This March 5th marks the 10th anniversary of the death of former President Hugo Chávez. A very controversial figure who came to power in Venezuela in 1999 after a successful campaign and who was the architect of creating and developing the so-called ‘Bolivarian Revolution’ in this nation. Chávez ruled for 14 years in a period characterized by international confrontations, social investment and political polarization. In power he enjoyed great popularity, but these years were the years before the economic, political and social crisis that Venezuela is currently experiencing.
This March 5th marks the tenth anniversary of the death of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. A political figure as key to understanding Latin American politics of the 21st century as controversial during his 14 years at the helm of the Venezuelan presidency. On the occasion of this date, in France 24 we review his life and his political career.
Hugo Chávez Frías comes from humble origins and developed a military career during his youth, but he was not known by Venezuelans and the world until in February 1992 when he decided to carry out a military coup to depose then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
Chávez led the insurrection in Caracas, but failed in the attempt and was imprisoned for more than two years for it. However, his popularity multiplied among millions of Venezuelans and, upon his release from prison, he began a political career.
The beginning in politics after the failed coup d’état of 1992
Among his reasons for rebelling was “the betrayal of a government to a country that did not hesitate to use the armed forces to massacre the people,” in reference to the Executive of Carlos Andrés Pérez. These words were able to be pronounced by Chávez in 1997, when he was already clearly aspiring as a candidate for the 1998 elections.
Backed by this popularity, Chávez ran in that year’s presidential elections under a coalition of left-wing parties called the Fifth Republic Movement. A political formation that was committed to a structural change of Venezuelan democracy through a constituent process and that carried social justice as its banner in a nation with very high rates of inequality.
However, although Chávez defended the need for this change in the country’s model, he did so from an extremely moderate position in which he even rejected socialism or described the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba as a “dictatorship.” Words that 25 years later are surprising if they are heard.
Electoral victory, elevated popularity and reforms
In the electoral contest of 1998 his success was resounding. Chávez obtained 56% of the votes, was elected president and began the constitutional process that he had promised Venezuelans just one month after being sworn in.
His informal and close style and harsh criticism of his rivals, whom the population accused of being responsible for corruption, poverty and the country’s economic situation, multiplied Chávez’s popularity among the working classes and made his constituent proposal approved in April 1999 with more than 80% of the votes. Thus was born the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Another triumph at the polls that was followed by another victory in the year 2000 after an electoral advance, which allowed the incipient Chavismo to have a parliamentary majority.
Bolstered by his victories and the majority support of Venezuelans, Chávez undertook a series of social, economic, and political reforms.
The 2002 coup and the change in attitude
The enabling law, which gave the president more power to approve decree laws, and the promulgation of Chávez’s controversial 49 laws agitated the social climate and confronted him with the opposition and the Fedecámaras business confederation, to the point that a coup against the then president in April 2002.
Chávez was detained for several days and the president of Fedecámaras, Pedro Carmona, declared himself president, but the attempt ultimately failed. Carmona obtained the support of the wealthiest classes in Venezuela, but his actions left many questions abroad and among the popular classes of his nation. In addition, a part of the army did not support the coup.
Chávez took note of this episode and hardened his discourse and his policies. On several occasions, the president blamed the Venezuelan business sector and the wealthiest classes in the country, as well as the United States, with whom he began a stormy relationship.
In the following five years, accompanied by a period of economic growth, Venezuela began a process of expropriation and purchase of companies to nationalize key sectors of the industry, such as petrochemicals. In addition, he socialized the countryside through confiscations of land that was not productive. Chávez based his social program on the export of oil helped by the high price of the barrel at the beginning of the 21st century.
His domestic policy was accompanied by a powerful external presence. Chávez led, together with other Latin American presidents, such as ‘Lula’ da Silva or Néstor Kirchner, the so-called ‘pink revolution’ and maintained a strong dispute with the United States and, especially with former president George Bush, whom he personally attacked on several occasions. Washington began to see Venezuela as an enemy country and since the mid-2000s, sanctions began.
The controversial speech of Hugo Chávez before the General Assembly of the United Nations will remain for history, when he affirmed that “yesterday the Devil was here, in this very place. He still smells of sulfur at this table where he has had to speak to me ”, in reference to former US President George W. Bush.
Permanent re-election, nationalizations and controversies
After his re-election in 2006, Chávez focused his efforts on obtaining indefinite re-election, something he achieved in 2009 after a referendum. Around this time, his government began to feel the consequences of the drop in the value of a barrel of oil and the economic indicators began to be unfavorable due to high inflation, state debt and the departure of investors from the country. A situation that caused the opposition to reorganize and criticism to increase.
Questions to which were added those caused by the nationalization and closure of the media that did not agree with the ruling party. During this time of crisis, Chavismo tried to highlight its notable achievements in social matters and the fight against poverty, but the internal and external situation began to become increasingly complicated. Something to which was added the diagnosis of colorectal cancer to Hugo Chávez, who decided to be treated in Cuba in 2011.
Illness, last victory and death
Treatment of your illness It removed him from the political front line, but it did not prevent him from winning a disputed fourth presidential re-election against Henrique Capriles in 2012.
However, the president was unable to overcome his cancer. Chávez made it clear that his successor should be the then vice president Nicolás Maduro, but his death caused political tension to increase between the ruling party and the opposition, which called for elections again.
Ten years later, Chavismo is still in power, although the Chávez years are long gone in the collective imagination. After his death and during the Maduro government, Venezuela has suffered one of the biggest inflationary crises in history, Chavismo has been isolated internationally for years and almost seven million Venezuelans have had to flee their country due to poverty.
