Hugo Chávez

Venezuelan politician and popular president of Venezuela, inaugurated on 2 February 1999 at 10:45 AM in Caracas. A military overthrow began on 11 April 2002, when oil strikers began to riot in Caracas. The police fired into the crowd and killed 14 demonstrators and the military promptly installed Pedro Carmona as president, a coup that has not been associated with aid from the U.S. government. (Inauguration on 12 April 2002, 5:51 PM, Caracas.) Two days later, 14 April 2002, 4:35 AM, Chavez was reinstalled as president.

The next night, several Venezuelan generals were killed in a helicopter accident. By mid-June, huge rallies for and against the leftist president jammed Caracas and other Venezuelan cities. Citizens were quoted that "that crazy man has dragged us into political anarchy and economic disaster," emphasizing the bitter divisions in a nation that has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East but where 80% of the people live below the poverty line.

On 1 July 2011, he announced that on 10 June he had undergone surgery in Cuba for a pelvic abscess. He added that during his recuperation, cancerous cells had been identified and stated that he intended to remain in power, fully capable of the job even while undergoing treatment for cancer. He died on 5 March 2013 at 4:25 PM in Caracas at age 58.