Hugo Chavez Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of the late Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela from 1998 to 2013.
Personal:
Birth date: July 28, 1954
Death date: March 5, 2013
Birth place: Sabaneta, Barinas, Venezuela
Birth name: Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias
Father: Hugo Chavez, school teacher
Mother: Elena (Frias) Chavez, school teacher
Marriages: Marisabel Rodríguez de Chavez (December 1997- 2004, divorced); Nancy Colmenares de Chavez (divorced mid-1990s)
Children: with Marisabel Chavez: Rosa Inés; with Nancy Chavez: Rosa Virginia, María Gabriela, Hugo Rafael, Raúl Alfonzo
Education: Military Academy of Venezuela in Caracas, 1975
Religion: Roman Catholic
Other Facts:
Was closely aligned with Fidel Castro of Cuba.
Timeline:
1975 – Joins Venezuela’s Army.
1990 – Lieutenant Colonel in the Venezuelan Army.
February 4, 1992-March 26, 1994 – Is imprisoned for a coup attempt against President Carlos Andres Perez.
1994 – Forms the Fifth Republic Movement, a political opposition group.
December 6, 1998 – Is elected the youngest president in Venezuela’s history.
February 2, 1999 – Is sworn in as president of Venezuela.
1999 – Chavez’s government creates a new constitution. It passes in a vote on December 15, 1999.
July 30, 2000 – Wins re-election to the presidency for a six-year term, under the new constitution.
April 8, 2002 (week of) – Demonstrations break out across Venezuela due to an economic crisis. Sixteen demonstrators are killed as well as one police officer on April 11 in Caracas.
April 12, 2002 – Chavez says he will “abandon his duties” and Pedro Carmona Estanga becomes President. On the following day, demonstrations force Carmona to resign and Diosdado Cabello, Chavez’s vice president, takes over for one day.
April 14, 2002 – Chavez is reinstated as president.
August 20, 2003 – Opposition groups present election officials with approximately 2.7-3.2 million signatures calling for the removal/recall of Chavez from the presidency.
June 3, 2004 – The National Electoral Council of Venezuela announces that Chavez’s opponents have collected enough valid signatures to force a recall vote.
August 15, 2004 – A vote to potentially recall Chavez fails and he remains president. 59% of voters vote to keep him in office.
August 22, 2005 – Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson calls for the United States to assassinate Chavez, calling him “a terrific danger” bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas. “If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,” Robertson tells viewers on his “The 700 Club” show. “It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.”
September 15, 2005 – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez delivers a fiery speech to the UN General Assembly, criticizing the United Nations as an imperialist institution and suggesting the world body move its headquarters out of the United States.
September 20, 2006 – In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Chavez says in reference to US President George W. Bush, “The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today.”
December 3, 2006 – Claims victory in Venezuela’s presidential election against Manuel Rosales after Rosales concedes.
January 31, 2007 – The Venezuelan National Assembly approves a law that gives Chavez the authority to rule by decree. He has been granted the special powers for 18 months.
April 30, 2007 – Chavez announces that Venezuela will formally pull out of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
May 1, 2007 – Chavez’s government takes control of Venezuela’s last remaining privately run oil fields.
May 28, 2007 – Chavez creates a furor when he refuses to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), Venezuela’s oldest television network. His decision to shut it down draws claims of censorship and days of protests in Caracas and other cities. RCTV returns in mid-July.
January 10, 2008 – Chavez assists in brokering the release of two Colombian hostages, Consuelo Gonzalez and Clara Rojas, who had been held for five years by FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
March 14, 2008 – In a public statement, Chavez dares the United States to put Venezuela on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
February 15, 2009 – A referendum passes that will allow Chavez to run for a third six-year term in 2012.
September 7, 2009 – Oliver Stone’s film “South of the Border,” featuring Chavez, premieres at the Venice Film Festival. Chavez attends the premiere.
December 17, 2010 – Venezuelan Television reports that Venezuela’s National Assembly has granted President Hugo Chavez the power to pass laws by decree for the next 18 months.
May 9, 2011 – Chavez calls in to Venezuelan state television and says that he’s canceling a scheduled trip to Brazil because of debilitating pain in his knee requiring doctor-ordered bed rest.
June 5-7, 2011 – Chavez visits Brazil and Ecuador and heads to Cuba, scheduled as the third leg of an international trip.
