVSA.<ref name=":6" /> In April 2002, Chávez appointed his allies to head the PDVSA and replaced the company's board of directors with loyalists who had "little or no experience in the oil industry", mocking the PDVSA executives on television as he fired them.<ref name=":6" /><ref name="CNNoil">{{cite news|last=Kahn|first=Jeremy|title=Pumping Trouble: A strike in Venezuela has raised temperatures in Caracas and oil prices around the world.|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/02/03/336466/|access-date=21 April 2014|newspaper=CNN|date=3 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232750/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/02/03/336466/ |archive-date=22 April 2014}}</ref> Anger with Chávez's decisions led to civil unrest in Venezuela, which culminated in an attempted coup.<ref name=":6" /> On 11 April 2002, [[Llaguno Overpass events|during a march headed to the presidential palace]],<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 171–72.</ref> nineteen people were killed, and over 110 were wounded.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 168.</ref>
Chávez believed that the best way to stay in power was to implement [[Plan Ávila]].<ref name="p121134NELSON2">{{cite book|title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion |title=The silence and the scorpion : the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela|last1=Nelson|first1=Brian A.|date=2009|publisher=Nation Books|isbn=978-1568584188|edition=online|___location=New York|pages=121–134}}</ref> Military officers, including General [[Raúl Baduel]], a founder of Chávez's [[MBR-200]], then decided that they had to pull support from Chávez to deter a massacre<ref name="p121134NELSON2"/> and shortly after at 8:00 pm, Vásquez Velasco, together with other ranking army officers, declared that Chávez had lost his support.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Chávez agreed to be detained and was transferred by army escort to [[La Orchila]]; business leader [[Pedro Carmona]] declared himself president of an interim government.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 175–84.</ref> Carmona abolished the 1999 constitution and appointed a governing committee. Protests in support of Chávez along with insufficient support for Carmona's government quickly led to Carmona's resignation, and Chávez was returned to power on 14 April.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 181–85.</ref>
Chávez's response was to moderate his approach,{{Disputed inline|date=April 2020}} implementing a new economic team that appeared to be more centrist and reinstated the old board of directors and managers of the state oil company [[Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.]] (PDVSA), whose replacement had been one of the reasons for the coup.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 185.</ref> At the same time, the Bolivarian government began to increase the country's military capacity, purchasing 100,000 [[AK-47]] assault rifles and several helicopters from Russia, as well as a number of [[Super Tucano]] light attack and training planes from Brazil. Troop numbers were also increased.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
Chávez faced a [[Venezuelan general strike of 2002-2003|two-month management strike]] at the PDVSA.<ref name="BBCoil">{{cite news|last=Ceaser|first=Mike|title=Venezuelans hit by oil crisis|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1913893.stm|access-date=21 April 2014|newspaper=BBC|date=5 April 2002}}</ref> The Chávez government's response was to fire about 19,000 striking employees for abandoning their posts and then employing retired workers, foreign contractors, and the military to do their jobs instead.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} The total firing of tens of thousands of employees by Chávez would forever damage Venezuela's oil industry due to the tremendous loss of expertise.<ref name=":6" /> By 2005, the members of Venezuela's energy ministries stated it would take more than 15 years for PDVSA to recover from Chávez's actions.<ref name=":6" />
The 1999 constitution had introduced the concept of a recall referendum into Venezuelan politics, so the opposition called for such a referendum to take place. The resulting [[2004 Venezuelan recall referendum|2004 referendum to recall Chávez]] was unsuccessful. 70% of the eligible Venezuelan population turned out to vote, with 59% of voters deciding to keep the president in power.<ref name="Ramírez 2005. p. 79"/> Commenting on his victory in the recall referendum, Chávez described the result as “an alternative to capitalism and false democracy.”<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gWhWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=Chavez+an+alternative+to+capitalism+and+false+democracy&article_id=6791,5453620&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin6enlpZaPAxU6SEEAHRAENgIQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=Chavez%20an%20alternative%20to%20capitalism%20and%20false%20democracy&f=false ‘Venezuela votes to keep President Chavez in office’ by Alexandra Olson, The Spokesman-Review 17 Aug 2004]</ref>
===="Socialism of the 21st century"====
[[File:Chavez e Lula.jpg|thumb|Hugo Chávez and Brazilian president [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva|Lula da Silva]], 2005]]
In January 2005, Chávez began openly proclaiming the ideology of "[[socialism of the 21st century]]", something that was distinct from his earlier forms of [[Bolivarianism]], which had been [[Social democracy|social democratic]] in nature, merging elements of capitalism and socialism. He used this new term to contrast the [[democratic socialism]], which he wanted to promote in Latin America, from the Marxist–Leninist socialism that had been spread by socialist states like the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China during the 20th century, arguing that the latter had not been truly democratic, suffering from a lack of participatory democracy and an excessively authoritarian governmental structure.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}
In May 2006, Chávez visited Europe in a private capacity, where he announced plans to supply cheap Venezuelan oil to poor working class communities in the continent. The Mayor of London [[Ken Livingstone]] welcomed him, describing him as "the best news out of Latin America in many years."<ref>[[#Obs06|''The Observer'' 2006]].</ref>
===Third presidential term: 10 January 2007 – 10 January 2013===
[[File:Hugo Chávez crop.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Chavez in Brazil, 2008]]
In the [[2006 Venezuelan presidential election|presidential election of December 2006]], which saw a 77% voter turnout, Chávez was once more elected, this time with 63% of the vote, beating his closest challenger [[Manuel Rosales]]. The [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) and the [[Carter Center]] concluded that the election results were free and legitimate.<ref>[[#Int97|International Crisis Group 2007]]. p. 1.</ref><ref>[[#BBC06|BBC News 2006]].</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Chávez wins Venezuelan election |newspaper=[[Gulf News]] |url=http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/12/04/10087134.html |date=4 December 2006 |access-date=30 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929133525/http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/12/04/10087134.html |archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref> After this victory, Chávez promised an "expansion of the revolution".<ref>Ireland On-Line. [http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=203189624&p=zx3y9x33x Chávez promises more-radical turn toward socialism.] (4 December 2006). Retrieved 4 December 2006. {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
====United Socialist Party of Venezuela and domestic policy====
[[File:Demostration by the opposition against the reform - caracas.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans during the [[2007 Venezuelan protests]] demonstrating against [[2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum|Chávez's proposed constitutional referendum]]<ref name="BBCMarch">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7120133.stm|title= Students stage anti-Chavez rally|work= BBC News |date=30 November 2007|access-date=3 December 2007| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071203105852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7120133.stm| archive-date= 3 December 2007 | url-status=live}}</ref>]]
On 15 December 2006, Chávez publicly announced that those leftist political parties who had continually supported him in the Patriotic Pole would unite into one single, much larger party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (''Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela'', PSUV). In the speech which he gave announcing the PSUV's creation, Chávez declared that the old parties must "forget their own structures, party colours and slogans, because they are not the most important thing for the fatherland".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6192105.stm |title=Venezuela head seeks party merger |first=Greg |last=Morsbach |date=19 December 2006 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref>
[[File:United Socialist Party of Venezuela logo.gif|thumb|The logo for the [[United Socialist Party of Venezuela|PSUV]], Chávez's socialist political party founded in 2007 succeeding the [[Fifth Republic Movement]]]]
Chávez had initially proclaimed that those leftist parties which chose to not dissolve into the PSUV would have to leave the government. Party membership rose to 5.7 million people by 2007,<ref name="bloomberg.com">Walter, Mathew. [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aqg5jOxmM.Vg%20 "Venezuela May Lower Voting Age, Add Gay Rights in Constitution"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916205622/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive |date=16 September 2015 }}. ''Bloomberg''. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2010.</ref> The United Nations' [[International Labour Organization]] expressed concern over some voters' being pressured to join the party.<ref name="eluniversal.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/06/16/eco_art_en-pdvsa-y-sidor-se_1433965.shtml |title=En Pdvsa y Sidor se concentra criminalización de las protestas – Economía |newspaper=El Universal |date=16 June 2009 |access-date=28 September 2010|language=es}}</ref>
On 28 December 2006, President Chávez announced that the government would not renew [[RCTV]]'s broadcast license which expired on 27 May 2007, thereby forcing the channel to cease operations on that day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6215815.stm|title=Chavez to shut down opposition TV|date=29 December 2006|access-date=27 May 2007|publisher=BBC}}</ref> On 17 May 2007, the government rejected a plea made by RCTV to stop the TV station's forced shutdown.<ref name="universities26">{{Cite web|url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37828|title=Marches and Counter-Marches Over TV Station's End|date=21 May 2007|publisher=Inter Press Service News Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612203557/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37828|archive-date=12 June 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref> Thousands of protesters marching both against and in support of the government's decision remained on the streets in Caracas. Other marches took place in [[Maracaibo]] and [[Valencia, Carabobo|Valencia]].<ref name="universities26"/> On 21 May 2007, hundreds of journalists and students marched in Caracas carrying a banner reading "S.O.S. Freedom of Expression".<ref name="universities26" /> A few days later, on 25 May 2007, university students from the [[Universidad Católica Andrés Bello]], the [[Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela)|Universidad Simón Bolívar]] and the [[Universidad Central de Venezuela]] protested against the government's intentions.<ref name="universities15">{{cite news|url=http://politica.eluniversal.com/2007/05/25/rctv_ava_estudiantes-de-la-uc_25A874209.shtml|title=Estudiantes de la UCAB y la USB protestan en apoyo a RCTV|date=25 May 2007|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527074433/http://politica.eluniversal.com/2007/05/25/rctv_ava_estudiantes-de-la-uc_25A874209.shtml|archive-date=27 May 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref><ref name="universities35">{{cite news|url=http://politica.eluniversal.com/2007/05/25/rctv_ava_ucevistas-protestaro_25A874355.shtml|title=Ucevistas protestaron en la autopista Francisco Fajardo cierre de RCTV|date=25 May 2007|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831010331/http://politica.eluniversal.com/2007/05/25/rctv_ava_ucevistas-protestaro_25A874355.shtml|archive-date=31 August 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref> On 26 May, tens of thousands of protesters marched in support of RCTV to their headquarters.<ref name="REUT20076">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-television-march-idUSN2621739620070526|title=Venezuelans march against closure of TV station|last1=Ellsworth|first1=Brian|date=26 May 2007|access-date=29 March 2015|work=Reuters|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402214351/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/05/26/us-venezuela-television-march-idUSN2621739620070526|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the week prior to the shutdown of RCTV, many individuals, international organizations and NGOs—including the [[Organization of American States|OAS]]'s [[Secretary General of the Organization of American States|Secretary General]] [[José Miguel Insulza]]<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.oas.org/OASpage/press_releases/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-001/07|publisher=Organization of American States|title=Secretary General expresses concern over decision not to renew broadcasting license of Venezuelan television station|date=5 January 2007|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref> and its [[OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression|Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=688&lID=1|title=Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression expresses concern over the situation of RCTV in Venezuela|date=31 December 2006|publisher=Organization of American States|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref> the [[Inter American Press Association]],<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.sipiapa.com/pressreleases/srchcountrydetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1828|title=IAPA assails Venezuela's Chávez over non-renewal of TV station license|publisher=Inter American Press Association|date=29 December 2006|access-date=28 May 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061613/http://www.sipiapa.com/pressreleases/srchcountrydetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1828|archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/22/venezu15986.htm|title=Venezuela: TV Shutdown Harms Free Expression|date=22 May 2007|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|access-date=28 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081114234127/http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2007/05/22/venezu15986.htm|archive-date=14 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Committee to Protect Journalists]],<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/americas/ven12jan07na.html|title='Lack of transparency' in Venezuelan broadcast case|publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists|date=12 January 2007|access-date=28 May 2007}}</ref>—have expressed concerns for freedom of the press following the shutdown.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/82816|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804061313/http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/82816|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2012|title=Non-renewal of RCTV license a threat to media pluralism, will cost 2,000 their jobs, says IFJ|publisher=International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)|date=24 April 2007|access-date=27 May 2007}}</ref> However, Secretary Insulza also stated that it was up to the Venezuelan courts to solve this dispute<ref name="ElUniversal20071805">{{cite news|url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/05/18/en_pol_art_insulza:-rctv-case-w_18A870835.shtml|title=Insulza: RCTV case will be solved by Venezuelan courts|date=18 May 2007|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901111430/http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/05/18/en_pol_art_insulza%3A-rctv-case-w_18A870835.shtml|archive-date=1 September 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref> and that he believed that this was an administrative decision.<ref name="ElUniversal20070611">{{cite news|url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/06/11/en_pol_art_insulza-hopes-venezu_11A883121.shtml|title=Insulza hopes Venezuela "to continue to be democratic"|date=11 June 2007|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122060100/http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/06/11/en_pol_art_insulza-hopes-venezu_11A883121.shtml|archive-date=22 January 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=17 June 2007}}</ref>
In 2007, the Bolivarian government set up a constitutional commission to review the 1999 constitution and suggest potential amendments to be made to it. Led by the prominent pro-Chávez intellectual [[Luis Britto García]], it suggested measures that would have increased many of the president's powers, for instance increasing the presidential term limit to seven years, allowing the president to run for election indefinitely and centralizing powers in the executive. The government put the suggested changes to a [[2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum|public referendum in December 2007]].<ref name="reuters20070816">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1526395420070816|title=Venezuela's Chávez calls for end to term limits|access-date=16 August 2007|work=Reuters|date=16 August 2007|last=Ellsworth |first=Brian}}</ref> Abstention rate was high however, with 44% of registered voters not turning out, and in the end the proposed changes were rejected by 51% of votes.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/world/americas/04venezuela.html |title= Venezuela Vote Sets Roadblocks on Chávez Path |work= The New York Times|date = 4 December 2007 |access-date=26 February 2010 |last=Romero |first=Simon}}</ref> This would prove to the first electoral loss that Chávez had faced in the thirteen electoral contests held since he took power, due to the top-down nature of the changes, as well as general public dissatisfaction with "the absence of internal debate on its content, as well as dissatisfaction with the running of the social programmes, increasing street crime, and with corruption within the government".<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 December 2007 |title=Chávez: "Fue una victoria de mierda y la nuestra una derrota de coraje" |url=https://www.libertaddigital.com/mundo/chavez-fue-una-victoria-de-mierda-y-la-nuestra-una-derrota-de-coraje-1276318942/ |access-date=23 April 2023 |website=Libertad Digital}}</ref>
In mid 2010, tons of rotten food supplies imported during Chávez's government through subsidies of state-owned enterprise [[PDVAL]] were found. Due to the scandal, PDVAL started being administrated by the [[Vice President of Venezuela]] and afterwards by the Alimentation Ministry.<ref name="great">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5hGxTMTytdWbdjg85kySFN_Z4ZBZQ|title=Unos 170 millones de kilos de alimentos importados por Venezuela se han vencido, afirma la oposición|access-date=31 July 2010|publisher=[[Agencia EFE]]|date=31 July 2010|work=Google|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804174844/http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5hGxTMTytdWbdjg85kySFN_Z4ZBZQ|archive-date=4 August 2010}}</ref> Three former managers were detained,<ref name="elnacional20100729">{{cite web|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/p_contenido.php?q=nodo/147369/Nacional/Audiencia-preliminar-por-caso-Pdval-ser%C3%A1-el-10-de-agosto|title=Audiencia preliminar por caso PDVAL será el 10 de agosto|author=Agencia Venezolana de Noticias|date=1 August 2010|website=[[El Nacional (Venezuela)|El Nacional]]|language=es|access-date=29 July 2010|author-link=Agencia Venezolana de Noticias}}{{dead link|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/p_contenido.php?q=nodo%2F147369%2FNacional%2FAudiencia-preliminar-por-caso-Pdval-ser%C3%A1-el-10-de-agosto|bot=InternetArchiveBot|date=March 2019}}</ref> but were released afterwards<ref name="elmundo20111106">{{cite web|url=http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/petroleo/pdvsa/los-tres-acusados-por-el-caso-pdval-seran-enjuicia.aspx|title=Los tres acusados por el caso PDVAL serán enjuiciados en libertad condicional|last=García Mora|first=Ileana|date=6 November 2011|website=[[El Mundo (Venezuela)]]|access-date=14 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522213123/http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/petroleo/pdvsa/los-tres-acusados-por-el-caso-pdval-seran-enjuicia.aspx|archive-date=22 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> and two of them had their positions restored.<ref name="ultimasnoticias20120514">{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/imputados-de-pdval-volvieron-a-sus-cargos-en-pdvsa.aspx|title=Imputados de PDVAL volvieron a sus cargos en Pdvsa|date=14 May 2012|website=[[Últimas Noticias (Venezuela)|Últimas Noticias]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712120057/http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/imputados-de-pdval-volvieron-a-sus-cargos-en-pdvsa.aspx|archive-date=12 July 2012|access-date=17 May 2012}}</ref> In July 2010, official estimates stated that 130,000 tons of food supplies were affected, while the political opposition informed of 170,000 tons.<ref name="great" /> As of 2012, any advances in the investigations by the [[National Assembly (Venezuela)|National Assembly]] were unknown.<ref name="globovision20120515">{{cite web|url=http://globovision.com/news.php?nid=230805|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411005550/http://globovision.com/news.php?nid=230805|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2013|title=Rechazan incluir en orden del día caso de alimentos descompuestos de PDVAL|last=Ackerman|first=Sasha|date=15 May 2012|website=[[Globovisión]]|access-date=17 May 2012}}</ref> The most accepted explanation of the loss of food supplies is the organization of PDVAL, because the food network allegedly imported supplies faster than what it could distribute them. The opposition considers the affair as a corrupt case and spokespeople have assured that the public officials deliberately imported more food that could be distributed to embezzle funds through the import of subsidized supplies.<ref name="bbcresumen">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/economia/2010/06/100608_venezuela_escandalo_alimentos_lr.shtml|title=Venezuela: escándalo por alimentos vencidos|author=Valery, Yolanda|date=8 June 2010|work=[[BBC]]|language=es|access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref>
During an address on Chávez's birthday in 2011, he called on the middle classes and the [[private sector]] to get more involved in his Bolivarian Revolution, something he saw as "vital" to its success.<ref>[[#BBC11b|BBC News 2011b]].</ref>
In August of 2011, Chávez announced that his government would nationalize Venezuela's gold industry, taking it over from Russian-controlled company Rusoro, while at the same time also moving the country's gold stocks, which were largely stored in western banks, to banks in allied countries such as Russia, China and Brazil.<ref>[[#Gua11|''The Guardian'' 2011]].</ref>
To ensure that his [[Bolivarian Revolution]] became socially ingrained in Venezuela, Chávez discussed his wish to stand for re-election when his term ran out in 2013, and spoke of ruling beyond 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chávez dice que seguirá en el poder hasta 2030 |url=https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/internacionales/Chavez-dice-que-seguira-en-el-poder-hasta-2030-20111001-0037.html |access-date=26 December 2022 |website=[[El Economista (Mexico)|El Economista]] |date=October 2011 |language=es}}</ref> Under the 1999 constitution, he could not legally stand for re-election again, and so brought about a [[2009 Venezuelan constitutional referendum|referendum on 15 February 2009]] to abolish the two-term limit for all public offices, including the presidency. Approximately 70% of the Venezuelan electorate voted, and they approved this alteration to the constitution with over 54% in favor, allowing any elected official the chance to try to run indefinitely.{{sfn|Carroll|2009}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Forero |first=Juan |date=16 February 2009 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/15/AR2009021500136.html |title= Chávez Wins Removal of Term Limits |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
[[File:Fórum Social Mundial 2008 - AL.jpg|250px|thumb|Chávez (far right) with fellow Latin American leftist presidents in 2009 (from left to right: Paraguay's [[Fernando Lugo]], Bolivia's [[Evo Morales]], Brazil's [[Lula da Silva]] and Ecuador's [[Rafael Correa]])]]
===Fourth presidential term: 10 January 2013 – 5 March 2013===
{{Further|Immediate Mobilization Networks}}
On 7 October 2012, Chávez won election as president for a fourth time, his third six-year term. He defeated [[Henrique Capriles]] with 54% of the votes versus 45% for Capriles, which was a lower victory margin than in his previous presidential wins, in the [[2012 Venezuelan presidential election]].<ref name=extend/><ref name="APFox2012">{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/07/venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-wins-another-6-year-term-electoral-council/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008034702/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/07/venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-wins-another-6-year-term-electoral-council/|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 October 2012|title=Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez wins another 6-year term, electoral council says|date=8 October 2012|work=[[Fox News Channel]]|access-date=30 December 2012}}</ref> Turnout in the election was 80%, with a hotly contested election between the two candidates.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/world/americas/venezuela-presidential-election.html?hp |title= Chávez Wins a Third Term in Venezuela Amid Historically High Turnout |publisher= NYT |date= 7 October 2012 |access-date=8 October 2012 |first=William |last=Neuman}}</ref> There was significant support for Chávez among the Venezuelan lower class. Chávez's opposition blamed him for unfairly using state funds to spread largesse before the election to bolster Chavez's support among his primary electoral base, the lower class.<ref name="APFox2012" />
[[File:Hugo Chávez 2012.jpg|150px|thumbnail|left|Chávez in June 2012]]
The inauguration of Chávez's new term was scheduled for 10 January 2013, but as he was undergoing medical treatment at the time in [[Cuba]], he was not able to return to Venezuela for that date. The National Assembly president [[Diosdado Cabello]] proposed to postpone the inauguration and the Supreme Court decided that, being just another term of the sitting president and not the inauguration of a new one, the formality could be bypassed. The [[Roman Catholicism in Venezuela|Venezuelan Bishops Conference]] opposed the verdict, stating that the constitution must be respected, and the Venezuelan government had not been transparent regarding details about Chávez's health.<ref>{{cite news |title=Church warns Venezuela govt on constitution |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20130107-church-warns-venezuela-govt-constitution |newspaper=France 24 |date=7 January 2013 |access-date=8 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111082713/http://www.france24.com/en/20130107-church-warns-venezuela-govt-constitution |archive-date=11 January 2013}}</ref>
Acting executive officials produced orders of government signed by Chávez, which were suspected of forgery by some opposition politicians, who claimed that Chávez was too sick to be in control of his faculties. [[Guillermo Cochez]], recently dismissed from the office of Panamanian ambassador to the [[Organization of American States]], even claimed that Chávez had been [[brain death|brain-dead]] since 31 December 2012.<ref name="univision">{{cite web | url=http://noticias.univision.com/america-latina/venezuela/hugo-chavez/noticias/article/2013-02-27/nuevos-rumores-sobre-muerte-de-hugo-chavez | title=Nuevos rumores de muerte para Hugo Chávez | publisher=Univision Communications Inc. | date=27 February 2013 | access-date=28 February 2013 | language=es | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228000713/http://noticias.univision.com/america-latina/venezuela/hugo-chavez/noticias/article/2013-02-27/nuevos-rumores-sobre-muerte-de-hugo-chavez | archive-date=28 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="PanARMENIAN">{{cite web | url=http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/147881/ | title=Former envoy claims Venezuela's Chávez is dead | publisher=PanArmenian.Net | date=28 February 2013 | access-date=28 February 2013}}</ref>
Due to the [[Death and state funeral of Hugo Chávez|death of Chávez]], Vice President [[Nicolás Maduro]] took over the presidential powers and duties for the remainder of Chávez's abbreviated term until presidential elections were held. Venezuela's constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a president cannot be sworn in.<ref>{{cite news|title=Even after death, Hugo Chavez gets his choice of successor|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/06/even-after-death-hugo-chavez-gets-his-choice-of-successor/|access-date=6 March 2013|newspaper=National Post}}</ref> Maduro remains in power as president as of 2025.
