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Birth
Hugo Chavez was born in Sabaneta,Venezuela on March 5, 1954. Hugo was the second of 6 surviving siblings. His parents were both schoolteachers that did not have enough money to support all of their children,so Hugo and his older brother Aden were raised from their grandmother Rosa Ines Chavez. -
Introduction to polotics
In 1964 Hugo loved politics. He loved politics because his grandmother Rosa Ines Chavez influenced him. He was also influenced by a local historian by the name of Jose Esteban Ruiz Guevara who introduced him to the teachings of Bolivar and Karl Marx. -
Beginning of power
In 1971 Chavez entered a Venezuelan military academy in Caracas. He entered not because he wanted to be a soldier, he entered so he could be a great baseball player. It turns out the academy had one of the best baseball coaches in Venezuela. -
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Complications
In 1975 Hugo started his military career as a second lieutenant in the army. He left the army in 1977 when he found out that his brother Adan was working with the insurgents. Chavez eventually decided to stay with the army and not leave after he spoke with Douglas Bravo. -
Rebel activity
In 1992 Chavez and a small group of other military leaders led an attempt to overthrow the government of Carlos Andres Perez. The attempt was a complete fail because Chavez could not complete his task of capturing President Perez. So Chavez gave up on the conditions of that he could give a speech on national television -
Start of popularity
In that speech he tells his fellow rebels to put down their weapons and that there should be no more bloodshed. He also said that his try for power failed and that they would have to wait. This was his start as a politician. (1992) -
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Start of presidency.
In 1994 Chavez was imprisoned without a court ruling for the attempt on the president. Chavez was growing so popular that they dropped all charges against him. In 1998 he ran for president and won with 56% of the vote. -
Presidency
Chavez took office in February 1999. During his first year in office he reached an approval rating of 80%. Chavez rode his wave of popularity to make a new constitution that gave him complete control over tree branches of the government. The new constitution also allowed him to make laws by decree, the national assembly appointed big Chavez fans to the supreme court. Basically he owned almost every piece of government power there was. -
Loss of power
Chavez continued to make laws by decree and moved to limit the press on him. Chavez also criticised U.S. citizens for the attacks of the twin towers attacks. His approval rating in 2002 dropped to 30% and anti Chavez marches became regular for Venezuela. -
Uh Oh
On April 11, 2002 a rally ran down to the president's palace. This rally was met with armed gunman and national guard members. There was a huge gunfight with wounded and dead on both sides. The military was fed up with Chavez named the vice president Diosdado Cabello as the true president of Venezuela. But once sworn in Cabello then immediately returned the power to Chavez the next day.
