Oct 7 (Reuters) – Hugo Chavez was re-elected as president in
South America’s biggest oil exporter Venezuela on Sunday,
potentially extending the length of his self-styled socialist
revolution to 20 years.
Here are some key facts about Chavez:
* Born to a poor family in Venezuela’s plains, or “llanos,”
on July 28, 1954, Chavez once aspired to be a painter and then a
professional baseball player in the U.S. Major Leagues.
* His impoverished but happy childhood in rural Venezuela
often feeds the folksy anecdotes he uses when talking about
politics. Combined with formidable charisma, his humble roots
have helped him forge a strong emotional connection with many of
Venezuela’s poor, who see him almost like one of the family.
* A former lieutenant colonel, Chavez spent much of his
later military career conspiring with other leftist soldiers to
overthrow the traditional political order.
* He led a 1992 coup against then-President Carlos Andres
Perez that failed but launched his political career. A brief,
self-effacing speech while he was being led away to jail –
wearing his trademark red beret – electrified many Venezuelans
and propelled him toward the presidency as a populist leader.
* After being pardoned, Chavez toured the country before
winning a 1998 election and taking office early the following
year. For many poor voters, he symbolized a fresh start after
decades of governments that paid scant attention to their needs
and were widely seen as self-serving and corrupt.
* Private media and business leaders remained staunchly
against Chavez, however, and in 2002 a group of opposition
politicians and dissident troops staged a coup. Chavez was
arrested and flown to a military base on a Caribbean island.
* Two days later, loyal military officers and protests by
supporters swept him back to power. Chavez accuses the United
States of being behind the putsch, and says he feared he was
about to be killed. The drama of his return as president has
since taken on almost religious overtones for some passionate
“Chavistas.”
* Chavez has enjoyed wide backing among the poor majority
partly thanks to massive state spending to expand health and
education programs, financed by income from oil exports. He has
also cultivated support by confronting the United States, which
he denounces as a decadent, war-mongering empire.
* Several times, he has threatened to stop oil shipments to
the United States – including when he accused then-U.S.
President George W. Bush of backing the 2002 coup – but has
never done so. The United States remains Venezuela’s biggest oil
export market, but Chavez has also increased fuel sales to China
and anti-Western states such as Belarus, Iran and Syria.
* Inspired by his friend and mentor, Cuba’s Fidel Castro,
Chavez has taken Venezuela down an increasingly radical path,
nationalizing much of the economy and running the government
with a micro-managing – and many say autocratic – style.
* Opponents accuse him of repressing critics, squandering
record oil revenues and scaring away investors by seizing assets
ranging from shops and farms to multibillion-dollar refinery
projects run by foreign energy companies.
* Chavez has a deliberately populist style, using colorful
and strong language that draws on the macho culture of the
“llanos” of his youth, and the barracks of his military career.
Like Fidel Castro, he is well known for long-winded televised
speeches that often drag on late into the night. This year, he
broke his own record by speaking for nearly 10 hours.
* Chavez announced in mid-2011 that he was being treated for
cancer. He had three operations in Cuba, where two malignant
tumors were removed, but declared himself completely cured in
July, just before the campaign’s final stage. D o ctors say at
least two years must pass without a recurrence before a cancer
patient can be given a clean bill of health.
* To follow us on Twitter: @ReutersVzla
* For multimedia coverage, go to http://reut.rs/QzUtvN
(Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and
David Brunnstrom)