==Political ideology==
{{see also|Socialism of the 21st century}}
{{Populism sidebar}}
Chávez was described as a leftist, with one journal stating that he was "billed as the hemisphere’s second leftist leader after Cuba’s Fidel Castro."<ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2000/aug/1/20000801-011801-6666r/ Chavez to make economy priority Tuesday, August 1, 2000]</ref> In a 1996 interview, Chávez stated "I am not Marxist, but I am not anti-Marxist. I am not communist, but I am not anti-communist." In 1999, Chávez told the ''New York Times'' that "If you are attempting to determine whether Chavez is of the left, right, or center, if he is socialist, Communist, or capitalist, well, I am none of those, but I have a bit of all of those."<ref>Hugo! The Hugo Chávez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution By Bart Jones, 2009</ref> In a 1998 interview, Chávez stated that "I am not a socialist. I believe that today's world, Latin America and the world to come require a leap forward. We are going beyond socialism and even savage capitalism."<ref name="bbc.com">[https://www.bbc.com/mundo/lg/america_latina/2010/01/100123_chavez_marx_amab El marxismo según Chávez Yolanda Valery BBC Mundo, Venezuela]</ref>
=== Opposition to capitalism and neoliberalism ===
{{Quote box
| width = 246px
| align = right
| quote = Democracy is impossible in a capitalist system. Capitalism is the realm of injustice and a tyranny of the richest against the poorest. [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]] said, 'Between the powerful and the weak all freedom is oppressed. Only the rule of law sets you free.' That's why the only way to save the world is through socialism, a democratic socialism ... [Democracy is not just turning up to vote every four or five years], it's much more than that, it's a way of life, it's giving power to the people ... it is not the government of the rich over the people, which is what's happening in almost all the so-called democratic Western capitalist countries.
| source = —Hugo Chávez, June 2010<ref name="Hard Talk"/>
}}
Both before and during his presidency, Chávez spoke out against "savage capitalism," neoliberal capitalism and simply capitalism in various speeches. During his first electoral campaign, as noted by one observer, Chávez made clear his rejection of what he called "savage capitalism," using the words of [[Pope John Paul II]]. Chávez wanted greater state intervention in the economy, but "built bridges to the private sector to promote the development of national industry." According to Eduardo Semtei, a political scientist considered close to the ideas of Chavez, "From the beginning he had the idea that the classic capitalist model is a model contrary to the development of society."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220129202433/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/specials/2009/chavez_10/newsid_7844000/7844514.stm La revolución del discurso de Chávez Carlos Chirinos Martes, 27 de enero de 2009]</ref>
In 1999, Chávez argued that a new constitution drafted by an assembly packed with his allies would distance Venezuela from "savage capitalism."<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-20-mn-35583-story.html New Charter Shuns ‘Savage Capitalism’ L.A. TIMES ARCHIVES NOV. 20, 1999]</ref> He reiterated this position on 28 September 2001, when Chavez spoke negatively of neoliberal capitalism and the economic measures of the [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]], {{Ill|El Gran Viraje|lt=El Gran Viraje|es}}, one of the causes of the [[Caracazo]] riots.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221004211023/http://todochavez.gob.ve/todochavez/2027-alocucion-del-ciudadano-presidente-de-la-republica-bolivariana-de-venezuela-hugo-chavez-frias-en-sesion-especial-de-la-asamblea-nacional-con-motivo-de-la-presentacion-del-plan-de-desarrollo-economico-y-social-de-la-nacion Alocución del Ciudadano Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías en Sesión Especial de la Asamblea Nacional con Motivo de la Presentación del Plan de Desarrollo Económico y Social de la Nación]</ref>
In various interviews conducted in 2002, Chávez shared his views on capitalism, saying that the Bolivarian Revolution was an alternative to neoliberalism, saying that capitalism was "sown ... in the marrow" of Venezuela and the rest of the world, stating that his revolution and its missions were more humane.<ref name="marxists.org">[https://www.marxists.org/espanol/harnecker/97068.pdf ENTREVISTA DE MARTA HARNECKER HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS UN HOMBRE, UN PUEBLO Publicado en España por Editorial: Tercera Prensa, San Sebastián, noviembre 2002, P.69-70]</ref> Ultimately, Chávez said that the Bolivarian Revolution was "an alternative economy to dehumanized capitalism."<ref name="marxists.org"/>
In 2003, Chávez argued that the Soviet Union disappeared when it failed in its efforts to dismantle "the devastating logic of capital," stating that it is the "alternative model" that he promoted was the one now confronting "neoliberalism and savage capitalism."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210227135826/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_2990000/2990549.stm Nueva medición de fuerzas en Venezuela Jueves, 01 de mayo de 2003 Escribe desde Venezuela, Aldo Rodríguez Villouta, para BBC Mundo.]</ref> While at the World Social Forum on 26 January 2003, Chávez criticized the idea that capitalism and neoliberalism "won" following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], saying that some individuals raised "the thesis of single thinking, there are no more alternatives, ... socialism is over, and communism is over and long live neoliberal capitalism and all this fairy tale."<ref name="web.archive.org">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190421083237/http://www.todochavez.gob.ve/todochavez/1481-intervencion-del-comandante-presidente-hugo-chavez-en-el-encuentro-solidaridad-con-la-revolucion-bolivariana-con-venezuela-en-el-marco-l-foro-social-mundial Intervención del Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez, en el encuentro Solidaridad con la Revolución Bolivariana con Venezuela en el marco l Foro Social Mundial 26/01/2003]</ref>
Chávez noted in a 2005 interview that "At one time I came to think about the Third Way. I was having trouble interpreting the world. I was confused ... I spoke and wrote a lot about 'human capitalism'. Today I am convinced that it is impossible ... I became convinced that socialism is the way."<ref name="bbc.com" />
Chávez arguably did not fully talk openly about the [[socialism of the 21st century]] until 3 December 2006, during a speech after his reelection in the [[2006 Venezuelan presidential election|2006 presidential elections]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Torres |first=Ana Teresa |author-link=Ana Teresa Torres |url=https://www.anateresatorres.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LA-HERENCIA-DE-LA-TRIBU.pdf |title=La Herencia de la Tribu |publisher=Alfa |year=2009 |isbn=978-9803542849 |pages=146–147 |language=es |quote=Con diferentes matices estas ambigüedades del discurso se mantuvieron hasta el triunfo en la reelección presidencial de 2006, siendo su contrincante Manuel Rosales, gobernador del estado Zulia. En el discurso del 3 de diciembre, desde el llamado «Balcón del Pueblo» del Palacio de Miraflores, el socialismo apareció expuesto con toda claridad.}}</ref>
===Marxism and socialism===
Chávez's connection to [[Marxism]] was a complex one, though he had described himself as a Marxist on some occasions.<ref name="en.ria.ru">{{cite web |date=16 January 2010 |title=Hugo Chavez admits to being Marxist, just like Christ | World | RIA Novosti |url=http://en.ria.ru/world/20100116/157569985.html |access-date=19 May 2014 |publisher=En.ria.ru}}</ref><ref name="BBCmarx" /><ref name="N24marx" /><ref name="ABCmarx" /><ref name="CLARINmarx" /> In May 1996, he gave an interview with {{ill|Agustín Blanco Muñoz|es}} in which he remarked, "I am not a Marxist, but I am not anti-Marxist. I am not communist, but I am not anti-communist."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Marcano |first1=Cristina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbAe2wmXSrgC&q=I+am+not+a+Marxist |title=Hugo Chavez |last2=Tyszka |first2=Alberto Barrera |date=14 August 2007 |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-58836-650-4 |language=en}}</ref> In a 2009 speech to the national assembly, he said: "I am a Marxist to the same degree as the followers of the ideas of Jesus Christ and the liberator of America, [[Simón Bolívar]]".<ref name="en.ria.ru" /> He was well versed in many Marxist texts, having read the works of many Marxist theoreticians, and often publicly quoted them. Various international Marxists supported his government, believing it to be a sign of proletariat revolution as predicted in [[Marxist theory]].<ref>See for instance [[Hugo Chávez#Woo06|Woods 2006]] and [[Hugo Chávez#Ali06|Ali 2006]].</ref> In 2010, Hugo Chávez proclaimed support for the [[Trotskyism|ideas]] of Marxist [[Leon Trotsky]], saying "When I called him (former Minister of Labour, [[José Ramón Rivero]])" Chávez explained, "he said to me: 'President I want to tell you something before someone else tells you ... I am a Trotskyist', and I said, 'well, what is the problem? I am also a Trotskyist! I follow Trotsky's line, that of permanent revolution", and then cited [[Marx]] and [[Lenin]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Malinarich |first=Nathalie |date=10 January 2007 |title=Chávez accelerates on path to socialism |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6246219.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Jorge |date=12 January 2007 |title="What is the problem? I am also a Trotskyist!" – Chavez is sworn in as president of Venezuela |url=http://www.marxist.com/chavez-trotskyist-president120107.htm |website=In Defense of Marxism}}</ref>
Chávez also noted his identification with socialism, noting that "The Constitution speaks that the socioeconomic regime of Venezuela must have a strong cooperative and associative content and that gives it a charge that breaks with individualism and neoliberalism, which gives a strong socialist content to the project. In that direction we have to go all out. To cooperate is to socialize the economy, to give it a social content. I am sure that in Puerto Cruz, agricultural cooperatives will emerge."<ref>[https://www.marxists.org/espanol/harnecker/97068.pdf ENTREVISTA DE MARTA HARNECKER HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS UN HOMBRE, UN PUEBLO Publicado en España por Editorial: Tercera Prensa, San Sebastián, noviembre 2002, P.105]</ref> Later in his presidency Chávez promoted the [[socialism of the 21st century]]. His approach was more heavily influenced by the theories of [[István Mészáros (professor)|István Mészáros]], Michael Lebowitz and [[Marta Harnecker]], who was Chávez's adviser between 2004 and 2011, rather than by those of [[Heinz Dieterich]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
===Bolivarianism===
{{Main|Bolivarianism|Bolivarian Circles}}
[[File:Portrait of Simón Bolívar by Arturo Michelena.jpg|thumb|upright|19th century general and politician [[Simón Bolívar]] provided a basis for Chávez's political ideas]]
Hugo Chávez defined his political position as [[Bolivarianism]], an ideology he developed from that of [[Simón Bolívar]] (1783–1830) and others. Bolívar was a 19th-century general who led the fight against the [[colonialism|colonialist]] Spanish authorities and who is widely revered across Latin America today. Along with Bolívar, the other two primary influences upon Bolivarianism are [[Simón Rodríguez]] (1769–1854), a philosopher who was Bolívar's tutor and mentor, and [[Ezequiel Zamora]], (1817–1860), the Venezuelan Federalist general.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cameron |first=Maxwell |year=2001 |title=Venezuela's Hugo Chávez: Savior or Threat to Democracy? |journal=Latin American Research Review |volume=36 |issue=3 |page=263 |doi=10.1017/S0023879100019270 |issn=0023-8791 |s2cid=252749214 |doi-access=free}}. Online at [https://web.archive.org/web/20130219083230/http://www.injerencia.org/documentos/Venezuela/Articulos_Ingles/Chavez_Savior%20or%20Threat.pdf]</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2022}} The fact that Chávez's ideology originated from Bolívar has also received some criticism because Chávez had occasionally described himself as being influenced by [[Karl Marx]], a critic of Bolívar.<ref name="marx">{{cite web| url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1858/01/bolivar.htm| title=Bolivar y Ponte| date=1858| first=Karl| last=Marx| author-link=Karl Marx| publisher=marxists.org| access-date=18 August 2010}} First published in the New American Cyclopedia, Vol. III, 1858.</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2022}}<ref name="MARXbolivar">{{cite book|last1=Beddow|first1=D. Méndez|last2=Thibodeaux|first2=Sam J.|title=Gangrillas : the unspoken pros and cons of legalizing drugs|date=2010|publisher=Trafford on Demand Pub|___location=[U.S.]|isbn=978-1426948466|page=29}}</ref> Beddow and Thibodeaux noted the complications between Bolívar and Marx, stating that "[d]escribing Bolivar as a socialist warrior in the class struggle, when he was actually member of the aristocratic 'criollos', is peculiar when considering Karl Marx's own writings on Bolivar, whom he dismissed as a false liberator who merely sought to preserve the power of the old Creole nobility which he belonged".<ref name="MARXbolivar" />{{primary source inline|date=August 2022}}
===Other influences===
Chávez's early heroes were nationalist military dictators that included former Peruvian president [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] and former Panamanian "Maximum Leader" [[Omar Torrijos]].<ref name=ECONmarch2013>{{cite news|title=Venezuela after Chávez Now for the reckoning|url=https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21573095-after-14-years-oil-fuelled-autocracy-hugo-chávezs-successors-will-struggle-keep|access-date=23 December 2014|agency=The Economist|date=9 March 2013}}</ref> One dictator Chávez admired was [[Marcos Pérez Jiménez]], a former president of Venezuela that he praised for the public works he performed.<ref name=Carroll193/> Chávez praised Pérez Jiménez to vilify preceding democratic governments, stating that "General Pérez Jiménez was the best president Venezuela had in a long time ... He was much better than [[Rómulo Betancourt]], much better than all of those others. They hated him because he was a soldier."<ref name=Carroll193/>
Chávez was also well acquainted with the various traditions of Latin American socialism, espoused by such figures as Colombian politician [[Jorge Eliécer Gaitán]]<ref name="coanews.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.coanews.org/article/2007/wall-street-journal-claims-chavez-oil-policy-aims-to-weaken-us |title=Wall Street Journal Claims Chávez Oil Policy "Aims to Weaken US" |first=Stephen |last=Lendman |work=COA News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430200239/http://coanews.org/article/2007/wall-street-journal-claims-chavez-oil-policy-aims-to-weaken-us |archive-date=30 April 2009}}</ref> and former Chilean president [[Salvador Allende]].<ref name="coanews.org"/> Early in his presidency, Chávez was advised and influenced by the Argentine Peronist [[Norberto Ceresole]].<ref name=ECONmarch2013/> [[Cuban revolution|Cuban Communist revolutionaries]] [[Che Guevara]] and [[Fidel Castro]] also influenced Chávez, especially with Castro's government assistance with the Bolivarian Missions.<ref name=ECONmarch2013/><ref name="coanews.org"/>
Chávez also spoke admiringly of [[Mahatma Gandhi]], stating in a 2005 speech that "we must remember that thought of Gandhi that reflects a deep respect for himself, for his own country, for a healthy nationalism" and expressed support for what he said was Gandhi's espousal of being anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist.<ref name=":8">[https://web.archive.org/web/20201204180446/http://www.todochavez.gob.ve/todochavez/3563-intervencion-del-comandante-presidente-hugo-chavez-durante-catedra-impartida-ante-estudiantes-e-intelectuales-en-la-universidad-jawajarl%C4%81l-nehru-de-la-republica-de-la-india 04/03/2005 Intervención del Comandante Presidente Hugo Chávez durante cátedra impartida ante estudiantes e intelectuales, en la Universidad Jawajarlāl Nehru de la República de la India]</ref> During the same speech, Chávez also expressed influence from [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], noting he was a main figure of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]], with Chávez citing his leadership as an inspiration "of the need, of brotherhood and solidarity among the peoples of the Third World. The need to unite to defend the interests of our people, of poor people against the abuse of rich people."<ref name=":8" />
Other indirect influences on Chávez's political philosophy are the Gospel teachings of [[Jesus Christ]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4359924.stm Hugo Chávez: Charming provocateur], Robin Lustig, BBC News, Paris</ref><ref>[https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-10-chavez-venezuela_x.htm?csp=34 "Chávez promises a socialist Venezuela as he starts new 6-year term"], 10 January 2007, ''[[USA Today]]''.</ref> Other inspirations of Chávez's political view are [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]],<ref>{{in lang|it}} [https://archive.today/20130413073001/http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/cultura/200707articoli/23975girata.asp ''Garibaldi, the hero of Chávez'']</ref> [[Antonio Gramsci]] and [[Antonio Negri]].<ref>{{in lang|it}} [http://www.carmillaonline.com/2007/12/06/venezuela-il-no-vince-al-fotofinish/#002461 ''Venezuela, no wins at "photo finish"'']</ref><ref>{{cite news|author= Redazione Il Fatto Quotidiano|url=http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2011/03/18/nord-africa-lotte-francesi-antiberlusconismo-in-300-a-lezione-da-toni-negri/98408/| title=North Africa, french fightings, anti-Berlusconi. 300 at Toni Negri's lesson|publisher=[[Il Fatto Quotidiano]] |date=18 March 2011 |language=it}}</ref><ref>''Understanding the Venezuelan Revolution: Hugo Chavez Talks to Marta Harnecker'', New York: Monthly Review, 2005</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Cotroneo |last=Rocco|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2007/agosto/17/Chavez_preme_sul_pedale_del_co_9_070817090.shtml| title=Chávez insists for socialism|access-date=22 August 2011|publisher=Corriere della Sera.it|date=17 August 2007|language=it}}</ref>
====Promotion of conspiracy theories====
In September 2006, Chávez said [[9/11 conspiracy theories]] were "not absurd" and that "a building never collapses like that, unless it's with an implosion".<ref>{{cite news|title=Chavez says U.S. may have orchestrated 9/11|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13401534|work=msnbc.com|date=12 September 2006|language=en}}</ref> Chávez also told [[Christopher Hitchens]] that he did not believe that the footage of the [[Moon landing conspiracy theories|Apollo 11 Moon landings was genuine]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hitchens|first1=Christopher|title=Hugo Boss|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/08/hugo_boss.html|work=Slate|date=2 August 2010}}</ref>
==Policy overview==
===Economic and social policy===
{{Main||Economic policy of the Hugo Chávez administration}}
{{See also|Economy of Venezuela}}
[[File:Evolution of crude oil price.png|thumb|Historical crude oil prices, including the period of the Chávez administration (1998–2013)]]
[[File:Venezuela Economic Indicators, Chávez administration.png|350px|thumbnail|right|<span style="color:#4682B4">The blue line represents annual rates</span><p style="color:#f00;"><span style="color:#f00;">The red line represents trends of annual rates given throughout the period shown</span></p>GDP is in billions of [[community currency|Local Currency Unit]] that has been adjusted for inflation<br /> '''Sources''': [[International Monetary Fund]], [[World Bank]]
]]
From his election in 1998 until his death in March 2013, Chávez's administration proposed and enacted [[populist]] [[Economic policy|economic policies]]. The social programs were designed to be short-term, though after seeing political success as their result, Chávez made the efforts central to his administration and often overspent outside of Venezuela's budget.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=El ocaso del chavismo: Venezuela 2005–2015|last=López Maya|first=Margarita|year=2016|isbn=9788417014254|pages=354–355|publisher=Editorial Alfa }}</ref>
Due to increasing oil prices in the early 2000s which raised funds not seen in Venezuela since the 1980s, Chávez created the [[Bolivarian Missions]], aimed at providing public services to improve economic, cultural, and social conditions,<ref name="p. 54">{{cite web|url=http://www.ops-oms.org.ve/site/pwr/docs/CCS_MS_OPS-OMS.pdf|title=Estrategia de Cooperación de OPS/OMS con Venezuela 2006–2008|date=June 2006|publisher=[[Pan American Health Organization]]|pages=[http://www.ops–oms.org.ve/site/pwr/docs/CCS_MS_OPS–OMS.pdf#page=54 p. 54]|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024054050/http://www.ops-oms.org.ve/site/pwr/docs/CCS_MS_OPS-OMS.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2006|access-date=31 December 2006}}</ref><ref name="http">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/2006/11/10/eco_art_64504A.shtml|title=Banco de la Vivienda transfirió 66 millardos para subsidios|date=10 November 2006|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|access-date=29 December 2006|language=es}}</ref><ref name="Barreiro C">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/2006/03/04/eco_art_04206A.shtml|title=Mercal es 34% más barato|last=Barreiro C.|first=Raquel|date=4 March 2006|newspaper=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|access-date=29 December 2006|language=es}}</ref><ref name=FTWD>{{cite book |last1=Heritage |first1=Andrew |title=Financial Times World Desk Reference |date=December 2002 |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |isbn=9780789488053 |pages=618–21|title-link=Financial Times }}</ref> using these populist policies to maintain political power.<ref name="CHOSUN2">{{Cite news|url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/05/02/2018050201490.html|script-title=ko:화폐경제 무너졌는데…최저임금 인상에 목매는 베네수엘라|last=남민우|first=기|date=2 May 2018|work=[[The Chosun Ilbo|朝鮮日報]]|access-date=22 May 2018|language=ko|quote=''Venezuela's fall is considered to be mainly caused by the populist policy ... Venezuela, for decades, has increased the number of public sector employees and has promoted populist support to maintain the regime''}}</ref><ref name="FPmarch2013" /><ref name=STRATexpensive>{{cite web|title=Venezuela's Expensive Friendships|url=https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/venezuelas-expensive-friendships|website=[[Stratfor]]|access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> According to Corrales and Penfold, "aid was disbursed to ''some'' of the poor, and more gravely, in a way that ended up helping the president and his allies and cronies more than anyone else".<ref name="DRAGONp5">{{cite book|last1=Corrales|first1=Javier|last2=Penfold|first2=Michael|title=Dragon in the Tropics: The Legacy of Hugo Chávez|date=2 April 2015|publisher=[[Brookings Institution Press]]|isbn=978-0815725930|page=5}}</ref> The Missions, which were directly overseen by Chávez and often linked to his political campaigns,<ref name=":0" /> entailed the construction of thousands of free medical clinics for the poor<ref name="p. 54"/> and the enactment of food<ref name="Barreiro C"/> and housing subsidies.<ref name="http"/> The quality of life of Venezuelans had also improved temporarily according to a UN Index.<ref name="UN">Charlie Devereux & Raymond Colitt. 7 March 2013. {{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/venezuelans-quality-of-life-improved-in-un-index-under-chavez.html |title=Venezuelans' Quality of Life Improved in UN Index Under Chavez |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |access-date=7 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107050220/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/venezuelans-quality-of-life-improved-in-un-index-under-chavez.html |archive-date=7 November 2014 |url-status=unfit }}</ref> [[Teresa A. Meade]] wrote that Chávez's popularity strongly depended "on the lower classes who have benefited from these health initiatives and similar policies".<ref>[[Teresa Meade|Meade, Teresa]]. ''A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the Present'' (Oxford 2010), p. 313.</ref> Following elections, social programs saw less attention from the government and their overall effectiveness decreased.<ref name=":0" />
