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Hugo Ch?vez
I INTRODUCTION
Hugo Ch?vez, born in 1954, president of Venezuela since 1999. A former soldier, Ch?vez is a self-styled populist who has won the allegiance of Venezuela's poor while alienating the upper class and broad sections of the middle class. In foreign affairs he has cultivated close relations with Cuba, rejected efforts to establish free trade zones in Latin America, and defied the United States on many foreign policy issues.
Born in Sabaneta, he attended the Military Academy of Venezuela, graduating in 1975 as a second lieutenant. In 1982 he founded the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement (MBR), a secret nationalist movement committed to restoring Venezuela to its former prominence. He progressed through the ranks of the army, and in 1991 he became colonel of a paratrooper regiment.
II COUP LEADER
In February 1992 Ch?vez led a coup against President Carlos Andrés Pérez, who was accused of presiding over a corrupt regime that was squandering Venezuela's vast oil wealth. After the coup failed, Ch?vez was imprisoned. However, his actions made him a popular hero among those who had become frustrated by government corruption. In 1994 President Rafael Caldera Rodr?guez released Ch?vez under a general amnesty.
In July 1997 Ch?vez launched a political party, the Fifth Republican Movement (MVR). The MVR, as part of a coalition called the Patriotic Pole, nominated Ch?vez as its presidential candidate for the elections held in December 1998. He won 56 percent of the vote, proving especially popular among the poor who were attracted by his radical proposals of constitutional reform and redistribution of oil wealth.
III PRESIDENT
Ch?vez was sworn in as president in February 1999. He advocated changing Venezuela's constitution to deal with the country's economic crisis and collapsing oil prices. In a constitutional referendum held in April, voters approved the election of a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. The constituent assembly was elected in July, with candidates from Ch?vez's Patriotic Pole coalition winning most of the seats.
More than 70 percent of voters backed the new constitution in a referendum that December. The new constitution increased the powers of the president, and the presidential term was lengthened from five to six years. In July 2000 presidential and congressional elections were held under the new constitution. Ch?vez won the presidential election with 59 percent of the vote.
Almost immediately after his election, Ch?vez visited the heads of state of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In the process he alienated the administration of United States president George W. Bush by making a state visit to Iraq in defiance of the U.S.-led sanctions against that country. As part of his policy to encourage closer integration among countries in Latin America, Ch?vez signed an agreement to supply cheap oil to Central American and Caribbean countries, as well as an economic accord with Fidel Castro, the president of Cuba. Domestically he became increasingly unpopular with the upper and middle classes due to his economic reforms and disputes with business leaders.
IV TARGET OF A COUP ATTEMPT
In April 2002 military leaders forced Ch?vez from power in a coup d'état after at least 17 people were killed in a protest against his policies. The next day tens of thousands of people marched throughout the country to protest Ch?vez's ouster. In response to the protests, the military returned Ch?vez to power less than three days after it had removed him. Ch?vez accused the Bush administration, which had extended recognition to the interim government, of supporting the coup.
Increasing social and political polarization in Venezuela followed Ch?vez's return to power. A general strike that began in December 2002, with strong support from engineers and other white-collar workers at the state-owned oil monopoly, paralyzed the nation's economy for nearly three months. When the devastating strike was finally lifted in February 2003, neither Ch?vez nor his political opponents could claim victory.
V RECALL CAMPAIGN
In the strike's wake, opponents began a presidential recall campaign as permitted under the new constitution that Ch?vez had championed in 1999. The petition drive, which culminated in August 2003, failed because many signatures were ruled invalid. Nevertheless, the drive gave its organizers valuable experience, and a second petition drive started almost immediately. This effort ended in December 2003 when recall supporters collected nearly 3.6 million signatures, far exceeding the minimum needed to hold a referendum on the recall proposal.
The referendum was held in August 2004, and Ch?vez emerged with an overwhelming victory with 59 percent of about 8.5 million voters rejecting the recall effort. The opposition Democratic Coordinator, a coalition of groups opposed to Ch?vez's policies, charged fraud, but the results were upheld by international monitors led by the Carter Center, headed by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Emboldened by his success in the referendum, Ch?vez pushed for implementing land reform in Venezuela by making idle land available to peasant cooperatives. About half of Venezuela's farmers own only 1 percent of the land. Much of the remainder is held in large estates by wealthy landowners and lies fallow. Venezuela has become a food importer as agricultural production has declined. Critics charged that the land reform proposals furnished proof that Ch?vez sought to impose Cuban-style communism in Venezuela. At the same time Ch?vez reached out to business leaders, calling for a dialogue to stimulate the manufacturing sector.
VI INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Ch?vez has been visible in international relations, and especially notable has been his strong personal relationship with Castro. Ch?vez has solidified a close political and economic relationship between Venezuela and Cuba. He has granted Cuba preferential treatment in Venezuela's oil exports by providing special barter arrangements for its purchase of oil. In return for oil, Cuba has sent scores of physicians to start community health programs in poor communities and marginal urban neighborhoods as well as dozens of literacy workers and organizers to oversee a massive national literacy campaign.
Ch?vez's close ties with Castro has angered the Bush administration, which has also charged that Ch?vez supports a guerrilla group in neighboring Colombia, a charge that Ch?vez denies. Because Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States, some U.S. officials also worry about increases in oil prices due to the prominent role Venezuela plays in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Reviewed By:Robert B. Kent
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Hugo Ch?vezHugo Ch?vez was elected president of Venezuela in December 1998. He was reelected in 2000 under a new constitution. Ch?vez proved popular among Venezuela's poor but faced a general strike and a recall effort by the middle class.
REUTERS/Kimberly White
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
