World
Hugo Chavez - Through the Years
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died March 5 at age 58, after a long battle with cancer that was shrouded in mystery and prevented him from being inaugurated for a fourth term.
In this photo, Chavez sits in front of a painting of the country's liberation hero Simon Bolivar in the Miraflores Palace on April 30, 2002. With tensions running high after a 47-hour coup, Chavez urged the divided nation to debate its political differences in peace.
Simon Bolivar led 19th-century movements to end Spain's colonial rule in Venezuela and throughout Latin America.
A young Hugo Chavez (center, left) poses with classmates in his hometown of Sabaneta in Barinas, in this undated photo provided by his former neighbor Flor Figueredo.
In the rural villages of his childhood at the heart of Venezuela's great savannah or "llanos," family and friends pour out tales of a boy whose motor-mouth and popular touch - now mainstays of his rule - were evident early on.
Soldiers loyal to Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez and some journalists lie in one of the entrance rooms of the presidential palace in Caracas on Feb. 4, 1992, after rebel paratroopers led by Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez attempted a coup. When the bid to overthrow Perez failed, Chavez announced his defeat in a TV appearance that made him a hero overnight.
In 1993, Venezuela's Congress impeached Perez for diverting $17 million in public money to a secret fund. The country's top court them removed him from office and put him under house arrest. Perez died in 2010.
Chavez later successfully ran for the office of the president, and was sworn in on Feb. 2, 1999.
Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez talks to reporters on March 26, 1994, after being freed from jail where he was imprisoned for trying to overthrow President Carlos Andres Perez. Chavez was let go after charges were dropped against him for leading the first of two attempted coups against the government of Perez who was removed from office in 1993.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, right, greets Hugo Chavez, upon the Venezuelan's arrival at Jose Marti Airport in Havana in December, 1994. Chavez, who had retired from the military, was the director of Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200, or the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement 200.
The name of the organization refers to Simon Bolivar, who led 19th-century movements to end Spain's colonial rule in Venezuela and throughout Latin America and is a personal hero of Chavez's.
Chavez reaches out to supporters in Carora in western Venezuela on Dec. 2, 1998. Tipped to win the presidential elections to be held just a few days later, Chavez edges through the narrow streets punching his fist into his palm and grinning with the air of a man who smells victory.
His crusading anti-establishment message of radical change unsettled Venezuela's traditional parties so much that they dropped their own candidates and rallied behind independent Henrique Salas in a last-ditch effort to defeat Chavez.
Chavez watches paratroopers land over the Fuerte Tiuna military base during a Feb. 4, 1999, parade to commemorate the seventh anniversary of an abortive coup he led.
At the parade held on his third day in office, the former paratrooper called for national unity against "anarchy" and announced he was reinstating officers discharged for backing the coup.
Chavez poses with Venezuelan Major League Baseball players, left to right, Kelvim Escobar of the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets players Melvin Mora, Roger Cedeno and Edgardo Alfonso on June 9, 1999, before the Mets game against the Blue Jays at Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY. Chavez threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the beginning of the game.
National guardsmen shoot at protesters in Caracas on April 11, 2002, after a general declared that Chavez's government had "abandoned its functions" and the country was under the control of the armed forces. The attempted coup failed and Chavez was back in power after 47 hours. According to some reports, officials in the administration of President George W. Bush sanctioned the attempt to remove the left-wing president from power.
Venezuelans fill highways in Caracas to protest against Chavez's government on April 11, 2002. At least 300,000 marched through the capital, pressing ahead with an indefinite general strike as his embattled administration tried to start a dialogue with opponents and ward off economic chaos.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, left, and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez wear traditional "chullos" (wool caps) while speaking to a crowd upon their arrival to Shimaota in Chapare, Bolivia, on May 26, 2006. Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba went on to sign agreements as part of the People's Trade Treaty, an alternative to the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.
Chavez addresses the United Nations General Assembly 61st session on Sept. 20, 2006. Chavez called President George W. Bush "the devil," and urged Americans to read Noam Chomsky's book, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance."
"The hegemonistic pretentions of the American empire are placing at risk the very existence of the human species," he said during the speech.
Chavez, a self-declared socialist, has often criticized the United States on its history of intervention in the Americas and Washington's stance on countries such as Iran.
Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi greets Chavez during the plenary session at the Africa-South America Summit on Margarita Island on Sept. 27, 2009. Chavez and Gadhafi urged African and South American leaders to strive for a new world order and counter Western economic dominance.
Chavez hugs his daughters Rosa (left) and Maria while appearing to supporters on a balcony of Miraflores Palace soon after his return to the country from Cuba, where he underwent surgery and treatment for cancer, in Caracas, Venezuela on July 4, 2011. Venezuela's ever-theatrical Chavez made a surprise homecoming on Monday after cancer surgery in Cuba, thrilling supporters and saying he would win the battle to regain his health.
Chavez listens to a performance before departing for Cuba at Maiquetia's Airport outside Caracas, Venezuela on Aug. 6, 2011. Chavez said he would return to Cuba for a second session of chemotherapy to treat a cancer that forced him to slow his pace ahead of a re-election bid.
Chavez stands next to his daughter Rosa Virginia, right, Minister of Penitentiary Services Maria Iris Varela, left, and Venezuelan Minister of Health Eugenia Sader at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on Aug. 27, 2011, when Chavez announced plans for a third cycle of chemotherapy for cancer.
Chavez walks with his family while recovering from surgery in Havana, Cuba, on March 13, 2012.
Chavez spent much of April and May in Havana, but denied he left Venezuela rudderless during his treatment and promised a resounding re-election win in October.
He ended a short address in early May choking on his words and with tears in his eyes, in sharp contrast to his triumphant speech to Congress in January that stretched for nine hours.
Chavez walks past an image of independence hero Simon Bolivar during a ceremony to mark his birthday in Caracas on July 24, 2012. Chavez unveiled a 3D image of South America's 19th century independence hero Bolivar based on bones he had exhumed two years ago to test a theory that Bolivar was murdered.
Chavez kisses a crucifix during a televised speech form his office at Miraflores Presidential palace in Caracas on Dec. 8, 2012. Chavez announced that his cancer has returned and that he will undergo another surgery in Cuba. He also said for the first time that if his health were to worsen, his chosen successor would be Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
Chavez blows a kiss from the door of the airplane before departing to Cuba at Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas on Dec. 10, 2012. Chavez flew to Cuba for cancer surgery, vowing to return quickly despite admitting the disease could curb his 14-year rule. The 58-year-old is facing his fourth operation since mid-2011 for a third recurrence of an undisclosed form of cancer in the pelvic area.