The [[Gini coefficient]], a measure of [[income inequality]], dropped from .495 in 1998 to .39 in 2011, putting Venezuela behind only Canada in the Western Hemisphere.<ref name=unstable>{{cite news |title=Chavez leaves Venezuelan economy more equal, less stable |first=Kevin |last=Voigt |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/06/business/venezuela-chavez-oil-economy/ |publisher=CNN |date=6 March 2013 |access-date=6 March 2013}}</ref> 95% of Venezuelans aged 15 and older could also read and write,<ref>[[UNESCO]], [http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=8620 Education in Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811111154/http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=8620 |date=11 August 2011 }}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=January 2023}} though some scholars have disputed the claim that literacy improvements during Chavez's presidency resulted from his administration's policies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Propaganda, not policy |url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2008/02/28/propaganda-not-policy |access-date=3 May 2014 |newspaper=The Economist|date=28 February 2008}}</ref> The poverty rate fell from 48.6% in 1999 to 32.1% in 2013, according to the Venezuelan government's National Statistics Institute (INE).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45#|website=Instituto Nacional de Estadística|access-date=20 January 2016|format=xls|title=Hogares pobres por ingreso, 1er semestre 1997-1er semestre 2015|language=es|trans-title=Poor households by income, 1997-1er semester 1st semester 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727181241/http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45|archive-date=27 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The drop of Venezuela's poverty rate compared to [[Poverty in South America|poverty in other South American countries]] was slightly behind that of Peru, Brazil and Panama<ref name=5waysFUSION>{{cite news |last=Keppel |first=Stephen |title=5 Ways Hugo Chavez Has Destroyed the Venezuelan Economy |url=http://fusion.net/abc_univision/news/story/ways-chavez-destroyed-venezuelan-economy-16104 |access-date=21 April 2014 |newspaper=Fusion |date=17 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140919223723/http://fusion.net/abc_univision/news/story/ways-chavez-destroyed-venezuelan-economy-16104 |archive-date=19 September 2014}}</ref> with the poverty rate becoming higher than the Latin American average in 2013 according to the UN.<ref name="CSM25march">{{cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2015/0325/Venezuela-Does-an-increase-in-poverty-signal-threat-to-government|title=Venezuela: Does an increase in poverty signal threat to government?|last1=Gallagher|first1=J. J.|date=25 March 2015|access-date=29 March 2015|agency=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref> In the two years following Chávez's death, the poverty rate returned to where it had been before his presidency,<ref name=CSM25march/> with a 2017 [[NACLA]] analysis stating that "reductions in poverty and inequality during the Chávez years were real, but somewhat superficial ... structural poverty and inequality, such as the quality of housing, neighborhoods, education, and employment, remained largely unchanged".<ref name=NACLAcrimeREV/>
Chávez's populist policies eventually led to a severe socioeconomic crisis in Venezuela.<ref name="CHOSUN2"/> The social works initiated by Chávez's government relied on [[Petroleum|oil products]], the keystone of the Venezuelan economy, with Chávez's administration suffering from [[Dutch disease]] as a result.<ref name=FPmarch2013/><ref name=USVEN>{{cite book |last1=Corrales |first1=Javier |last2=Romero |first2=Carlos |title=U.S.–Venezuela relations since the 1990s : coping with mid-level security threats |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |___location=New York |isbn=978-0415895248 |pages=79–81}}</ref> In 2012, the World Bank also explained that Venezuela's economy was "extremely vulnerable" to changes in oil prices since in 2012 "96% of the country's exports and nearly half of its fiscal revenue" relied on oil production, while by 2008, according to ''[[Foreign Policy]]'', exports of everything but oil "collapsed".<ref name=FPmarch2013/><ref>{{cite web |title=Venezuela Overview |url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/venezuela/overview |publisher=World Bank |access-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> The Chávez administration then spent governmental proceeds from the high oil prices on his populist policies to gain the approval of voters.<ref name=FPmarch2013/><ref name=FTWD/>
Economists say that the Venezuelan government's overspending on social programs and strict business policies caused to imbalances in the country's economy, contributing to rising inflation, poverty, low healthcare spending and [[shortages in Venezuela]] going into the final years of his presidency.<ref name="UN"/><ref name="ELPAISfeb2015" /><ref name=FTWD/><ref>{{cite web |title=Health expenditure, total (% of GDP) |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.TOTL.ZS |website=[[World Bank]] |access-date=19 May 2015}}</ref> Such occurrences, especially the risk of [[Default (finance)|default]] and the unfriendliness toward private businesses, led to a lack of foreign investment and stronger foreign currencies,<ref name=STRATexpensive/> though the Venezuelan government argued that the private sector had remained relatively unchanged during Chavez's presidency despite several nationalizations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/9179275 |title=Despite Chávez, Venezuela economy not socialist |last=James |first=Ian |date=19 July 2010 |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 November 2012 |___location=London}}</ref> In January 2013 near the end of Chávez's presidency, [[The Heritage Foundation]] and ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' gave Venezuela's economic freedom a score of 36.1, down from 56.1 in 1999, ranking its freedom very low at 174th of 177 countries, with freedom on a downward trend.<ref>{{cite web |title=2013 Index of Economic Freedom |url=http://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2013/book/index_2013.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415231306/http://www.heritage.org/index/pdf/2013/book/index_2013.pdf |archive-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=unfit |publisher=Heritage Foundation |access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> According to some analysts, the economic problems Venezuela has suffered under President [[Nicolás Maduro]] would likely have emerged even if Chávez had remained president.<ref name=WHARTON>{{cite web |title=Post-Chavez, Venezuela Enters a Downward Spiral |url=http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/post-chavez-venezuela-enters-downward-spiral/ |website=[[Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania]] |access-date=21 February 2015}}</ref>
====Food and products====
In the 1980s and 1990s, health and nutrition indexes in Venezuela were generally low, and social inequality in access to nutrition was high.<ref>George W. Schuyler. 2002. Globalization and Health: Venezuela and Cuba
Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d'études du développement
Vol. 23, Iss. 4,</ref> Chávez made it his stated goal to lower inequality in access to basic nutrition, and to achieve [[food sovereignty]] for Venezuela.<ref>Parker, Dick. 2005. Chávez and the Search for an Alternative to Neoliberalism. Latin American Perspectives 32:39 p. 36</ref> The main strategy for making food available to all economic classes was the controversial policy of creating fixed price ceilings for basic staple foods, which was implemented in 2003.<ref name="bloomberg1">{{cite news |last=Devereux |first=Charlie |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/chavez-activates-price-law-to-end-capitalist-speculation-1-.html |title=Chávez Activates Price Law to End Capitalist Speculation |publisher=Bloomberg.com |date=22 November 2011 |access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Between 1998 and 2006, malnutrition related deaths fell by 50%.<ref>Derham, Michael. 2010 Politics in Venezuela: Explaining Hugo Chávez. Peter Lang. p. 296.</ref> Chávez also [[expropriate]]d and [[Agrarian reform|redistributed]] 5 million acres of farmland from large landowners.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061903400.html In Venezuela, Land 'Rescue' Hopes Unmet], Washington Post, 20 June 2009</ref>
[[File:Escasez en Venezuela, Mercal.JPG|250px|thumbnail|left|Shoppers waiting in line at a government-run [[Mission Mercal|MERCAL]] store]]
Price controls initiated by Chávez created product shortages since merchants could no longer afford to import necessary goods.<ref>{{cite news |title=Venezuelan food shortages bode ill for Chavez's re-election |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-08-12/hugo-chavez-venezuela-food-shortages/57021168/1 |access-date=9 October 2012 |newspaper=USA Today |date=13 August 2012 |archive-date=4 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204020223/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-08-12/hugo-chavez-venezuela-food-shortages/57021168/1 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/americas/venezuela-faces-shortages-in-grocery-staples.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |access-date=9 October 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 April 2012 |first=William |last=Neuman}}</ref> Chávez blamed "speculators and hoarders" for these scarcities<ref name="CNN Food">{{cite news|last=Romo |first=Rafael |title=Food shortages worry Venezuelans |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-13/americas/world_americas_venezuela-food-shortages_1_food-shortages-traditional-venezuelan-dish-guaicaipuro?_s=PM:AMERICAS |access-date=16 May 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=13 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401204443/http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-13/americas/world_americas_venezuela-food-shortages_1_food-shortages-traditional-venezuelan-dish-guaicaipuro?_s=PM%3AAMERICAS |archive-date=1 April 2012 }}</ref> and strictly enforced his price control policy, denouncing anyone who sold food products for higher prices.<ref name="bloomberg1"/> In 2011, [[food prices]] in Caracas were nine times higher than when the price controls were put in place and resulted in shortages of cooking oil, chicken, powdered milk, cheese, sugar and meat.<ref name=ECONfood>{{cite news |title=Venezuela's economy: Medieval policies |url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/08/20/medieval-policies |access-date=21 April 2014 |newspaper=The Economist|date=20 August 2011}}</ref> The price controls increased the demand for basic foods while making it difficult for Venezuela to import goods, causing increased reliance on domestic production. Economists believe this policy increased shortages.<ref name="CNN Food"/><ref name="NYT Food">{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |title=With Venezuelan Food Shortages, Some Blame Price Controls |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/world/americas/venezuela-faces-shortages-in-grocery-staples.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=16 May 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 April 2012}}</ref> Shortages of food then occurred throughout the rest of Chávez's presidency with food shortage rates between 10% and 20% from 2010 to 2013.<ref name="ELUgraph">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/140213/el-ascenso-de-la-escasez|title=El ascenso de la escasez|date=13 February 2014|newspaper=El Universal|access-date=21 April 2014}}</ref> One possible reason for shortages is the relationship between inflation and subsidies, where a lack profitability due to price regulations affects operations. In turn, the lack of dollars made it difficult to purchase more food imports.<ref name="ByNfood">{{cite news|url=http://bancaynegocios.com/los-principales-causas-de-la-escasez-en-venezuela/|title=Las principales causas de la escasez en Venezuela|date=27 March 2014|newspaper=Banca & Negocios|access-date=21 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232415/http://bancaynegocios.com/los-principales-causas-de-la-escasez-en-venezuela/|archive-date=22 April 2014}}</ref> Chávez's strategy in response to food shortages consisted of attempting to increase domestic production through nationalizing large parts of the food industry,{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} though such nationalizations allegedly did the opposite and caused decreased production instead.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Minaya |first1=Ezequiel |last2=Schaefer Muñoz |first2=Sara |title=Venezuela Confronts Retail Sector |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuela-confronts-retail-sector-1423528705 |access-date=1 March 2015 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=9 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Empty shelves and rhetoric |url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21640395-government-offers-no-solutions-mounting-economic-crisis-empty-shelves-and-rhetoric |access-date=1 March 2015 |agency=[[The Economist]]|date=24 January 2015}}</ref>
As part of his strategy of food security Chávez started a national chain of supermarkets, the [[Mission Mercal|Mercal network]], which had 16,600 outlets and 85,000 employees that distributed food at highly discounted prices, and ran 6,000 soup kitchens throughout the country.<ref name="FoodFight"/> Simultaneously Chávez expropriated many private supermarkets.<ref name="FoodFight">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100314052640/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_12/b4171046603604.htm A Food Fight for Hugo Chávez], Business Week, 11 March 2010</ref> The Mercal network was criticized by some commentators as being a part of Chávez's strategy to brand himself as a provider of cheap food, and the shops feature his picture prominently.{{According to whom|date = May 2015}} The Mercal network was also subject to frequent shortages of basic staples such as meat, milk and sugar—and when scarce products arrived, shoppers had to wait in lines.<ref name="FoodFight"/>
====Communes====
After his election in 1998, more than 100,000 state-owned cooperatives—which claimed to represent some 1.5 million people—were formed with the assistance of government start-up credit and technical training.<ref name="vene-coop-rev">{{Cite journal |last1=Bowman |first1=Betsy |last2=Stone |first2=Bob |title=Venezuela's Cooperative Revolution |journal=Dollars and Sense |volume=15 |issue=266 |date=July–August 2006 |url=http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0706bowmanstone.html |archive-date=30 December 2007 |access-date=30 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230015157/http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0706bowmanstone.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Venezuelan government often failed to construct the number of homes they had proposed.<ref name="EUhome">[http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_eco_art_31A756381.shtml Chávez' Government has built 24 percent of scheduled houses.] ''El Universal'' (31 July 2006). {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411130530/http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/07/31/en_eco_art_31A756381.shtml |date=11 April 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Misión Vivienda incumplió 70% de su objetivo de 2014 |url=http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/12/30/mision-vivienda-incumplio-70-de-su-objetivo-de-2014/ |access-date=4 January 2015 |agency=La Patilla |date=30 December 2014}}</ref> According to Venezuela's ''[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]'', one of the Chávez administration's outstanding failures was the inability to meet its goals of constructing housing.<ref name="EUhome" />
====Currency controls====
{{further|Economy of Venezuela#Currency Black Market}}
[[File:Venezuela Black Market 2010-2014.png|370px|thumbnail|right|<span style="color:#4682B4">Blue line represents implied value of the [[Venezuelan bolívar#Hard bolívar|hard bolívar]] (VEF) compared to the [[United States dollar|US dollar]] (USD)</span><p style="color:#f00;"><span style="color:#f00;">The red line represents what the Venezuelan government officially rates the hard bolívar</span><br /><small>'''Sources''': Banco Central de Venezuela, Dolar Paralelo, Federal Reserve Bank, International Monetary Fund</small></p>]]
In the first few years of Chavez's office, his newly created social programs required large payments to make the desired changes. On 5 February 2003, the government created [[CADIVI]], a currency control board charged with handling foreign exchange procedures. Its creation was to control [[capital flight]] by placing limits on individuals and only offering them so much of a foreign currency.<ref>CADIVI, [http://www.cadivi.gov.ve/cadivi/cadivi.html CADIVI, una medidia necesaria] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205143924/http://www.cadivi.gov.ve/cadivi/cadivi.html |date=5 December 2008 }}</ref> This limit to foreign currency led to a creation of a currency [[black market]] economy since Venezuelan merchants rely on foreign goods that require payments with reliable foreign currencies. As Venezuela printed more money for their social programs, the bolívar continued to devalue for Venezuelan citizens and merchants since the government held the majority of the more reliable currencies.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hanke |first=Steve |title=The World's Troubled Currencies |url=http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article41552.html |publisher=The Market Oracle |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref>
The implied value or "black market value" is what Venezuelans believe the [[Venezuelan bolívar#Hard bolívar|hard bolívar]] is worth compared to the United States dollar.<ref>{{cite news |title=Venezuela's black market rate for US dollars just jumped by almost 40% |url=http://qz.com/192395/venezuelas-black-market-rate-for-us-dollars-just-jumped-by-almost-40/#/h/56869,3/ |access-date=27 March 2014 |newspaper=Quartz |date=26 March 2014}}</ref> The high rates in the black market make it difficult for businesses to purchase necessary goods since the government often forces these businesses to make price cuts. This leads to businesses selling their goods and making a low profit.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pons |first=Corina |title=McDonald's Agrees to Cut the Price of a Venezuelan Big Mac Combo |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-14/mcdonald-s-agrees-to-cut-the-price-of-a-venezuelan-big-mac-combo.html |access-date=26 January 2014 |newspaper=Bloomberg L.P. |date=14 January 2014}}</ref> Since businesses make low profits, this leads to shortages since they are unable to import the goods that Venezuela is reliant on.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Joshua |title=Venezuela overhauls foreign exchange system |url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-01-22/venezuela-food-giant-warns-production-at-risk |access-date=26 January 2014 |newspaper=Bloomberg L.P. |date=22 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214224213/http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-01-22/venezuela-food-giant-warns-production-at-risk |archive-date=14 February 2014}}</ref> Chavez used exchange rate subsidies to underwrite imports; this policy was not welfare-maximizing, but rather benefited special interests.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gulotty|first1=Robert|last2=Kronick|first2=Dorothy|date=2021|title=The Arbitrage Lobby: Theory and Evidence on Dual Exchange Rates|journal=International Organization|volume=76|pages=105–125|language=en|doi=10.1017/S002081832100031X|issn=0020-8183|doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Crime and punishment===
{{further|Crime in Venezuela}}
[[File:1998 to 2018 Venezuela Murder Rate.png|400px|thumbnail|right|Murder rate (1 murder per 100,000 citizens) from 1998 to 2018 '''Sources''': OVV,<ref>{{cite web|title=Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia |url=http://observatoriodeviolencia.org.ve/ws/ |website=Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia |access-date=16 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216122638/http://observatoriodeviolencia.org.ve/ws/ |archive-date=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref name=FUSIONmr>{{cite news|last1=Rueda|first1=Manuel|title=How Did Venezuela Become So Violent?n|url=http://fusion.net/story/4593/how-did-venezuela-become-so-violent/|access-date=16 December 2014|agency=Fusion TV|date=8 January 2014|archive-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231035326/http://fusion.net/story/4593/how-did-venezuela-become-so-violent/|url-status=dead}}</ref> PROVEA,<ref name=UNODC2011>{{cite web|title=Global Study On Homicide 2011|url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globa_study_on_homicide_2011_web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014100132/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globa_study_on_homicide_2011_web.pdf |archive-date=14 October 2011 |url-status=live|website=UNODC|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref><ref name=UNODC2014>{{cite web|title=Global Study On Homicide 2014|url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424064812/http://www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf |archive-date=24 April 2014 |url-status=live|website=UNODC|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref> UN<ref name=UNODC2011/><ref name=UNODC2014/><ref name=AFP2012>{{cite news|title=Global homicide rates drop, but nearly 500,000 murdered in 2012|url=https://news.yahoo.com/global-homicide-rates-drop-nearly-500-000-murdered-143539493.html|access-date=16 December 2014|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=10 December 2014}}</ref><br /> '''*''' UN line between 2007 and 2012 is simulated missing data]]
[[File:Venezuela kidnappings past 1989.png|400px|thumbnail|right|Number of kidnappings in Venezuela 1989–2011<br />'''Source''': [[Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas|CICPC]]<ref name="oas.org">{{cite web|title=Seguridad Pública y Privada: Venezuela y Bolivia|url=https://www.oas.org/dsp/documentos/Publicaciones/Seg%20Publica-%20Venezuela%20y%20Bolivia.pdfela%20y%20Bolivia.pdf|website=oas.org|date=August 2009 |publisher=[[Organization of American States]]|access-date=18 October 2015}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=CICPC2009>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/lexys/docs/fact_sheet_paz_activa/1 |title=Venezuela: Gravísima Crisis de Seguridad Pública by Lexys Rendon |date=12 September 2011 |publisher=ISSUU |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="eluniversal1">{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/sucesos/120104/segun-el-cicpc-el-2011-cerro-con-1150-secuestros-en-todo-el-pais |title=Según el Cicpc el 2011 cerró con 1.150 secuestros en todo el país – Sucesos |newspaper=El Universal |access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref><br />'''*''' [[Express kidnapping]]s may not be included in data]]
