Hugo Chávez (born July 28, 1954, Sabaneta, Barinas, Venezuela—died March 5, 2013, Caracas) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela (1999–2013).

Quick Facts. In full: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. Born: July 28, 1954, Sabaneta, Barinas, Venezuela. Died: March 5, 2013, Caracas. Also Known As: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. Title / Office: president (1999-2013), Venezuela. Show More. Chávez took office in February 1999.

Hugo Chávez served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. During his presidency, he sold oil to Cuba and resisted efforts to stop narcotic trafficking in Colombia, and...

Hugo Chavez burst onto the national scene in Venezuela in a failed military uprising in 1992. Sentenced to jail for many years, he was soon pardoned as the Venezuelan government did not...

The death of Hugo Chávez, 45th president of Venezuela, was announced by government officials to have been on 5 March 2013 at 16:25 VET (20:55 UTC) in Caracas, Venezuela from cancer at the age of 58. His death triggered a presidential election which was constitutionally required to be called within 30 days.

By the 1998 elections more than half the Venezuelan populace was below the poverty line, while annual inflation exceeded 30 percent and oil prices were in steep decline. The voters rejected the traditional political parties of Democratic Action and COPEI and elected Chávez as president.

Charismatic and controversial, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was the most influential Latin American leader of his generation. Inspired by Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar, he was an ...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Hugo Chávez, who died on Tuesday at 58, rose from poverty in a dirt-floor adobe house to unrivaled influence in Venezuela as its president, consolidating power and wielding...

BBC News. Charismatic and controversial, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was the most influential Latin American leader of his generation. Inspired by Venezuelan...