Hugo Chavez Biography Hugo Chavez was the elected strongman of
Venezuela who took office in 1999 and remained there until his
death from cancer in 2013. Hugo Chavez was the son of
schoolteachers, and he graduated from the Venezuelan Academy of
Military Sciences in 1975. That led to a career in the military
-- at least until he formed his own revolutionary force within
the Venezuelan army and tried to overthrow President Carlos
Andres Perez in 1992. He failed and was jailed, but after two
years in prison, Chavez was pardoned by President Rafael Caldera
and made the transition from soldier to politician. An engaging
speaker and charismatic personality, he was elected to the
presidency as a leftist reformer and modern-day Simón Bolívar.
(His reforms were called the "Bolivarian Revolution.") After
taking office on 2 February 1999, he instituted sweeping reforms
that resulted in widely divided opinions of his presidency:
supporters saw him as a populist leader and champion of the
poor, while critics called him ant