During the 1980s and 1990s there was a steady increase in crime in Latin America. The countries of Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Brazil all had homicide rates above the regional average.<ref>Reid, Michael.''Forgotten continent: the battle for Latin America's soul'', p. 248. Yale, CT: Yale University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|0-300-11616-0}}</ref> During Chávez's terms as president, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were murdered due to violent crimes occurring in the country.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rueda |first=Manuel |title=How Did Venezuela Become So Violent? |url=http://fusion.net/leadership/story/venezuela-violent-iraq-365361 |publisher=Fusion |access-date=10 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110235719/http://fusion.net/leadership/story/venezuela-violent-iraq-365361 |archive-date=10 January 2014 }}</ref> Gareth A. Jones and Dennis Rodgers stated in their book ''Youth violence in Latin America: Gangs and Juvenile Justice in Perspective'' that, "With the change of political regime in 1999 and the initiation of the [[Bolivarian Revolution]], a period of transformation and political conflict began, marked by a further increase in the number and rate of violent deaths" showing that in four years, the murder rate had increased to 44 per 100,000 people.<ref name=YOUTHviolence>{{cite book | url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230101333 |last1=Jones |first1=Gareth A. |last2=Rodgers | first2=Dennis |title=Youth violence in Latin America: gangs and juvenile justice in perspective |date=2008 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |___location=Basingstoke |isbn=9780230600560 |pages=84–85 |edition=1st|doi=10.1057/9780230101333 }}</ref> Kidnappings also rose tremendously during Chávez's tenure, with the number of kidnappings over 20 times higher in 2011 than when Chavez was elected.<ref name="oas.org"/><ref name="CICPC2009"/><ref name="eluniversal1"/> Documentary filmmaker [[James Brabazon]], stated "kidnapping crimes had skyrocketed ... after late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez freed thousands of violent prisoners as part of controversial criminal justice system reforms" while kidnappings and murders also increased due to Colombian organized crime activity as well.<ref name=NAnov2013>{{cite news|title=Welcome to Venezuela, the kidnap capital of the world|url=http://www.news.com.au/world/south-america/welcome-to-venezuela-the-kidnap-capital-of-the-world/story-fnh81jzo-1226758654049|access-date=11 December 2014|agency=[[News.com.au]]|date=13 November 2013|work=news.com.au|archive-date=13 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213042708/http://www.news.com.au/world/south-america/welcome-to-venezuela-the-kidnap-capital-of-the-world/story-fnh81jzo-1226758654049|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=INDoct2013>{{cite news|last1=Brabazon|first1=James|title=Taking no prisoners in the kidnap capital of the world: On the streets of Caracas with an elite police squad|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/taking-no-prisoners-in-the-kidnap-capital-of-the-world-on-the-streets-of-caracas-with-an-elite-police-squad-8872390.html|access-date=11 December 2014|agency=The Independent|date=10 October 2013|___location=London}}</ref> He further explained that common criminals felt that the Venezuelan government did not care for the problems of the higher and middle classes, which in turn gave them a sense of impunity that created a large business of kidnapping-for-ransom.<ref name=NAnov2013/>
Under Chávez's administration, crimes were so prevalent that by 2007 the government no longer produced crime data.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gallegos|first=Raul|title=Miss Venezuela's Murder Is the Price of Politics|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-10/miss-venezuela-s-murder-is-the-price-of-politics.html|access-date=10 January 2014|newspaper=Bloomberg L.P.|date=10 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127115104/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-10/miss-venezuela-s-murder-is-the-price-of-politics.html |archive-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> Homicide rates in Venezuela more than tripled, with one NGO finding the rate to have nearly quadrupled. The majority of the deaths occur in crowded slums in Caracas.<ref name='Chávez defends his record on crime in Venezuela'>{{Cite news| first = Enrique Andres | last = Pretel | title = Chavez defends his record on crime in Venezuela | date = 2 September 2010 | url = https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100903/wl_nm/us_venezuela_crime_1 | agency = Reuters | access-date =10 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100916213105/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100903/wl_nm/us_venezuela_crime_1 |archive-date=16 September 2010 }}</ref><ref name='Venezuela murder-rate quadrupled under Chávez: NGO'>{{Cite news| title = Venezuela murder-rate quadrupled under Chávez: NGO | date = 11 March 2010 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62A44A20100311 | work = Reuters | access-date =10 September 2010}}</ref> The NGO found that the number of homicides in the country increased from 6,000 in 1999 to 24,763 in 2013.{{sfn|Holland|2008}}{{page needed|date=December 2022}}<ref name="Globe Crime">{{cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2012/03/27/chavez_criticizes_us_take_on_crime_in_venezuela/|title=Chavez criticizes US take on crime in Venezuela|date=27 March 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|access-date=16 May 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217062938/http://www.boston.com/news/world/latinamerica/articles/2012/03/27/chavez_criticizes_us_take_on_crime_in_venezuela/?camp=pm|archive-date=17 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Venezuela's Homicide Rate Quadruples in Fifteen Years, NGO Reports|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/26/venezuela-homicide-rate_n_4506363.html|access-date=21 April 2014|newspaper=HuffPost|date=26 December 2014}}</ref> In 2010 Caracas had the highest murder rate in the world,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/08/25/en_pol_esp_caracas-has-become-t_25A4380891.shtml |title=Caracas has become the deadliest city in the world |date=25 August 2010 |work=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]] |last=Ramírez Miranda |first=Deivis |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828130358/http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/08/25/en_pol_esp_caracas-has-become-t_25A4380891.shtml |archive-date=28 August 2010}}
* {{cite news |url=http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=101723908 |title=Venezuelans protest rampant violence, some liken bloodshed to 'undeclared war' |last=James |first=Ian |agency=Associated Press |publisher=startribune.com |date=28 August 2010 |access-date=17 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118040443/http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=101723908 |archive-date=18 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/venezuelans-despair-over-rampant-deadly-violence-101380809/124443.html |title=Venezuelans Despair Over Rampant, Deadly Violence |last=Bowman |first=Michael |date=24 August 2010 |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |access-date=28 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827052234/http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Venezuelans-Despair-Over-Rampant-Deadly-Violence-101380809.html |archive-date=27 August 2010 |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/world/americas/23venez.html?_r=1 |title=Venezuela, More Deadly Than Iraq, Wonders Why |work=The New York Times |last=Romero |first=Simon |date=22 August 2010 }}</ref> having more deaths than [[Baghdad]] during the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 August 2010 |title=Los muertos que esconde Chávez |url=https://www.larazon.es/historico/1978-los-muertos-que-esconde-chavez-NLLA_RAZON_304563/ |access-date=23 April 2023 |website=[[La Razón (Madrid)|La Razón]] |language=es}}</ref> According to the [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]], in 2012 there were 13,080 murders in Venezuela.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls |title=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – Murder rates (most recent year) – spreadsheet |access-date=8 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309231127/http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/Homicide_statistics2012.xls |archive-date=9 March 2013}}</ref>
In leaked government INE data for kidnappings in the year 2009, the number of kidnappings were at an estimated 16,917, contrasting the CICPCs number of only 673,<ref name=CICPC2009/> before the Venezuelan government blocked the data.<ref name=INDoct2013/><ref>{{cite news|title=En el 2009 se cometieron más de 16.000 secuestros en Venezuela, según el gobierno local LOCAL|url=http://www.abc.com.py/articulos/en-el-2009-se-cometieron-mas-de-16000-secuestros-en-venezuela-segun-el-gobierno-local-150064.html|access-date=6 January 2015|agency=Noticias24|publisher=ABC Color|date=22 August 2010}}</ref><ref name=PRENSA2009>{{cite news|title=Hubo 16,917 secuestros en 2009 en Venezuela|url=http://www.laprensa.hn/mundo/489228-97/hubo-16917-secuestros-en-2009-en-venezuela|access-date=6 January 2015|agency=La Prensa|date=23 August 2010}}</ref> According to the leaked INE report, only 1,332 investigations for kidnappings were opened or about 7% of the total kidnapping cases, with 90% of the kidnappings happening away from rural areas, 80% of all being express kidnappings and the most common victim being lower-middle or middle class Venezuelans and middle-aged men.<ref name=PRENSA2009/> Also in 2009, it was reported that Venezuelan authorities would assign judicial police to Caracas area morgues to speak with families.<ref name=EMaug2010>{{cite news|title=Venezuela favorece a los familiares de fallecidos que no informan a la prensa|url=http://www.elmundo.es/america/2010/08/22/venezuela/1282502008.html|access-date=6 January 2015|agency=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]|date=22 August 2010}}</ref> At that time, they would advise families not to report the murder of their family member to the media in exchange for expediting the process of releasing the victim's body.<ref name=EMaug2010/>
In September 2010, responding to escalating crime rates in the country, Chávez stated that Venezuela was no more violent than it was when he first took office.<ref name="Chávez Defends Record on Crime">{{Cite news| first = Enrique Andres | last = Pretel | title = Chávez defends his record on crime in Venezuela | date = 2 September 2010 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68201520100903 | work = Reuters | access-date =10 September 2010}}</ref> An [[International Crisis Group]] report that same year stated that when Chávez took office, there were some factors beyond his control that led to the crime epidemic throughout Venezuela, but that Chávez ignored it as well as corruption in the country; especially among fellow state officials. The report also stated that international organised crime filters between Colombia and Venezuela with assistance from "the highest spheres of government" in Venezuela, leading to higher rates of kidnapping, drug trafficking, and homicides. Chávez supporters stated that the [[Venezuelan National Police|Bolivarian National Police]] had reduced crime and also said that the states with the highest murder rates were controlled by the opposition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/violence-venezuela |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111003632/http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/violence-venezuela |archive-date=11 November 2013 |title=Violence in Venezuela |work=The Stream |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=6 August 2011 |access-date=14 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Stream – Violence in Venezuela|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTTvZcuaJQQ| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211132729/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTTvZcuaJQQ| archive-date=11 December 2013 | url-status=dead|via=YouTube|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref>
====Prisons====
During Chávez's presidency, there were reports of prisoners having easy access to firearms, drugs, and alcohol. Carlos Nieto, head of Window to Freedom, alleged that heads of gangs acquire military weapons from the state, saying: "They have the types of weapons that can only be obtained by the country's armed forces. ... No one else has these." Use of internet and mobile phones were also commonplace, allowing criminals to take part in street crime while in prison. One prisoner explained how, "if the guards mess with us, we shoot them" and that he had "seen a man have his head cut off and people play [[association football|football]] with it".<ref>{{cite news|last=Gupta|first=Girish|title=In Venezuela's prisons, inmates are the wardens|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/venezuela/120511/inside-violent-venezuelan-prison-la-planta|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=Global Post|date=14 May 2012}}</ref>
Edgardo Lander, a sociologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela with a PhD in sociology from Harvard University, explained that Venezuelan prisons were "practically a school for criminals" since young inmates come out "trained and hardened" compared to before their incarceration. He also explained that prisons are controlled by gangs and that "very little has been done" to restrain their activities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jay|first=Paul|title=The Modern History of Venezuela, Why Still So Much Crime? – Edgardo Lander on Reality Asserts Itself (7/9)|url=http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11760|access-date=20 April 2014|newspaper=The Real News|date=19 April 2014|archive-date=20 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420034230/http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11760|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Elections under Chávez ===
[[File:Hugo-Chavéz Vota.jpg|thumb|Chávez voting in December 2007]]
The electoral processes surrounding Venezuela's democracy under Chávez were often observed controversially. According to [[Bloomberg News|''Bloomberg'']], he changed Venezuela from a democracy to "a largely authoritarian system".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/venezuela-price-revolution|title=Venezuela's Collapse|date=14 May 2018|publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]|access-date=22 May 2018|language=en}}</ref>
However, there were limits to his authoritarianism, and he thought of the electoral system as a key way to make himself more effective as a leader.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Aleem |first=Zeeshan |date=19 September 2017 |title=How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse |url=https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/19/16189742/venezuela-maduro-dictator-chavez-collapse |access-date=22 December 2023 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref>
As New York University historian [[Greg Grandin]] has pointed out, Chávez "submitted himself and his agenda to 14 national votes, winning 13 of them by large margins, in polling deemed by [[Jimmy Carter]] to be ‘best in the world.’"<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Weisbrot |first=Mark |date=3 October 2012 |title=Why the US demonises Venezuela's democracy |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-dcemonises-venezuelas-democracy |access-date=22 December 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Francisco Toro, editor of [[Caracas Chronicles]], an opposition-friendly news and analysis site, said "Chávez was always careful to maintain electoral legitimacy".<ref name=":4" /> Toro says that Chávez had big advantages with friendly media and his tendency to use state money on his campaigns, but that he didn't "steal or cancel elections blatantly."<ref name=":4" /> Chávez even allowed his opposition to run a recall referendum against him in 2004 just two years after surviving a coup attempt. He won the referendum by a huge margin.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Norris |first=Michele |date=16 August 2004 |title=Chavez Wins Recall as Venezuelan President |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2004/08/16/3853809/chavez-wins-recall-as-venezuelan-president |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>
Since 1998, [[elections in Venezuela]] have been automated using [[Touchscreen|touch-screen]] [[DRE voting machine]]s, which provide a [[Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail]] and administered by the [[National Electoral Council (Venezuela)|National Electoral Council]].<ref name=":7"/>
In Venezuela, voters touch a computer screen to cast their vote and then receive a paper receipt, which they verify and deposit in a ballot box.<ref name=":7" /> Most of the paper ballots are compared with the electronic tally. This system makes vote-rigging nearly impossible: to steal the vote would require hacking the computers and then stuffing the ballot boxes to match the rigged vote.<ref name=":7"/>
Beginning in 2012, Venezuela's elections used biometric authentication to activate the voting machine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venezuela: World's first national e-Voting with paper trail election (2004–2017) |url=https://www.smartmatic.com/case-studies/venezuela-worlds-first-national-election-using-e-voting-with-paper-trail-2004-2017/ |access-date=21 December 2023 |website=smartmatic}}</ref>
===Corruption===
{{further|Corruption in Venezuela}}
[[File:Venezuela's Corruption Score 2004 to 2013.png|400px|thumbnail|right|Venezuela's perception of corruption scores between 2004 and 2013<br /> <small>'''( * )''' Score was averaged according to Transparency International's method.</small><br /> <small>'''Source''': Transparency International</small>]]
In December 1998, Hugo Chávez declared three goals for the new government; "convening a constituent assembly to write a new constitution, eliminating government corruption, and fighting against social exclusion and poverty". However, according to the [[libertarian]] [[Cato Institute]], during Hugo Chávez's time in power, corruption has become widespread throughout the government due to impunity towards members of the government, bribes and the lack of transparency.<ref name=CATOhc>{{cite web|last=Coronel|first=Gustavo|title=Corruption, Mismanagement, and Abuse of Power in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela|url=http://www.cato.org/publications/development-policy-analysis/corruption-mismanagement-abuse-power-hugo-chavezs-venezuela|publisher=Cato Institute}}</ref> In 2004, Hugo Chávez and his allies took over the Supreme Court, filling it with supporters of Chávez and made new measures so the government could dismiss justices from the court.<ref name=HRW2012>{{cite book |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2012/country-chapters/venezuela | title=World Report 2012: Venezuela | date=22 January 2012 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> According to the Cato Institute, the [[National Electoral Council of Venezuela]] was under control of Chávez where he tried to "push a constitutional reform that would have allowed him unlimited opportunities for reelection".<ref name=CATOcorruption>{{cite web|last=Coronel|first=Gustavo|title=The Corruption of Democracy in Venezuela|url=http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/corruption-democracy-venezuela|publisher=Cato Institute|access-date=18 March 2014}}</ref> The [[Corruption Perceptions Index]], produced annually by the Berlin-based NGO [[Transparency International]] (TNI), reported that in the later years of Chávez's tenure, corruption worsened; it was 158th out of 180 countries in 2008, and 165th out of 176 (tied with [[Burundi]], [[Chad]], and [[Haiti]]).<ref name=2012Index>{{cite news|title=Factbox: Transparency International's global corruption index|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-corruption-transparency-global-idUSBRE8B406G20121205|access-date=5 December 2012|newspaper=Reuters|date=5 December 2012|first=David|last=Cutler|archive-date=5 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205104850/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/05/us-corruption-transparency-global-idUSBRE8B406G20121205|url-status=live}}</ref> Most Venezuelans believed the government's effort against corruption was ineffective; that corruption had increased; and that government institutions such as the judicial system, parliament, legislature, and police were the most corrupt.<ref>{{cite web|title=Global Corruption Barometer 2010/11|url=http://www.transparency.org/country#VEN_PublicOpinion|publisher=Transparency International|access-date=26 February 2014|archive-date=12 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512190640/https://www.transparency.org/country#VEN_PublicOpinion|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In [[Gallup Poll]]'s 2006 Corruption Index, Venezuela ranked 31st out of 101 countries according to how widespread the population perceive corruption as being in the government and in business. The index listed Venezuela as the second least corrupt nation in Latin America, behind Chile.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Steve |last1=Crabtree |first2=Nicole |last2=Naurath |url=http://www.hra.am/file/gallup_corruption.htm |title=Gallup Launches Worldwide Corruption Index |publisher=Gallup Poll News Service |access-date=21 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124180011/http://www.hra.am/file/gallup_corruption.htm |archive-date=24 November 2007}}</ref> Some criticism came from Chávez's supporters, as well. Chávez's own political party, [[Fifth Republic Movement]] (MVR), had been criticized as being riddled with the same cronyism, political patronage, and corruption that Chávez alleged were characteristic of the old "Fourth Republic" political parties. Venezuela's trade unionists and indigenous communities participated in peaceful demonstrations intended to impel the government to facilitate labor and land reforms. These communities, while largely expressing their sympathy and support for Chávez, criticized what they saw as Chávez's slow progress in protecting their interests against managers and mining concerns, respectively.<ref>Fuentes, F. (2005), [http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/35949 "Challenges for Venezuela's Workers’ Movement".] ''Green Left Weekly''. Accessed 15 February 2006.</ref><ref>Márquez, H. (2005), {{cite web|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews%3D28150 |title=ENVIRONMENT-VENEZUELA: Indigenous Peoples Protest Coal Mining |access-date=21 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402041047/http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=28150 |archive-date=2 April 2012}} ''Inter Press Service''. Accessed 2 February 2006.</ref>
====Aiding FARC====
[[File:Raulreyesfarc.png|thumb|Raúl Reyes]]
According to the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]] (IISS), "Chavez's government funded [[FARC]]'s office in Caracas and gave it access to Venezuela's intelligence services" and said that during the 2002 coup attempt that "FARC also responded to requests from [Venezuela's intelligence service] to provide training in urban terrorism involving targeted killings and the use of explosives". The IISS continued saying that "the archive offers tantalizing but ultimately unproven suggestions that FARC may have undertaken assassinations of Chavez's political opponents on behalf of the Venezuelan state". Venezuelan diplomats denounced the IISS' findings saying that they had "basic inaccuracies".<ref>{{cite news|last=Martinez|first=Michael|title=Study: Colombian rebels were willing to kill for Venezuela's Chavez|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/10/venezuela.farc.documents/index.html|access-date=21 April 2014|newspaper=CNN|date=10 May 2011}}</ref>