June 10, 2011 – Undergoes surgery for a pelvic abscess in Cuba. In a speech on June 30, 2011 Chavez says that a cancerous tumor was removed during this surgery.
June 23, 2011– Venezuelan government officials go on the offensive as media reports suggest Chavez could have cancer. In a Twitter post, Venezuelan Vice Foreign Minister Temir Porras said Chavez’s enemies should “stop dreaming,” adding that “the only thing that has metastasized is the cancer of The Miami Herald and the rest of the right-wing media.”
June 29, 2011 – Cuba TV releases video of Chavez and Fidel Castro. The video is aimed at curtailing rumors regarding Chavez’s health.
June 30, 2011 – In a speech broadcast on Venezuelan state television from Havana, Chavez reveals that doctors have removed a cancerous tumor from his body. He does not specify what type of cancer he is battling.
July 4, 2011 – Chavez returns to Venezuela after more than three weeks of treatment in Cuba.
July 5, 2011 – Chavez does not attend Venezuela’s bicentennial parade, but addresses the crowd from inside the presidential palace.
July 13, 2011 – Announces he is in his second phase of cancer treatment and may undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
July 16, 2011 – Chavez returns to Cuba for further cancer treatment. Before leaving Venezuela, he delegates some of his power to Vice President Elias Jaua and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani.
July 23, 2011 – Arrives back in Venezuela after traveling to Cuba to receive chemotherapy treatment. Two days later, Chavez tells a newspaper that he is still planning to run for president in 2012.
July 24, 2011 – Successfully undergoes first round of chemotherapy in Cuba.
August 7-14, 2011 – Returns to Cuba for second round of chemotherapy.
September 18-22, 2011 – Chavez travels to Cuba for another round of chemotherapy.
September 25, 2011 – An audio recording of Chavez airs on Venezuelan state-run television, assuring listeners he is recovering successfully from his last round of chemotherapy.
October 20, 2011 – After five days of medical tests in Cuba, Chavez says he’s beaten cancer. “There are no malignant cells in this body. They don’t exist,” he says.
February 21, 2012 – Chavez says that he will need to undergo surgery to remove a lesion, roughly two centimeters in diameter, from the same area where doctors removed a cancerous tumor from his body in June of 2011.
February 24-March 16, 2012 – In Cuba for cancer treatment.
March 25-March 29, 2012 – In Cuba for cancer treatment.
March 31-April 4, 2012 – In Cuba for cancer treatment.
April 7-11, 2012 – In Cuba for cancer treatment.
April 14, 2012 – Chavez is unable to attend the Summit of the Americas in Colombia due to illness.
April 26, 2012 – Returns to Venezuela from Cuba after another round of cancer treatments.
May 2, 2012 – Names ten Venezuelans to an influential commission called the Council of State. It is the highest circle of advisers to the president, but has never actually been formed. The timing of the appointments is significant, as speculation increases over who will succeed Chavez if he becomes too ill to govern, or if he dies.
May 1-11, 2012 – In Cuba for cancer treatment.
July 9, 2012 – Chavez declares that he is cancer-free.
October 7, 2012 – Wins re-election as president for a new six-year term.
November 28, 2012 – Arrives in Cuba for another round of medical treatment.
December 7, 2012 – Returns to Venezuela from Cuba after receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
December 8, 2012 – In a televised announcement, Chavez reveals his cancer has returned and that he will return to Cuba in two days for more surgery. Vice President Nicolas Maduro is named by Chavez to succeed him should his health worsen.
December 11, 2012 – Chavez undergoes six hours of surgery in Havana, Cuba.
December 30, 2012 – According to Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez is suffering from “new complications” and his health remains “delicate.”
January 3, 2013 – Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas says in a televised statement that Chavez is suffering from a “severe” lung infection and “respiratory insufficiency.”
January 9, 2013 – Venezuela’s Supreme Court rules that Hugo Chavez will remain president even though he is unable to attend his inauguration, scheduled for January 10.
February 18, 2013 – Chavez returns to Venezuela from Cuba. He announces his return via Twitter saying, “We come back to the country of Venezuela. Thank God! Thank you dear people! Here we continue the treatment.”
March 4, 2013 – Information Minister Ernesto Villegas announces on state-run TV that Chavez is battling a new and “severe” infection and that his condition remains “delicate.”
March 5, 2013 – Chavez dies at 58.
March 22, 2013 – Chavez is laid to rest in Cuartel de la Montaña military history museum in Caracas.
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