He was born in Sabaneta, July 28, 1954 and died in Caracas, March 5, 2013. Military and Venezuelan politician, he was the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 1999 until his death. His profound ideas and socialist thoughts and integrationist character inherited from the thought of Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Miranda made him the undisputed leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.
A widespread popular sentiment in favor of substantive changes in the conduct of state affairs became evident on December 6, 1998, when 56.24% of voters elected Chavez as Constitutional President of the then Republic of Venezuela. This fact was considered by respected analysts as one of the most significant achievements in the contemporary political history of Venezuela. With the elections of July 30, 2000, Chávez Frías crystallized the constituent political project and was re-legitimized as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with 59.5% of the votes.
In the presidential elections of December 3, 2006 he was re-elected president with a wide advantage, obtaining more than seven million votes (62.84%) compared to the 36.90% achieved by opposition candidate Manuel Rosales who recognized the result that same night. In October 2012, Chávez again won his country’s presidential election, this time defeating Henrique Capriles, governor of the state of Miranda and candidate of the opposition coalition with 55% of the votes.
Hugo Chávez died on March 5, 2013 at the Military Hospital of Venezuela due to cancer that had been affecting him since 2011. His death was received by the people with great commotion, while the government and his relatives received messages of condolence from all parts of the world.
The links between Chavez and Cuba began even before Chavez was elected president. Chávez’s first visit to Cuba came in December 1994, when Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, in a gesture of courage, accepted the invitation of the Havana City?s Historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler and to Havana he came full of dreams and convictions and, above all, with the eagerness to begin to build what became an indestructible friendship.
When putting his feet on the slab at José Martí International Airport, he said:
“I do not deserve this honor, I aspire to deserve it someday in the months and years to come.”
During his presidential term, between 1999 and 2013, the year of his death, the relations between Venezuela and Cuba were a priority for the Chávez government, which were strengthened through the signing of several agreements that helped to establish a bilateral bridge between the two nations.
Promoter of Latin American integration
Chavez promoted Latin American integration more than any other Venezuelan president in recent years, surpassing the projects of other pro-Latin American leaders. Policies such as the sale of oil under preferential payment conditions through integration mechanisms such as Petrocaribe, the promotion of cooperation programs in poor nations such as Haiti and the promotion of integration spaces such as CELAC or UNASUR, have been valued to consider him as one of the political leaders of Latin America.
Together with former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Chávez promoted the defeat of the Free Trade Area for the Americas (ALCA) during the Summit of the Americas held in November 2005 in Mar del Plata, as well as to establish the UNASUR as the consummation of the dream of Bolívar, Sucre and San Martín to see South America united, supported by the leftist governments of Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Cristina Fernández and José Mujica.
In April 2011 Chavez and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos serve as mediators to the return of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, deposed by a military coup in June 2009.