In 2007, authorities in [[Colombia]] declared that through laptops they had seized on a raid against [[Raúl Reyes]], they found in documents that Hugo Chávez offered payments of as much as $300 million to the FARC "among other financial and political ties that date back years" along with other documents showing "high-level meetings have been held between rebels and Ecuadorean officials" and some documents arguing that FARC had "bought and sold [[uranium]]".<ref name="Padgett">{{cite news|last=Padgett|first=Tim|title=Chávez and the Cash-Filled Suitcase|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1838145,00.html|access-date=28 March 2014|newspaper=TIME|date=3 September 2008}}</ref><ref name=USATODAYfarc>{{cite news|title=Colombia: Chavez funding FARC rebels|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-02-venezuelacolombia_N.htm?csp=34|access-date=21 April 2014|newspaper=USA Today|date=4 March 2008}}</ref>
In 2015, Chávez's former bodyguard [[Leamsy Salazar]] stated in the book ''Bumerán Chávez'' that Chávez met with the high command of FARC in 2007 somewhere in rural Venezuela. Chávez created a system in which the FARC would provide the Venezuelan government with drugs that would be transported in live cattle and the FARC would receive money and weaponry from the Venezuelan government. According to Salazar, this was done to weaken Colombian President [[Álvaro Uribe]], an enemy of Chávez.<ref name=ROTTENstate>{{cite news|last1=Cristóbal Nagel|first1=Juan|title=Something Is Rotten in the State of Venezuela|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/28/something-is-rotten-in-the-state-of-venezuela-chavez-maduro-cabello-salazar-farc/|access-date=17 May 2015|agency=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=28 April 2015}}</ref>
In 2019, federal prosecutors from the [[Southern District of New York]] further provided documents outlining that in 2005 Chávez ordered top lieutenants to discuss plans to ship cocaine to the United States with the help of the FARC and "flood" the country with the drug, as part of his policy objectives to combat the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Forero |first1=Juan |last2=de Córdoba |first2=José |date=15 September 2019 |title=Venezuela's Hugo Chávez Worked to Flood U.S. With Cocaine, U.S. Prosecutors Say |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-hugo-chavez-worked-to-flood-u-s-with-cocaine-u-s-prosecutors-say-11568557780 |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=[[Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>
===Human rights===
{{further|Human rights in Venezuela}}
====Criticisms====
[[File:Freedom ratings in Venezuela - Hugo Chavez.png|right|350px|thumb|Freedom ratings in Venezuela from 1998 to 2013. (1 = Free, 7 = not free) <br />'''Source''': Freedom House]]
Shortly after Hugo Chávez's election, ratings for freedom in Venezuela dropped according to political and human rights group [[Freedom House]] and Venezuela was rated "partly free".<ref name=FH2013>{{cite web|title=Country ratings and status, FIW 1973–2014|url=https://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Country%20Ratings%20and%20Status%2C%201973-2014%20%28FINAL%29.xls|website=Freedom House|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref> In 2004, Amnesty International criticized Chavez's administration of not handling the 2002 coup in a proper manner, saying that violent incidents "have not been investigated effectively and have gone unpunished" and that "impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators encourages further human rights violations in a particularly volatile political climate".<ref name=AImarch2004>{{cite web|title=Venezuela: Protestors in civil disturbances|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR530032004?open&of=ENG-VEN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040322012454/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR530032004?open&of=ENG-VEN|archive-date=22 March 2004|website=Amnesty International|access-date=15 December 2014}}</ref> Amnesty International also criticized the [[Venezuelan National Guard]] and the [[SEBIN|Direccion de Inteligencia Seguridad y Prevención (DISIP)]] stating that they "allegedly used excessive force to control the situation on a number of occasions" during protests involving the [[2004 Venezuela recall]].<ref name=AImarch2004/> It was also noted that many of the protesters detained seemed to not be "brought before a judge within the legal time limit".<ref name=AImarch2004/>
In 2008, [[Human Rights Watch]] released a report reviewing Chávez's human rights record over his first decade in power.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=1}} The report praises Chávez's 1999 amendments to the constitution which significantly expanded human rights guarantees, as well as mentioning improvements in [[women's rights]] and [[indigenous rights]], but noted a "wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections established" by the revised constitution.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=1}} In particular, the report accused Chávez and his administration of engaging in discrimination on political grounds, eroding the independence of the judiciary, and of engaging in "policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and civil society's ability to promote human rights in Venezuela".{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=2}} The Venezuelan government retaliated for the report by expelling members of Human Rights Watch from the country.<ref name="Venezuela expels rights activists">BBC NEWS. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7625629.stm Venezuela expels rights activists.] (19 September 2008).</ref> Subsequently, over a hundred Latin American scholars signed a joint letter with the [[Council on Hemispheric Affairs]], a leftist NGO<ref>{{cite book|last1=Seliktar|first1=Ofira|title=Failing the crystal ball test : the Carter administration and the fundamentalist revolution in Iran|date=2000|publisher=Praeger|___location=Westport, Conn [u.a.]|isbn=978-0275968724|page=44|edition=[Online-Ausg.]}}</ref> that would defend Chávez and his movement, with the individuals criticizing the Human Rights Watch report for its alleged factual inaccuracy, exaggeration, lack of context, illogical arguments, and heavy reliance on opposition newspapers as sources, among other things.<ref name="coha-hrw-letter">{{cite press release|url=http://www.coha.org/taking-human-rights-watch-to-task/|title=Taking Human Rights Watch to Task on the Question of Venezuela's Purported Abuse of Human Rights|publisher=[[Council on Hemispheric Affairs]]|date=18 December 2008}}</ref><ref name="coha-letter-replies">{{cite press release|url=http://www.coha.org/scholars-respond-to-hrw-directors-riposte-on-venezuelan-human-rights/|title=Scholars Respond to HRW's Kenneth Roth's Riposte on Venezuelan Human Rights|publisher=Council on Hemispheric Affairs|date=12 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Moynihan|first1=Michael|title=Venezuela's Useful Idiots|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/24/venezuela-s-useful-idiots.html|access-date=20 February 2015|agency=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=24 February 2014}}</ref>{{better source needed|need less biased secondary source here|date=June 2022}}
The [[International Labour Organization]] of the United Nations had also expressed concern over voters being pressured to join the party.<ref name="eluniversal.com"/>
In 2009, [[Detention of Maria Lourdes Afiuni|Judge María Lourdes Afiuni]] was arrested on charges of corruption after ordering the conditional release on bail of businessman [[Eligio Cedeño]], who then fled the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/03/24/en_pol_esp_human-rights-groups_24A3637413.shtml|title=Human rights groups denounce in OAS flaws in Venezuela's justice system|author=Alonso, Juan Francisco|date=24 March 2010|work=[[El Universal (Caracas)|El Universal]]|access-date=14 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329091738/http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/03/24/en_pol_esp_human-rights-groups_24A3637413.shtml|archive-date=29 March 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was moved to house arrest in Caracas in February 2011,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/130617/jueza-afiuni-se-impuso-de-su-libertad-condicional-en-el-tribunal|title=Jueza Afiuni se impuso de su libertad condicional en el Tribunal|date=17 June 2013|website=El Universal|access-date=21 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="NYT61413">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/world/americas/court-in-venezuela-orders-release-of-a-judge-once-scorned-and-jailed-by-chavez.html|title=Court in Venezuela Orders Release of a Judge Once Scorned and Jailed by Chávez|first=William|last=Neuman|date=14 June 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=15 June 2013|author2=María Eugenia Díaz}}</ref> but she is still barred from practicing law, leaving the country, or using her bank account or social networks.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/141213/lawyer-judge-afiuni-has-been-professionally-disabled|title=Lawyer: Judge Afiuni has been professionally disabled|date=13 December 2014|access-date=22 March 2015}}</ref> Human rights groups accused Chávez of creating a [[climate of fear]] that threatened the independence of the judiciary. ''Reuters'' said Afiuni is "considered by opponents and jurists as one of the most emblematic political prisoners" in Venezuela, because Chávez called for her to be imprisoned.<ref name=CondenaCinco>{{Cite web|url=https://lta.reuters.com/articulo/politica-venezuela-tribunal-idLTAKCN1R301C|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322153147/https://lta.reuters.com/articulo/politica-venezuela-tribunal-idLTAKCN1R301C|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 March 2019|title=Tribunal en Venezuela condena a 5 años de prisión a jueza inculpada por pedido de expresidente Chávez|date=22 March 2019|website=Reuters|language=es|access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>
In 2009, the Attorney General announced the creation of an investigative team to examine 6,000 reports of extrajudicial killings between 2000 and 2007.<ref>[[Amnesty International]], [http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/americas/venezuela 2009 Annual Report: Venezuela] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902131912/http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/americas/venezuela|date=2 September 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Hillary Clinton and Hugo Chavez.png|thumb|left|Chávez meets with Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]] at the [[Summit of the Americas]] on 19 April 2009]]
In 2010, [[Amnesty International]] criticized the Chávez administration for targeting critics following several politically motivated arrests.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/venezuelan-government-deliberately-targeting-opponents-2010-04-01 |title=Venezuelan government deliberately targeting opponents |publisher=Amnesty International |date=1 April 2010 |access-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816043032/http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/venezuelan-government-deliberately-targeting-opponents-2010-04-01 |archive-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> [[Freedom House]] listed Venezuela as being "partly free" in its 2011 Freedom in the World annual report, noting a recent decline in civil liberties.<ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2011 "Freedom in the World – Venezuela (2009)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128074729/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2011 |date=28 November 2011 }} Freedom House. 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.</ref> A 2010 [[Organization of American States]] report found concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, threats to democracy,<ref name="IACHRRequests" /><ref name=ChavezCriticized>{{Cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022401884.html?hpid=moreheadlines |title= Venezuela, President Chávez criticized in OAS report |last=Forero |first=Juan |newspaper= The Washington Post |date = 24 February 2010 |access-date=24 February 2010}}</ref><ref name=CNNOAS>{{Cite news|url= http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/24/venezuela.human.rights/ |title= Venezuela violates human rights, OAS commission reports |date= 24 February 2010 |access-date=24 February 2010 |publisher= CNN}}</ref><ref name="OAS2010">{{cite press release |url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2010/20V-10eng.htm |title=Press release N° 20/10, IACHR publishes report on Venezuela |publisher=[[Organization of American States]] |work=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights |date=24 February 2010 |access-date=26 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="Jurist">{{cite web |last=Schimizzi |first=Carrie |date=24 February 2010 |title=Venezuela government violating basic human rights: report |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/02/venezuela-government-violating-basic.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020120703/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/02/venezuela-government-violating-basic.php |archive-date=20 October 2013 |access-date=25 February 2010 |publisher=Jurist: Legal news and research}}</ref> as well as erosion of separation of powers, the economic infrastructure and ability of the president to appoint judges to federal courts.<ref name=ChavezCriticized/><ref name=CNNOAS/><ref name=WSJOAS>{{Cite news|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703510204575085801117383696 |title= OAS Report Chastises Venezuela |work= The Wall Street Journal |date= 24 February 2010 |access-date=24 February 2010 |last=Prado |first=Paulo}}</ref> OAS observers were denied access to Venezuela;<ref name=WSJOAS/> Chávez rejected the OAS report, pointing out that its authors did not go to Venezuela.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/25/world/AP-LT-Venezuela-Rights-Report.html |title=Chávez Rejects Report Citing Rights Violations |work=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press |date=25 February 2010 |access-date=25 February 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Venezuelan ombudswoman [[Gabriela Ramírez]] said the report distorted and took statistics out of context, and said that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/25/venezuela.human.rights.report/?hpt=Sbinn |title= Venezuelan official disputes report on human rights abuses |publisher= CNN |date= 25 February 2010 |access-date= 26 February 2010 |archive-date= 4 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110604121813/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/25/venezuela.human.rights.report/?hpt=Sbinn |url-status= dead }}</ref>
In November 2014, Venezuela appeared before the [[United Nations Committee Against Torture]] over cases between 2002 and 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Venezuela ante la ONU: "Puede haber individuos armados dentro de los colectivos"|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/11/08/1607401-venezuela-la-onu-puede-haber-individuos-armados-dentro-los-colectivos|access-date=9 November 2014|agency=[[Infobae.com|Infobae]]|date=8 November 2014}}</ref> Human rights expert of the UN committee, [[Felice D. Gaer]], noted that in "only 12 public officials have been convicted of human rights violations in the last decade when in the same period have been more than 5,000 complaints".<ref>{{cite news|title=Venezuela tuvo que responder por más de 3.000 casos de tortura ante Naciones Unidas|url=http://www.infobae.com/2014/11/06/1606934-venezuela-tuvo-que-responder-mas-3000-casos-tortura-naciones-unidas|access-date=9 November 2014|agency=[[Infobae.com|Infobae]]|date=6 November 2014}}</ref> The United Nations stated that there were 31,096 complaints of human rights violations received between 2011 and 2014.<ref name=EN28nov2014>{{cite news|title=Como "una tragedia" cataloga la ONU situación de las cárceles en el país|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/mundo/tragedia-cataloga-ONU-situacion-carceles_0_527947243.html|access-date=29 November 2014|agency=El Nacional|date=28 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128201039/http://www.el-nacional.com/mundo/tragedia-cataloga-ONU-situacion-carceles_0_527947243.html|archive-date=28 November 2014}}</ref> Of the 31,096 complaints, 3% of the cases resulted in only in an indictment by the Venezuelan Public Ministry.<ref name=EN28nov2014/><ref name=LPnov2014>{{cite news|title=La situación de las cárceles venezolanas es una tragedia, dice la ONU|url=http://www.lapatilla.com/site/2014/11/28/la-situacion-de-las-carceles-venezolanas-es-una-tragedia-dice-la-onu/|access-date=29 November 2014|agency=La Patilla|date=29 November 2014}}</ref>
=====Allegations of antisemitism=====
{{See also|Antisemitism in Venezuela}}
Chavez's [[Anti-Zionism|opposition to Zionism]] and [[Iran–Venezuela relations|close relations with Iran]] led to accusations of [[antisemitism]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lauder urges Venezuela to fight anti-Semitism, resume ties with Israel|url=http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/12950/lauder_urges_venezuela_to_fight_anti_semitism_resume_ties_with_israel |publisher=World Jewish Congress|access-date=11 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/13/chavez-jews-referendum-opinions-contributors_0215_rowan_schoen.html |title=Hugo Chavez And Anti-Semitism |magazine=Forbes |access-date=19 May 2014 |date=15 February 2009}}</ref> Such claims were made by the Venezuelan Jewish community at a [[World Jewish Congress]] Plenary Assembly in [[Jerusalem]], after Venezuela's oldest synagogue was vandalised by armed men.<ref name=WJCchavez /> In 2006, the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] published a shortened version of a speech by Chávez, which significantly changed its meaning to make it appear that he had made anti-Semitic remarks. The ''[[New York Daily News]]'', the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' published the Wiesenthal Center's claim. The Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, the [[American Jewish Committee]] and the [[American Jewish Congress]] said that Chavez’s comments were not aimed at Jews, but rather at "the white oligarchy that has dominated the region since the colonial era".<ref>{{cite web|title=Venezuela's Jews Defend Leftist President in Flap Over Remarks|url=http://forward.com/articles/1874/venezuelaes-jews-defend-leftist-president-in-fla/|work=The Jewish Daily Forward|date=13 January 2006|access-date=11 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Playing the 'Anti-Semitism' Card Against Venezuela|work=NACLA |url=https://nacla.org/node/6106|publisher=North American Congress on Latin America|date=September 2009|access-date=11 May 2014}}</ref> In 2009, attacks on a synagogue in Caracas were alleged to be influenced by "vocal denunciations of Israel" by the Venezuelan state media and Hugo Chávez, even though Chavez promptly condemned the attacks, blaming an "oligarchy".<ref name=WJCchavez>{{cite web|title=Venezuela's oldest synagogue vandalized by armed men|url=http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/7835/venezuela_s_oldest_synagogue_vandalized_by_armed_men|publisher=World Jewish Congress|access-date=11 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/02/01/pol_ava_chavez-responsabiliz_01A2212005 |title=Chávez responsabiliza a "oligarquía" por ataque a la sinagoga |work=El Universal |date=1 February 2009 |access-date=4 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606232025/http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/02/01/pol_ava_chavez-responsabiliz_01A2212005 |archive-date=6 June 2014}}</ref> A weeklong investigation by the Venezuelan [[CICPC]] stated the synagogue attack to be an 'inside job', the motive apparently being robbery rather than antisemitism.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/24250/presento-los-resultados-de-la-investigacion-de-los-ataques-a-la-sinagoga/ |title=Presentó los resultados de la investigación de los ataques a la Sinagoga |work=Noticias24.com |date=9 February 2009 |access-date=4 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831152552/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/24250/presento-los-resultados-de-la-investigacion-de-los-ataques-a-la-sinagoga/ |archive-date=31 August 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/24321/trasladan-a-los-tribunales-a-implicados-en-ataque-a-la-sinagoga/ |title=Trasladan a los Tribunales a implicados en ataque a la sinagoga |work=Noticias24.com |date=10 February 2009 |access-date=4 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140607003809/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/24321/trasladan-a-los-tribunales-a-implicados-en-ataque-a-la-sinagoga/ |archive-date=7 June 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Media and the press===
[[File:ProtestosRCTV.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right|Venezuelans protesting against the closing of RCTV]]
Under Chávez, press freedom declined while [[censorship in Venezuela]] increased. He used state-run bodies to silence the media and to disseminate [[Bolivarian propaganda]]. Other actions included pressuring media organizations to sell to those related to his government or to face closure.<ref name=":02">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/as-it-slides-toward-authoritarianism-venezuela-targets-one-of-its-last-independent-newspapers/2018/07/03/9cb5fe22-7a2d-11e8-ac4e-421ef7165923_story.html|title=As it slides toward authoritarianism, Venezuela targets one of its last independent newspapers|date=5 July 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|language=en|access-date=6 July 2018}}</ref>
[[Human Rights Watch]] criticized Chávez for engaging in "often discriminatory policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression".{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=2}} [[Reporters Without Borders]] criticized the Chávez administration for "steadily silencing its critics".<ref name=Freedom>{{cite web |url=https://rsf.org/en/node/79183 |title=World Press Freedom Index 2009: Obama effect in US, while Europe continues to recede Israel in free fall, Iran at gates of infernal trio | work=[[Reporters Without Borders]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930230930/http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2009%2C1001.html |archive-date=30 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2004, Chávez used the [[National Commission of Telecommunications]] and the Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media law to officially censor media organizations.<ref name=":02" />
Chávez inaugurated [[TeleSUR]] in July 2005, a [[Americas|Pan-American]] [[news channel]] similar to [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]], which sought to challenge Latin American television news by [[Univision]]<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/world/americas/and-now-the-news-in-latin-americas-view.html |title=And Now, the News in Latin America's View |last=Forero |first=Juan |date=16 May 2005 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the United States–based [[CNN en Español]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4620411.stm | title=Venezuela sets up 'CNN rival' | last=Bruce | first=Ian | work=[[BBC News]] | date=28 June 2005}}</ref> In 2006, Chávez inaugurated a state-funded movie studio called ''[[Villa del Cine]]'' (English: Cinema City).<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.newsweek.com/venezuelan-president-hugo-chavezs-movie-studio-81249 | title=Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's Movie Studio | work=[[Newsweek]] | date=23 October 2009}}</ref>
In the group's 2009 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted that "Venezuela is now among the region's worst press freedom offenders."<ref name=Freedom/> [[Freedom House]] listed Venezuela's press as being "Not Free" in its 2011 Map of Press Freedom, noting that "[t]he gradual erosion of press freedom in Venezuela continued in 2010."<ref>[http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2011 "Map of Press Freedom 2011".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223025709/http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2011 |date=23 December 2011 }} Freedom House.org. 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.</ref>
Chávez also had a Twitter account with more than 3,200,000 followers as of August 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/chavezcandanga |title=Hugo Chávez Frías (@chavezcandanga) op Twitter |publisher=Twitter.com |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/28/hugo-chavez-twitter-venezuela | last=Carroll | first=Rory | title=Hugo Chávez embraces Twitter to fight online 'conspiracy' | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=28 April 2010}}</ref> A team of 200 people sorted through suggestions and comments sent via Twitter. Chávez said Twitter was "another mechanism for contact with the public, to evaluate many things and to help many people",<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/10/hugo-chavez-twitter-venezuela |___location=London |work=The Guardian | title=Hugo Chávez's Twitter habit proves a popular success | date=10 August 2010 | first=Rory | last=Carroll}}</ref> and that he saw Twitter as "a weapon that also needs to be used by the revolution".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2010/05/hugo_chasez_has_a_team_of_200.html | title=Hugo Chavez Has a Team of 200 Helping Him Tweet | first=Josh | last=Duboff | work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] | date=9 May 2010}}</ref>
===Foreign policy===
{{further|Foreign policy of the Hugo Chávez government}}
[[File:Brasília - DF (5808388580).jpg|thumb|Chávez with Brazilian President [[Dilma Rousseff]] in Brasília, 6 June 2011]]
Though Chávez inspired other movements in Latin America to follow his model of ''chavismo'' in an attempt to reshape South America, it was later seen as being erratic and his influence internationally became exaggerated.<ref name=curse>{{cite web |last1=Marthoz|first1=Jean-Paul |title=Venezuela's foreign policy: a mirage based on a curse |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/186054/5ac5220191adf69475fb57f9e303479c.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024192156/https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/186054/5ac5220191adf69475fb57f9e303479c.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2018 |url-status=live|access-date=25 January 2016}}</ref> Domestic mishandling of the country under Chávez prevented Venezuela from strengthening its position in the world.<ref name=curse/>
According to communications studies academic Stuart Davis, Chávez's foreign policy aimed to promote [[South–South cooperation]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy |date=2023 |publisher=Haymarket Books |isbn=978-1-64259-812-4 |___location= |pages=275 |oclc=1345216431|last1=Davis |first1=Stuart}}</ref> He refocused Venezuelan foreign policy on Latin American economic and social integration by enacting bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements, including his so-called "oil diplomacy"<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2005/07/28/using-oil-to-spread-revolution | title=Using oil to spread revolution | newspaper=[[The Economist]] | date=28 July 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.landofsixpeoples.com/news401/ns401205.htm |title=Guyana to Try for Better Oil Rates Under Caracas Accord |work=[[Stabroek News]] |date=20 January 2004 |archive-date=16 December 2024 |access-date=16 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216085213/https://www.landofsixpeoples.com/news401/ns401205.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> making Venezuela more dependent on using oil, its main commodity, and increasing its longterm vulnerability.<ref name=curse/> Chávez also focused on a variety of multinational institutions to promote his vision of Latin American integration, including [[Petrocaribe]], Petrosur, and [[TeleSUR]]. Bilateral trade relationships with other Latin American countries also played a major role in his policy, with Chávez increasing arms purchases from Brazil, forming oil-for-expertise trade arrangements with Cuba, and creating unique [[barter]] arrangements that exchange Venezuelan petroleum for cash-strapped Argentina's meat and dairy products.<ref name=smoke/>
Chávez also aligned himself with authoritarian nations and radical movements that were seen as being anti-Western,<ref name=curse/> with relations with [[Cuba–Venezuela relations|Cuba]] and [[Iran–Venezuela relations|Iran]] becoming a particular importance. He also befriended [[pariah state]]s such as Belarus and Iran.<ref name=smoke>{{cite news | url=https://www.ft.com/content/e0cdedba-fe4e-11e1-8228-00144feabdc0 |last=Mander |first=Benedict |title=Venezuela: Up in smoke | work=[[Financial Times]] | date=16 September 2012 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In particular, relations between Venezuela and the United States deteriorated markedly as Chávez became highly critical of the [[foreign policy of the United States]],<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5365142.stm | title=Chavez tells UN Bush is 'devil' | work=[[BBC News]] | date=10 September 2006}}</ref> opposing the U.S. led [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and condemning the NATO-led [[2011 military intervention in Libya]]. Relations thawed somewhat under President [[Barack Obama]] in June 2009, only to steadily deteriorate once again shortly afterwards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Venezuela expels 3 American Diplomats over Violence Conspiracy|url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/02/venezuela-expels-3-american-diplomats-over-violence-conspiracy/|work=IANS|publisher=news.biharprabha.com|access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=June 2022}}
==Personal life==
Chávez married twice. He first wed Nancy Coromoto Colmenares ({{died-in|2022}}), a woman from a poor family in Chávez's hometown of Sabaneta. Chávez and Colmenares remained married for 18 years, during which time they had three children: Rosa Virginia, born on September 6, 1978 in [[Maracay]], [[María Gabriela Chávez|María Gabriela]], born on March 12, 1980 in [[Barinas, Barinas|Barinas]] and Hugo Rafael, born on October 14, 1982 in Barinas; the last of whom suffers from behavioural problems.<ref name="MarcanoTyszka 254-255">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 254–255.</ref> The couple separated soon after Chávez's 1992 coup attempt. During his first marriage, Chávez had an affair with historian [[Herma Marksman]]; their relationship lasted nine years.<ref>Byrne, Jennifer. [http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s882059.htm "Venezuela – Bolivarian Revolution"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526160431/http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s882059.htm |date=26 May 2006 }}.''Foreign Correspondent''. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 11 November 2005.</ref> Chávez's second wife was journalist [[Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez]], from whom he separated in 2002 and divorced in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2008/11/17/ex-wifes-mayoral-campaign-embarrasses-chavez/ | title=Ex-wife's mayoral campaign embarrasses Chavez | first=Rebecca | last=Frankel | work=[[Foreign Policy]] | date=17 November 2008}}</ref> Through that marriage, Chávez had another daughter, Rosinés, born on September 23, 1997 in [[Barquisimeto]].<ref name="MarcanoTyszka 254">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 254.</ref><ref name="MarcanoTyszka 254-255"/><ref>Guevara, Aleida, and Hugo Chávez. ''Chávez, Venezuela and the new Latin America''. New York: Ocean Press. 2005. p 95.</ref> When Chávez was released from prison, he initiated affairs with women that had been his followers.<ref name=LOVE>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VayMEAAAQBAJ |last1=Rory |first1=Carroll | title=Comandante: Hugo Chavez's Venezuela | date=25 February 2014 | ___location=New York | publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0143124887 |pages=49–52}}</ref> Allegations were also made that Chávez was a womanizer throughout both his marriages, having encounters with actresses, journalists, ministers, and ministers' daughters.<ref name=LOVE/> The allegations remained unproven and are contradicted by statements provided by other figures close to him,<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 230–232.</ref> though one retired aide shared that while Chávez was married to Marisabel and afterward, he participated in liaisons with women and gave them gifts, with some rumors among his aides stating that some of the women bore children from Chávez.<ref name=LOVE/>
On May 1, 2005, his fifth daughter, Génesis María, was born in [[Chacao Municipality]]; the fruit of his relationship with [[Barinas Municipality|Barinese]], Bexhi Lisette Segura (1971); who was the Venezuelan [[Consul (representative)|Consul]] in [[Guayaquil]] and on May 3, 2008, his last daughter, Sara Manuela, was born in [[Baruta Municipality]]; the fruit of his relationship with the [[flight attendant]], Nidia Coromoto Fajardo (1966); who was the Venezuelan consul in [[Lisbon]] and [[Montreal]], respectively.
He also had five grandchildren: Gabriela Alejandra Rivero, born on April 18, 1998 (daughter of [[María Gabriela Chávez|María]]), Manuel Alejandro Prieto, born on September 1, 2003 and Jorge Alejandro Arreaza, born on September 18, 2007 (sons of Rosa) and Hugo Rafael, born on March 9, 2013 and Miranda, born on November 2, 2014 (children of "Huguito") and a great-grandson, Paulo Aponte; born in August 2025 (son of Gabriela).
Those who were very close to Chávez felt that he had [[bipolar disorder]].<ref name=BIPOLAR>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VayMEAAAQBAJ | last=Rory | first=Carroll | title=Comandante : Hugo Chavez's Venezuela | date=25 February 2014 | ___location=New York | publisher=[[Penguin Books]] | isbn=978-0143124887 | pages=92–93}}</ref> Salvador Navarrete, a physician that treated Chávez during his first years in the presidency believed that Chávez was bipolar.<ref name=BIPOLAR/> In 2010, [[Alberto Müller Rojas]], then vice president of Chávez's party, PSUV, stated that Chávez had "a tendency toward [[cyclothymia]]—[[mood swing]]s that range from moments of extreme euphoria to moments of despondence".<ref name=BIPOLAR/> A different explanation was that such behavior was a tactic used by Chávez to attack opponents and polarize.<ref name=BIPOLAR/>
Chávez was raised as a [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic]], and he intended at one time to become a priest. He saw his socialist policies as having roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ ([[liberation theology]]),<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSN1819661120070519/ | title=Chávez demands Pope apologize for Indian comments | work=[[Reuters]] | date=19 May 2007}}</ref> and he publicly used the slogan of "Christ is with the Revolution!"<ref>Chávez quoted in [[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 140.</ref> Although he traditionally kept his own faith a private matter, Chávez over the course of his presidency became increasingly open to discussing his religious views, stating that he interpreted Jesus as a Communist.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2007/01/11/with-marx-lenin-and-jesus-christ | title=With Marx, Lenin and Jesus Christ | newspaper=[[The Economist]] | date=11 January 2007}}</ref> He was, in general, a [[liberal Catholicism|liberal Catholic]], some of whose declarations were disturbing to the religious community of his country. In 2008, he said that an [[afterlife]] does not exist.<ref>Jairo Vargas (2013). "[http://www.latino-news.com/ni-el-poder-ni-el-dinero/ Ni el poder ni el dinero...] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517114516/http://www.latino-news.com/ni-el-poder-ni-el-dinero/ |date=17 May 2014 }}". Latino News</ref> He also believed in [[Charles Darwin]]'s [[theory of evolution]], stating that "it is a lie that God created man from the ground".{{clarify|reason=this is not contrary to Catholicism. As much as Chavez CAN be organized, probably his disagreements with Catholics ought to be kept separate from disagreements with other religions|date=July 2015}}<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.notiactual.com/bocaranda-la-nueva-religiosidad-de-chavez-revela-la-gravedad-de-su-cancer/ | title=Bocaranda: La nueva religiosidad de Chávez revela la gravedad de su cáncer | trans-title=Bocaranda: Chávez's new religiosity reveals the seriousness of his cancer | work=NotiActual | date=9 April 2012 | language=es}}</ref> He cursed the state of Israel,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nacion.com/el-mundo/chavez-condena-ataque-genocida-del-maldito-estado-de-israel/H7D2KT4UUFFQPLT2N45POS4K54/story/ | title=Chávez condena ataque "genocida" del "maldito" Estado de Israel | trans-title=Chávez condemns "genocidal" attack by the "damned" State of Israel | work=[[La Nación (Costa Rica)|La Nación]] | date=2 June 2010 | ___location=[[Caracas]] | language=es}}</ref> and he had some disputes with both the Venezuelan Catholic clergy and Protestant groups like the [[New Tribes Mission]],<ref name=NewTribes>[[#Alf05|Alford 2005]].</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/2006/02/12/mas-otaola.html | title=Chávez y sus demonios | trans-title=Chávez and his demons | first=Javier | last=Otaola | work=[[La Jornada]] | date=12 February 2006 | language=es}}</ref> whose evangelical leader he "condemned to hell".<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.emol.com/noticias/internacional/2007/11/23/282912/chavez-condeno-al-infierno-a-un-lider-evangelico.html | title=Chávez condenó al "infierno" a un líder evangélico | trans-title=Chávez condemned an evangelical leader to "hell" | work=[[El Mercurio]] | date=23 November 2007 | language=es | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517130420/http://www.emol.com/noticias/internacional/2007/11/23/282912/chavez-condeno-al-infierno-a-un-lider-evangelico.html |archive-date=17 May 2014 }}</ref> In addition, he showed [[syncretism|syncretistic]] practices such as the worship of the Venezuelan goddess [[María Lionza]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3815145.stm | title=The goddess and the president | first=Mike | last=Ceaser | work=[[BBC News]] | ___location=[[Caracas]] | date=21 June 2004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chavez-summons-ancient-spirits-in-cancer-bout/ | title=Chavez summons ancient spirits in cancer bout | agency=[[Associated Press]] | work=[[CBS News]] | date=5 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://laprensa.mx/notas.asp?id=123582 | title=Chávez, después del cancer, recurre a la religión | trans-title=Chávez, after cancer, turns to religion | date=7 May 2012 | language=es | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517151531/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/845854.html| archive-date=17 May 2014 | url-status=live}}</ref> In his last years, after he discovered he had cancer, Chávez became more attached to the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/44635/hugo-chavez-murio-en-el-seno-de-la-iglesia | title=Hugo Chávez murió "en el seno de la Iglesia" | trans-title=Hugo Chávez died "in the bosom of the Church" | work=ACI Prensa | date=6 March 2013 | language=es}}</ref>
==Illness==
[[File:Noveno encuentro presidencial Ecuador - Venezuela (5809138669).jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Chávez walking with a cane accompanied by Ecuadorian president [[Rafael Correa]] in Caracas in July 2011, shortly after his first cancer surgery]]
On 30 June 2011, Chávez revealed in a televised address from [[Havana]], Cuba, that he was recovering from 2 operations in Cuba, including an operation to remove an abscessed tumor with [[cancerous cell]]s in the pelvic region.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/world/americas/01venez.html | title=Chávez Says a Cancerous Tumor Was Removed | first=Simon | last=Romero | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=1 July 2011 | url-access=limited}}</ref> During the speech, he was noticeably thinner and paler and had a serious and at times sad expression, and stated that he regretted his lack of medical checkups. Analysts theorized that he was suffering from [[colorectal cancer]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.today.com/news/chavez-reveals-he-fighting-cancer-after-surgery-wbna43602163 | title=Chavez reveals he is fighting cancer after surgery | first=IAN | last=JAMES | work=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]] | date= 30 June 2011}}</ref> He returned to Venezuela from Cuba on 4 July, but on 17 July 2011, he returned to Cuba for further cancer treatments. At that time, some powers were delegated to cabinet ministers but he resisted requests by the opposition to give up all powers during his absence.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-14175027 | title=Venezuela's Chavez back in Cuba for cancer treatment | work=[[BBC News]] | date=17 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-17/chavez-delegates-powers-to-rule-from-cuba | title=Chavez Delegates Some Powers, Says He Will Rule From Cuba | first=Charlie | last=Devereaux | work=[[Bloomberg News]] | date=17 July 2011 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Chávez gave a public appearance on 28 July 2011, his 57th birthday, in which he stated that his health troubles had led him to radically reorient his life towards a "more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted" outlook.<ref>[[#BBC11b|BBC News 2011b]]</ref>
On 9 July 2012, Chávez declared himself fully recovered from cancer just three months before the [[2012 Venezuelan presidential election]], which he won, securing a fourth term as president.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/venezuela-s-chavez-says-totally-free-of-cancer-again-idUSBRE8681CQ/ | title=Venezuela's Chavez says "totally free" of cancer, again | first1=Mario | last1=Naranjo | first2=Andrew | last2=Cawthorne | work=[[Reuters]] | date=9 July 2012}}</ref> In November 2012, Chávez announced plans to travel to Cuba for more medical treatment for cancer.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hugo-chavez-heading-to-cuba-for-more-treatment/ |title=Hugo Chávez heading to Cuba for more treatment | agency=[[Associated Press]] | work=[[CBS News]] |date=27 November 2012 |archive-date=28 November 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128200022/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57554992/hugo-chavez-heading-to-cuba-for-more-treatment/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
On 8 December 2012, Chávez announced he would undergo another operation after doctors in Cuba detected [[malignant cell]]s; the operation took place on 11 December 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/08/world/americas/venezuela-chavez/ | title=Chávez to undergo new cancer surgery | first=Patrick | last=Oppmann | work=[[CNN]] | date=10 December 2012}}</ref> Chávez suffered complications from the surgery including a [[respiratory tract infection]] as well as unexpected bleeding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chávez Suffers Respiratory Infection After Surgery | url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2012/12/18/chavez-suffers-respiratory-infection-after-surgery/ | agency=[[Associated Press]] | work=[[San Diego Union Tribune]] | date=18 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Venezuela VP: Chávez Suffers 'New Complications' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna50327377 | first=IAN | last=JAMES | agency=[[Associated Press]] | work=[[NBC News]] | date=30 December 2012}}</ref> It was announced on 3 January 2013, that Chávez had a severe [[lung infection]] that had caused [[respiratory failure]]s following a strict treatment regimen for respiratory insufficiency; he was then breathing through a [[tracheal tube]] but was giving orders to ministers by writing them down.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/americas/venezuela-chavez-health/index.html | title=Chávez battling 'severe' lung infection, respiratory failure | first1=Melissa | last1=Gray | first2=Marilia | last2=Brochetto | work=[[CNN]] | date=5 January 2013}}</ref> However, he was reported to have overcome the infection by 26 January and was then undergoing further treatment.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/venezuela-s-chavez-overcomes-infection-still-having-treatment-idUSBRE90P0L1/ | title=Venezuela's Chavez overcomes infection, still having treatment | first1=Fabian | last1=Cambero | first2=Brian | last2=Ellsworth | work=[[Reuters]] | date=26 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/1/27/venezuelas-chavez-overcomes-infection | title=Venezuela's Chávez 'overcomes infection' | work=[[Aljazeera.com]] | date=27 January 2013}}</ref> On 18 February 2013, Chávez returned to Venezuela after two months of cancer treatment in Cuba.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-21495976 | title=Hugo Chávez 'back in Venezuela' after Cuba cancer care | work=[[BBC News]] | date=18 February 2013}}</ref> On 1 March 2013, after opposition leader [[Henrique Capriles]] accused the government of lying about Chávez's condition, Vice President Nicolás Maduro said that Chávez had been receiving [[chemotherapy]] in Venezuela following his surgery in Cuba and "continues his battle for life". A [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], broadcast on live television, was held in the hospital in which Chávez was staying.<ref>{{cite news | title=Venezuela Says Chávez Receiving Chemotherapy | url=https://apnews.com/f929055d42f54bc3a480a147eee66ceb | work=[[Associated Press]] | date=2 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/02/chavez-venezuela-cancer-chemotherapy/1958391/ | title=Venezuela says Chávez receiving chemotherapy | first=Girish | last=Gupta | work=[[USA Today]] | date=2 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-21639726 | title=Venezuela Chavez having chemotherapy, says VP Maduro | work=[[BBC News]] | date=2 March 2013}}</ref> On 4 March, it was announced that Chávez's breathing problems had worsened and he was suffering a new, severe [[respiratory tract infection]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/chavezs-breathing-problems-worsen-has-severe-new-infection-flna1c8687352 | title=Chavez's breathing problems worsen, has severe new infection | work=[[NBC News]] | date=5 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/03/04/venezuela-says-chavezs-breathing-problems-have-worsened/ | title=Venezuela says Chávez's breathing problems have worsened |agency=[[Reuters]] | work=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=5 March 2013 | url-access=limited}}</ref>
==Death==
{{Main|Death of Hugo Chávez}}
[[File:Homenaje_póstumo_en_honor_a_Hugo_Chávez.jpg|alt=Homenaje póstumo en honor a Hugo Chávez|thumb|The public paying their respects at Chavez's funeral 8 March 2013]]
{{Quote box
| width = 270px
| align = left
| quote = Venezuela's hybrid regime, after Chávez's death, became more selectively accommodating on the inside and more explicitly repressive on the outside. This allowed the regime to survive, but not to thrive. Regime survival was purchased at the cost of policy immobilism. And policy immobilism has left Venezuela with the deepest economic crisis in Venezuela's history.
| source = —Corales and Penfold, ''Dragon in the Tropics: The Legacy of Hugo Chávez''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Corrales |first1=Javier |last2=Penfold| first2=Michael| title=Dragon in the Tropics: The Legacy of Hugo Chávez |date=2 April 2015 |publisher=[[Brookings Institution Press]] |isbn=978-0815725930 |page=14}}</ref>
}}On 5 March 2013, Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced on state television that Chávez had died in a military hospital in Caracas at 16:25 [[Time in Venezuela|VET]] (20:55 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]).<ref name=hero>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2013-mar-05-la-me-hugo-chavez-20130306-story.html | title=President Hugo Chavez dies at 58; hero to Venezuela's poor | first1=Chris | last1=Kraul | first2=Mery | last2=Mogollon | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=5 March 2013 | url-access=limited}}</ref> Maduro said Chávez died "after battling a tough illness for nearly two years".<ref name=hero/> According to the head of Venezuela's presidential guard, Chávez died from a massive heart attack, and his cancer of the pelvic region was very advanced when he died.<ref name=suffering>{{Cite news | url=https://apnews.com/general-news-b97aa654e66e42e9b73e8c9d7ca54218 | title=General: Heart attack killed a suffering Chavez | work=[[Associated Press]] | date=7 March 2013}}</ref> José Ornella said that near the end of his life Chávez "couldn't speak but he said it with his lips ... '''No quiero morir, por favor no me dejen morir''{{'}} ('I don't want to die. Please don't let me die'), because he loved his country, he sacrificed himself for his country".<ref name=suffering/> Chávez is survived by four children and four grandchildren.<ref name=hero/>
Chávez was entombed in a marble sarcophagus at the Mountain Barracks in Caracas.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/thousands-make-pilgrimage-to-chavezs-tomb-zbctg5tzl20 | title=Thousands make pilgrimage to Chávez's tomb | work=[[The Times]] | date=17 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/chavez-shrine-draws-crowds-of-pilgrims-a-month-after-his-death-idUSBRE9340C0/ | title=Chavez shrine draws crowds of pilgrims a month after his death | first=Andrew | last=Cawthorne | work=[[Reuters]] | date=5 April 2013}}</ref> His death triggered a constitutional requirement that a [[2013 Venezuelan presidential election|presidential election]] be called within 30 days. Maduro, Chavez's vice president, was elected president on 14 April 2013.
[[File:Tumba Hugo Chávez Cuartel de la Montaña Caracas Venezuela.JPG|thumb|Mausoleum of Hugo Chávez in Caracas]]
===Rumors surrounding Chávez's death===
After defecting from Venezuela, former bodyguard for Chávez, [[Leamsy Salazar]], stated that he died in December 2012, months before his death was officially announced.<ref name="INFOBAEjan2015">{{cite news|url=http://www.infobae.com/2015/01/29/1623711-el-jefe-seguridad-chavez-declaro-que-el-caudillo-murio-dos-meses-antes-la-fecha-oficial|title=El jefe de Seguridad de Chávez declaró que el caudillo murió dos meses antes de la fecha oficial|date=29 January 2015|access-date=30 January 2015|agency=[[Infobae]]}}</ref> In July 2018, former Attorney General [[Luisa Ortega Díaz]] also said that Chávez had actually died in December 2012 and the announcement of his death was delayed for political reasons. In an interview cited by Venezuelan daily [[El Nacional (Caracas)|''El Nacional'']], the former Chávez supporter said that the Venezuelan president died on 28 December, but his closest allies decided to delay the announcement and never submitted the death certificate to the Office of the Attorney General.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/politica/luisa-ortega-diaz-revelo-que-diosdado-cabello-llamo-morir-chavez_243720|title=Diosdado Cabello a Luisa Ortega Díaz: "vente que Chávez se murió"|last=Web|first=El Nacional|date=12 July 2018|work=El Nacional|access-date=12 July 2018|language=es}}</ref> The supposed delay in announcing Chávez's death raised concerns that laws signed in his name during that period were forged for political purposes.<ref name="INFOBAEjan2015" />
==Honors and awards==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;"
|-
! colspan="2"| Award or decoration
! style="width:110px;"| Country
! style="width:110px;"| Date
! style="width:110px;"| Place
! style="width:300px;"| Note
|-
| style="width:80px;"| [[File:Ribbon jose marti.png|80px]]
|[[Order of José Martí]]<ref>[https://archive.today/20130616043417/http://londres2012.ain.cu/historico/1999/1999Nov/diario/18/ain4.txt Condecoro Fidel a Hugo Chavez con Orden Jose Marti] Londres2012.ain.cu {{in lang|es}}</ref>
|{{flag|Cuba}}
|17 November 1999
|[[Havana]]
|Cuban highest order of merit.
|-
| style="width:80px;"| [[File:PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR.svg|80px]]
|[[Order of Prince Henry|Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry]]<ref>[http://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=154&list=1 Cidadãos estrangeiros agraciados com ordens portuguesas] Ordens.presidencia.pt {{in lang|pt}}</ref>
|{{flag|Portugal}}
|8 November 2001
|[[Lisbon]]
|For exceptional and outstanding merit to Portugal and its [[Culture of Portugal|culture]]
|-
|style="width:80px;"| [[File:Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Communist.png|80px]]
|Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/node/1279|publisher=Fidel: Soldado de las Ideas|title=Discurso pronunciado por el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz en el acto de condecoración con la Orden "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes" al Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, en el X Aniversario de su primera visita a Cuba. Teatro "Carlos Marx", 14 de diciembre de 2004|language=es|access-date=11 April 2021|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412133222/http://www.fidelcastro.cu/en/node/1279|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|{{flag|Cuba}}
|14 December 2004
|[[Havana]]
|
|-
| style="width:80px;"| [[File:Orden al Mérito IRI.png|80px]]
|[[Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran|First Class of the Order of the Islamic Republic of Iran]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Highest Badge of Honor Granted to Chavez|url=http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8505080516|publisher=[[Fars News Agency]]|date=30 July 2006|access-date=12 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103143210/http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8505080516 |archive-date=3 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian President Awarded Iran's Medal of Honor|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200607/31/eng20060731_288280.html|newspaper=[[People's Daily]]|date=31 July 2006|access-date=12 June 2013}}</ref>
|{{flag|Iran}}
|29 July 2006
|[[Tehran]]
|Highest national medal of Iran.
|-
| [[File:By-order friendship of nations rib.png|80px]]
|[[Order of the Friendship of Peoples (Belarus)|Order of the Friendship of Peoples]]<ref>[http://venezuela-us.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/23-JUL-2008%20IMPOSICION%20ORDEN%20AMISTAD%20DE%20LOS%20PUEBLOS.pdf Imposición de Orden Amistad de Pueblos al Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020193525/http://venezuela-us.org/es/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/23-JUL-2008%20IMPOSICION%20ORDEN%20AMISTAD%20DE%20LOS%20PUEBLOS.pdf |date=20 October 2013 }} Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – Washington D.C., US {{in lang|es}}</ref>
|{{flag|Belarus}}
|23 July 2008
|[[Minsk]]
|Highest Belarusian award for foreigners.
|-
| [[File:Order Of Ummayad (Syria) - ribbon bar.gif|80px]]
|[[Order of the Umayyads]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2010/06/27/actualidad/1277589602_850215.html|newspaper=El País|title=Chávez y El Asad crean el "eje de los valientes" frente al imperialismo|date=27 June 2010|language=es|access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
|{{flag|Syria|1980}}
|27 June 2010
|[[Caracas]]
|Syrian highest order of merit.
|-
| [[File:Лента Ордена Уацамонга.png|80px]]
|[[Uatsamonga Order]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eluniverso.com/2010/07/23/1/1361/venezuela-estrecha-relacion-abjasia-osetia-sur.html|publisher=El Universo|title=Venezuela estrecha relación con Abjasia y Osetia del Sur|date=23 July 2010|language=es|access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref>
|{{flag|South Ossetia}}
|23 July 2010
|[[Caracas]]
|South Ossetian highest order of merit.
|-
|[[File:Order of the Republic of Serbia - 2nd Class - ribbon bar.png|80px]]
|[[Order of the Republic of Serbia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.predsednik.rs/node/574 |title=Председник Николић постхумно одликовао Уга Чавеса, председника Венецуеле |publisher=Predsednik.rs |date=6 March 2013|access-date=7 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020130246/http://www.predsednik.rs/node/574 |archive-date=20 October 2013}}</ref>
|{{flag|Serbia}}
|6 March 2013
|[[Belgrade]]
|Serbian highest order of merit. Awarded posthumously.
|-
|[[File:Order of Francisco Morazan (Honduras) - ribbon bar.gif|alt=|80x80px]]
|Order of Francisco Morazán<ref>{{cite news |title=Presidente Lobo reconoce labor de Hugo Chávez a favor de Honduras |url=https://www.20minutos.com.mx/noticia/b109801/presidente-lobo-reconoce-labor-de-hugo-chavez-a-favor-de-honduras/ |date=26 January 2014 |language=es|via=20minutos.com.mx}}</ref>
|{{flag|Honduras|1949}}
|27 January 2014
|[[Tegucigalpa]]
|Honduran highest order of merit. Awarded posthumously.
|-
|[[File:The Star of Palestine (Palestine) Ribbon.svg|80x80px|alt=]]
|[[Orders, decorations, and medals of the State of Palestine|Star of Palestine]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Maduro recibió al palestino Abbas y desafió a Occidente prometiéndole apoyo internacional |url=https://www.infobae.com/2014/05/16/1564993-maduro-recibio-al-palestino-abbas-y-desafio-occidente-prometiendole-apoyo-internacional/ |work=[[Infobae]] |date=16 May 2014 |language=es}}</ref>
|{{flag|Palestine}}
|16 May 2014
|[[Caracas]]
|Palestinian highest order of merit. Awarded posthumously.
|}
===Recognition===
The United States–based ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine included Chávez among their list of the world's [[Time 100|100 most influential people]] in 2005 and 2006, noting the spreading of his anti-globalization efforts and anti-US sentiment throughout Latin America.<ref name=autogenerated4>[[#Pad05|Padgett 2005]].</ref><ref name=influence>[[#Pad06|Padgett 2006]].</ref> In a 2006 list compiled by the left-wing British magazine ''[[New Statesman]]'', he was voted 11th in the list of "Heroes of our time".<ref>[[#Cow06|Cowley 2006]].</ref> In 2010 the magazine included Chávez in its annual ''The World's 50 Most Influential Figures''.<ref name="htanna">[[#New10|''New Statesman'' 2010]].</ref> His biographers Marcano and Tyszka believed that within only a few years of his presidency, he "had already earned his place in history as the president most loved and most despised by the Venezuelan people, the president who inspired the greatest zeal and the deepest revulsion at the same time".<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 148.</ref>
In the [[Belarus]]'s capital [[Minsk]] a park was named after Chávez on 18 October 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://minsk.gov.by/en/news/events/2014/10/18/1944/|title=News – Minsk city executive committee|website=minsk.gov.by|access-date=3 August 2017|archive-date=4 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804052709/http://minsk.gov.by/en/news/events/2014/10/18/1944/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition in [[Al-Bireh]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palwatch.org/pages/news_archive.aspx?doc_id=9367|title=El-Bireh Municipality dedicates a street to Hugo Chavez – Palestinian Daily News|date=16 June 2013 |access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref> and in Moscow,<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=3 July 2013|title=Moscow Street Named After Late Venezuelan Leader Chavez|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2013/07/03/moscow-street-named-after-late-venezuelan-leader-chavez-a25490|access-date=16 April 2021|website=The Moscow Times|language=en}}</ref> streets were also named after Chávez.
===Honorary degrees===
Chávez was awarded the following honorary degrees:<ref name="GOV_2005">{{cite web| publisher=Government of Venezuela | year = 2005| title = Gobierno en Línea: Biografía del Presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías | url = http://gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/home/poderG_detalle_interna.dot | access-date = 15 October 2011|language=es}}</ref>
* [[Kyung Hee University]], South Korea; Honorary Doctorate in Political Science – Granted by Rector Chungwon Choue on 16 October 1999.
* [[Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo]], Dominican Republic; Honorary Doctorate in Jurisprudence, 9 March 2001.
* [[University of Brasília]], Brazil; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Alberto Pérez on 3 April 2001.
* [[Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (Nicaragua)|Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería]], Nicaragua; Honorary Doctorate in Engineering – Granted by Rector Aldo Urbina in May 2001.<ref>{{cite news|title=UNI otorgará "Honoris Causa" a Chávez|url=http://impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/01/05/politica/37958|newspaper=[[El Nuevo Diario]]|date=5 January 2007|access-date=15 June 2013|language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022100042/http://impreso.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2007/01/05/politica/37958 |archive-date=22 October 2013}}</ref>
* [[Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], Russia; Honorary Doctorate, 15 May 2001.
* [[Beijing University]], China; Honorary Doctorate in Economics, 24 May 2001.
* [[Higher University of San Andrés]], Bolivia; Honorary Doctorate, 24 January 2006.<ref>[http://www.eldiario.net/noticias/2006/2006_01/nt060124/4_05scd.html UMSA entrega título de Honoris Causa a Chávez] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020194226/http://www.eldiario.net/noticias/2006/2006_01/nt060124/4_05scd.html |date=20 October 2013 }} Eldiario.net, 24 January 2006 {{in lang|es}}</ref>
* [[University of Art & Social Sciences (Chile)|UARCIS]], Chile; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Carlos Margotta Trincado on 7 March 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=Universidad de Arte y Ciencias Sociales de Chile entrega Doctorado Honoris Causa al presidente Chávez|url=http://minci2.minci.gob.ve/noticias-prensa-presidencial/28/16560/universidad_de_arte.html|publisher=[[Venezuelan Ministry of Communications and Information]]|date=10 November 2007|access-date=15 June 2013|language=es|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616043715/http://minci2.minci.gob.ve/noticias-prensa-presidencial/28/16560/universidad_de_arte.html|archive-date=16 June 2013}}</ref>
* [[University of Damascus]], Syria; Honorary Doctorate – Granted by Rector Wael Moualla on 30 August 2006.<ref>{{cite news|title=Universidad de Damasco otorgó Doctorado Honoris Causa al presidente Chávez|url=http://minci2.minci.gob.ve/noticias-prensa-presidencial/28/10065/universidad_de_damasco.html|publisher=[[Venezuelan Ministry of Communications and Information]]|date=30 August 2006|access-date=15 June 2013|language=es|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616043610/http://minci2.minci.gob.ve/noticias-prensa-presidencial/28/10065/universidad_de_damasco.html|archive-date=16 June 2013}}</ref>
* [[University of Tripoli]], Libya; Honorary Doctorate in Economy and Human Sciences, 23 October 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Chávez fue investido doctor "honoris causa" por la Universidad de Trípoli|url=http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/elmundo/articulo-231171-chavez-fue-investido-doctor-honoris-causa-universidad-de-tripoli|newspaper=[[El Espectador]]|date=23 October 2010|access-date=15 June 2013|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Chávez fue investido doctor "honoris causa" por la Universidad de Trípoli|url=http://www.americaeconomia.com/politica-sociedad/politica/chavez-fue-investido-doctor-honoris-causa-por-la-universidad-de-tripoli|publisher=[[América Economía]]|date=23 October 2010|access-date=15 June 2013|language=es|archive-date=8 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808053308/http://www.americaeconomia.com/politica-sociedad/politica/chavez-fue-investido-doctor-honoris-causa-por-la-universidad-de-tripoli|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==In popular culture==
[[File:Chavez-MeridaII.jpg|alt=Chavez-MeridaII|left|thumb|A mural of Hugo Chávez in [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida]] city]]
* Syndicated cartoonists from around the world created cartoons, illustrations, and videos of Hugo Chávez's controversial political career and the reactions to his death.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-cartoons-the-quotable-hugo-chavez-20130308,0,4564213.photogallery?index=la-ol-hugo-chavez-on-capitalism-20130308|title=Hugo Chavez Cartoons and Comics|first=Steve |last=Brodner|date=8 March 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thecontributor.com/humor/cartoonists-say-goodbye-hugo-chavez|title=Cartoonists Say Goodbye to Hugo Chavez|author=<!--staff writer; no by-line.-->|date=6 March 2013|publisher=The Contributor|access-date=21 April 2013|archive-date=15 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315130134/http://thecontributor.com/humor/cartoonists-say-goodbye-hugo-chavez|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/H/Hugo_Chavez.asp
|title=Hugo Chavez Cartoons and Comics|author=<!--staff writer; no by-line.-->|date=21 April 2013|publisher=News Cartoons, Cartoonstock|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://photos.mercurynews.com/2013/03/07/cartoons-hugo-chavezs-death/|title=Hugo Chavez Cartoons and Comics|author=<!--staff writer; no by-line.-->|date=7 March 2013|newspaper=The Mercury News|access-date=7 April 2013|archive-date=16 June 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616043702/http://photos.mercurynews.com/2013/03/07/cartoons-hugo-chavezs-death/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Chávez was indirectly/subliminally portrayed in two Venezuelan [[telenovela]]s from the 2000s, which were critical of his government: [[A calzón quita'o|A Calzón Quitado]] from 2001 (with the character of Pedro Elías Ferrer), produced by [[RCTV]], and [[Cosita rica]] from 2003 (with the character of Olegario Pérez), produced by [[Venevisión]]. In both telenovelas Chávez was "played" by the actor [[Carlos Cruz (actor)|Carlos Cruz]], with whom he shares a similar physical appearance. His ex-wife (current wife at that moment), [[Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez|Marisabel Rodríguez]], was also portrayed in the first production, by [[Alba Roversi]] (with the character of Clara Inés Ramírez).<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name=":11" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Los medios y la telenovela a 10 años de "Cosita Rica", por Carolina Acosta-Alzuru « Prodavinci |url=https://historico.prodavinci.com/2013/09/30/actualidad/los-medios-y-la-telenovela-en-venezuela-a-10-anos-de-cosita-rica-por-carolina-acosta-alzuru/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531190553/https://historico.prodavinci.com/2013/09/30/actualidad/los-medios-y-la-telenovela-en-venezuela-a-10-anos-de-cosita-rica-por-carolina-acosta-alzuru/ |archive-date=31 May 2023 |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=historico.prodavinci.com |language=es-ES |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Oliver Stone]] directed the 2009 documentary ''[[South of the Border (2009 film)|South of the Border]]'', where he "sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America, while interviewing seven of its elected presidents". Chávez appears in one segment being interviewed by Stone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movies.ie/movies/South_of_the_Border |title=South of the Border |date=30 December 2010 |publisher=Movies.is |access-date=21 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801081141/http://www.movies.ie/movies/South_of_the_Border |archive-date=1 August 2010}}</ref>
* In 2011, he appeared in a game ''[[Postal III]]''.[[File:Artículos comerciales sobre Hugo Chávez.jpg|thumb|upright|Bolivarian memorabilia for sale in [[Venezuela]], 2006]]
* On 5 March 2014, Oliver Stone and [[teleSUR]] released the documentary film ''[[Mi amigo Hugo]]'' (''My Friend Hugo''), a documentary about his political life, one year after his death.
* Hugo Chávez and most of the other Latin American presidents are parodied in the animated web page ''[[Isla Presidencial]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/04/la-isla-presidencial-keep_n_2806971.html|title= 'La Isla Presidencial' Keeps Venezuelans Laughing, Despite Contentious Politics |date= 3 April 2013|work=HuffPost|access-date=18 August 2015}}</ref>
*The 2016 documentary ''[[El ocaso del socialismo mágico]]'' explores the effects of Chávez's [[populism]] and his victory in the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|1998 presidential elections]], as well as his mistakes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2 December 2017|title=El ocaso del socialismo mágico – PLAY TV|url=https://www.abc.es/play/television/programas/el-ocaso-del-socialismo-magico-42237/|access-date=11 September 2021|website=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC]]|language=es|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326042320/https://www.abc.es/play/television/programas/el-ocaso-del-socialismo-magico-42237/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=14 November 2016|title=Proyección: El ocaso del socialismo mágico|url=https://elucabista.com/2016/11/14/proyeccion-ocaso-del-socialismo-magico/|access-date=11 September 2021|website=El Ucabista|language=es}}</ref>
* [[Sony Pictures Television]] produces a TV series called [[El Comandante (TV series)|''El Comandante'']] about the life of Hugo Chávez with 102 episodes.
*The 2018 documentary ''[[Chavismo: The Plague of the 21st Century]]'' ({{Langx|es|[[Chavismo]]: la peste del siglo XXI}}), analysis of the causes, social, political and economic that caused the rise of Chávez as president of Venezuela; "his abuse of power and the response of civil society, including the student movement; his political fall and as the secrecy that surrounded his illness and the succession of Nicolás Maduro".<ref>{{cite news|title='Chavismo: la peste del siglo XXI' es premiado como mejor documental en Nueva York|language=Spanish|agency=El Nuevo País|url=https://elnuevopais.net/2018/11/01/chavismo-la-peste-del-siglo-xxi-es-premiado-como-mejor-documental-en-nueva-york/|access-date=11 December 2018|archive-date=2 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181102191132/https://elnuevopais.net/2018/11/01/chavismo-la-peste-del-siglo-xxi-es-premiado-como-mejor-documental-en-nueva-york/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*The documentary film released in 2018 ''[[El pueblo soy yo]]'' (English: ''I am the people''), directed by Venezuelan filmmaker {{ill|Carlos Oteyza|es}} and produced by Mexican historian [[Enrique Krauze]], explores the populism of Chávez.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sánchez Amaya|first1=Humberto|title=El pueblo soy yo, un documental para evitar la indiferencia|language=Spanish|agency=El Nacional|url=http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/entretenimiento/pueblo-soy-documental-para-evitar-indiferencia_263316|access-date=7 February 2019}}</ref>
{{Portal|Venezuela|Biography}}
{{Clear}}
== Notes ==
{{notelist}}
== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
==== Books ====
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Arráiz Lucca |first=Rafael |title=Venezuela: 1830 a nuestros días |publisher=Titivillus |year=2007 |isbn=9789803542351 |edition=1st |pages=201 |language=es |author-link=Rafael Arráiz Lucca}}
* {{cite book |title= Dismantling Democracy in Venezuela: The Chávez Authoritarian Experiment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2m9-gYOs9K4C |last= Brewer-Carías |first=Allan |year= 2010 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |___location= Cambridge and New York |isbn=978-0-521-19587-4 |ref=Bre10 }}
* {{cite book |author-link=Rory Carroll |last=Carroll |first=Rory |isbn=978-1-59420-457-9 |year=2013 |___location=New York |publisher=The Penguin Press |title = Commandante: myth and reality in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela |ref=Car13 |url = https://archive.org/details/comandantemythre0000carr }}
* {{cite book |title = Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chávez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pxgkx1rRkJQC&pg=PA163 |last= Corrales |first=Javier and Penfold, Michael |year= 2011 |publisher= Brookings Institution Press |___location=Washington D.C. |isbn=978-0-8157-0497-3 |ref=Cor11 }}
* {{cite book |title= Venezuela's Chavismo and Populism in Comparative Perspective |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ujAydQj-x_4C |last= Hawkins |first=Kirk A. |year= 2010 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |___location= New York |isbn=978-0-521-76503-9 |ref=Haw10 }}
* {{cite book |title = Hugo Chávez: The Definitive Biography of Venezuela's Controversial President |url=https://archive.org/details/hugochvezthedefi0000marc |last1=Marcano |first1=Christina |last2=Tyszka |first2=Alberto Barrera |year=2007 |publisher=Random House |___location=New York |isbn=978-0-679-45666-7 |ref=Mar07 |url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite book|title=Historieta de Venezuela: De Macuro a Maduro|last1=Márquez|first1=Laureano|last2=Sanabria|first2=Eduardo|publisher=Gráficas Pedrazas|year=2018|isbn=978-1-7328777-1-9|edition=1st|author-link=Laureano Márquez}}
* {{Cite book |last=Neuman |first=William |title=[[Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela]]|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-1250266163|edition=1st |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title= The History of Venezuela |url = https://archive.org/details/historyofvenezue0000tarv |url-access= registration |last= Tarver |first=H. Michael and Frederick, Julia C. |year= 2005 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |___location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-313-33525-9 |ref=Tar05 }}
* {{cite book |title= Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rIRJSwlxxuEC |last= Trinkunas |first=Harold A. |year= 2005 |publisher= University of North Carolina Press |___location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-8078-5650-5 |ref=Tri05}}
* {{cite book |title = The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective ''(Third Edition)'' |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3VdvqMtpLzAC |author-link=Alan Woods (political theorist) |last=Woods |first=Alan |year= 2006 |publisher= Well Red Books |___location= London |isbn=978-1-900007-21-4 |ref=Woo06 }}
{{refend}}
====Academic articles====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gibbs, Terry |year=2006 |title=Business as Usual: what the Chávez era tells us about democracy under globalisation |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |volume=27 |pages=265–79 |ref=Gib06 |jstor=4017674 |first1=T. |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/01436590500492931|s2cid=154147337 }}
* {{cite book |last=Holland |first=Alisha |title=A decade under Chávez: political intolerance and lost opportunities for advancing human rights in Venezuela |publisher=Human Rights Watch |___location=New York |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-56432-371-2}}
* {{cite book |last=López Maya, Margarita |year=2003 |chapter=Hugo Chávez Frías: His Movement and His Presidency |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uYd4Q1vQluAC&pg=PA73 |title=Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era: Class, Polarization and Conflict |editor1-first=Steve |editor1-last=Ellner |editor2-first=Daniel |editor2-last=Hellinger |publisher=Lynne Riener |___location=Boulder |pages=73–92 |isbn=978-1-58826-297-4 |ref=Lop03}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Ramírez, Cristóbal Valencia |year=2005 |title=Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution: Who Are the Chavistas?|journal=Latin American Perspectives |volume=32 |pages=79–97|ref=Ram05 |jstor=30040243 |first1=C. b. V. |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/0094582X05275532|s2cid=145020614 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Sylvia, Ronald D. and Danopoulos, Constantine P. |year=2003 |title=The Chávez Phenomenon: Political Change in Venezuela |journal=[[Third World Quarterly]] |volume=24 |pages=63–76 |ref=Syl03 |jstor=3993630 |first1=R. D. |last2=Danopoulos |first2=C. P. |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/713701367|s2cid=154551869 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Zúquete, José Pedro |date=Spring 2008 |title=The Missionary Politics of Hugo Chávez|journal=Latin American Politics and Society |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=91–121 |ref=Zuq08 |jstor=30130840 |doi=10.1111/j.1548-2456.2008.00005.x |first1=José Pedro|citeseerx=10.1.1.463.8436 |s2cid=144481618 }}
{{refend}}
====News articles, reports and essays====
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Anderson |first=Jon Lee |date=28 January 2013 |title=Slumlord : what has Hugo Chávez wrought in Venezuela? |department=Letter from Caracas |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |volume=88 |issue=45 |pages=40–51 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/28/slumlord |access-date=8 April 2015 }}
* {{cite news |title=The new kid in the barrio |last=Beaumont, Peter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2006/may/07/featuresreview.review |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |publisher=Guardian Media Group |___location=London |date=7 May 2006 |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=Bea06 }}
* {{cite news |title=New Venezuela hands Chávez wide powers |last=Bellos, Alex |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/dec/17/alexbellos?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |___location=London |date=17 December 1999 |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=Bel99 }}
* {{cite news |title=Nicaragua's Ortega Signs Trade Pact |last=Carl, Traci |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101856.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |___location=Washington D.C. |date=11 January 2007 |access-date=12 May 2011 |ref=Car07 }}
* {{cite news |title=Hugo Chávez wins referendum allowing indefinite re-election |last=Carroll |first=Rory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/16/hugo-chavez-indefinite-rule |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |___location=London |date=16 February 2009 |access-date=27 March 2011 }}
* {{cite news |title=Hugo Chávez: The Radical with Deep Pockets |last=Padgett, Tim |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973045,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618210252/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973045,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 June 2010 |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |___location=New York City |date=18 April 2005 |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=Pad05 }}
* {{cite news |title=Hugo Chávez: Leading the Left Wing Charge |last=Padgett, Tim |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187165,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614222700/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187165,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 June 2006 |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |___location=New York City |date=30 April 2006 |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=Pad06 }}
* {{cite news |title=War Drums in Latin America |last=Padgett, Tim |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1719158,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305194851/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1719158,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 March 2008 |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |___location=New York City |date=3 March 2008 |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=Pad08 }}
* {{cite news |title=Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation |last=Pretel, Enrique Andres |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN21321293 |work=Reuters |___location=London |date=21 September 2009 |access-date=30 March 2011 |ref=Pre09 |archive-date=13 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213171636/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/22/idUSN21321293 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |title=Purging Loyalists, Chávez Tightens His Inner Circle |last=Romero, Simon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/17/world/americas/17venez.html?scp=2&sq=hugo+chavez&st=nyt |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |___location=New York City |date=16 February 2010 |access-date=10 April 2011 |ref=Rom10 }}
* {{cite journal |title=In Search of Hugo Chávez |last1=Shifter, Michael |volume=85 |date=May–June 2006 |pages=45–59 |ref=Shi06 |jstor=20031966 |first1=M. |issue=3 |journal=[[Foreign Affairs]] |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61703/michael-shifter/in-search-of-hugo-ch%C3%83%C2%A1vez |doi=10.2307/20031966 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite news |title=Chávez offers oil to Europe's poor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/14/oil.venezuela?INTCMP=SRCH |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |publisher=Guardian Media Group |___location=London |date=14 May 2006 |access-date=27 March 2011 |ref=Obs06 }}
* {{cite news |title=Chávez wins Venezuela re-election |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6205128.stm |work=BBC News |___location=London |date=4 December 2006 |access-date=27 March 2011 |ref=BBC06 }}
{{refend}}
====Interviews====
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00stbv6/HARDtalk_Hugo_Chavez_President_of_Venezuela/?t=2m50s |title=Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela |last1=Sackur |first1=Stephen |last2=Chávez |first2=Hugo |date=15 June 2010 |work=HARDtalk |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |___location=London |access-date=25 March 2011 |ref=SacCha10}}
{{refend}}
====Websites and e-publications====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.cartercenter.org/documents/1151.pdf |title=Observation of the 1998 Venezuelan Elections: A Report of the Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government |author1=Trinkunas, Harold |author2=McCoy, Jennifer |publisher=The Carter Centre |___location=Atlanta, Georgia |date=February 1999 |access-date=21 March 2011 |ref=Tri99}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.worldlii.org/int/cases/IACHR/1999/12.html |title=Del Caracazo Case |publisher=Inter-American Court of Human Rights |date=11 November 2011 |access-date=21 March 2011 |ref=Int99}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/venezuela/19_venezuela___hugo_chavezs_revolution.ashx |title=Venezuela: Hugo Chávez's Revolution |publisher=International Crisis Group |date=22 February 2007 |access-date=8 April 2011 |ref=Int07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208091338/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/venezuela/19_venezuela___hugo_chavezs_revolution.ashx |archive-date=8 February 2011 }}
{{refend}}
==External links==
{{sister project links|c=Category:Hugo Chávez|q=yes|d=yes|s=yes|n=yes|wikt=no|v=no|b=no|voy=no}}
{{Library resources box}}
{{Refbegin|colwidth=33em}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120712083013/http://www.chavez.org.ve/ Official personal blog] {{in lang|es}}
===Multimedia===
* PBS ''Frontline'' documentary: [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/hugochavez/view/ The Hugo Chávez Show]
* ''The Guardian:'' [https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2009/feb/02/hugo-chavez-venezuela "The Rise and Rule of 'Hurricane Hugo{{'"}}] audio slide show
* Democracy Now! 16 September 2005 Interview: [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/19/1336214 Part I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113194108/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/19/1336214 |date=13 November 2007 }} and [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/20/1330218 Part II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104184826/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05%2F09%2F20%2F1330218 |date=4 November 2005 }} with Hugo Chávez, in New York City
* ABC News video, 27 April 2007: [https://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=2956467 Barbara Walters interviews Hugo Chávez]
* Interview with {{YouTube|ZddqUX4aAc4|Hugo Chávez about the American threat}} October 2009
* NPR audio report, 18 February 2008: [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19147881 "The Politics of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez"]
* {{C-SPAN|81051}}
===Articles and interviews===
* BBC News: [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10086210 "Profile: Hugo Chávez"]
* [[Michael Shifter|Shifter, Michael]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080109175112/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060501faessay85303/michael-shifter/in-search-of-hugo-ch-vez.html?mode=print "In Search of Hugo Chávez"]. ''Foreign Affairs'', May/June 2006 issue
* [[Greg Palast|Palast, Greg]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060703070617/http://progressive.org/mag_intv0706 "Hugo Chávez Interview"]. ''The Progressive'', July 2006
* {{Aljazeeratopic|person/hugo-chavez}}
* {{Guardian topic}}
* {{NYTtopic|people/c/hugo_chavez}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.nobledrugstore.com/blog/news/hugo-chavez-death-teaches-cancer-lesson |title=Controversial Venezuelan Leader Hugo Chavez's Death Teaches Vital Lesson About Cancer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327154118/http://www.nobledrugstore.com/blog/news/hugo-chavez-death-teaches-cancer-lesson |archive-date=27 March 2013 }}
===Miscellaneous===
* [https://www.cidob.org/lider-politico/hugo-chavez-frias Extended biography by CIDOB] (in Spanish)
* {{IMDb name|1382342}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Presidents of Venezuela|President of Venezuela]]|years=1999–2013}}
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{{Hugo Chávez}}
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[[Category:Hugo Chávez| ]]
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