THE COLORFUL LIFE OF HUGO CHAVEZ
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanHe lived life as colorful as it gets. He loved his country and ruled for 14 tumultuous years. Today, 33 heads of government, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attended the funeral of Hugo Chavez, a passionate leader who passed away at the age of 58 from a massive heart attack earlier this week and who had been battling cancer for two years. Hoping that he would survive, Chavez had been receiving treatment in Cuba, a nation he had strong ties with.
The streets of the capital of Venezuela have been filled with red, yellow and blue, the colors of the Venezuelan flag.
During his rule, Chavez created a mixture of emotions. The poor looked up to him like a religious figure, some carried an adoration for him, some were opposed to him. A President who preached socialism, Chavez was convinced that he was helping the people. He redirected the oil revenue of his country to massive social programs geared towards the country’s poor. He expanded the portfolio of the state-owned oil monopoly to include funding for areas that he felt deserved attention such as abolish illiteracy, provide affordable food staples and grant access to higher education.
Chavez had a dynamic personality and was seen photographed over the years with celebrities such as Sean Penn, Naomi Campbell, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Danny Glover and Kevin Spacey.
While he had a warmer side, there was also a much more aggressive, boisterous and forceful side that kept him in power. As soon as he became President, one of his first goals was to rewrite the constitution. Critics of the way he governed claim that price controls drove up inflation as just one example.
He was very vocal when it came to his feelings about the United States and our allies accusing the U.S. of trying to orchestrate his overthrow, referring to President George W. Bush as the devil in front of the United Nations General Assembly.
When Chavez took office, oil was $17 a barrel and rose to $100 a barrel. Much of the money was invested in millions of dollars of oil and cash in countries run similar to the way he ran Venezuela. Chavez was very close to Fidel Castro and was inspired by Bolivar.
There is no doubt of his charisma and Chavez began his career in the military making his way up the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel. He served two years in prison but was granted amnesty by the then President Rafael Caldera. Hugo Chavez formed the political party of the Fifth Republic Movement. He was twice married and twice divorced and had four children and some grandchildren. In 2002, a coup overthrew him but 48 hours later with the help of the military, he was back in power. Opposition tried to recall his win in 2004 but to no avail. In 2007, Chavez created a new political party known as the United Socialist Party of Venezuela which merged his party with several other leftist parties. Chavez formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) with Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and some of the Caribbean countries. Their purpose was to offer an alternative to U.S. influence in the region.
He seemed to stifle the media whenever possible.
Now the interim president is Vice President Nicolas Maduro and elections will be held to elect a new President. Like other world leaders such as the staunch Lenin, Hugo Chavez will be embalmed and his body will be permanently displayed in a glass coffin at the Museum of the Revolution. He will lie in state for at least seven more days and many will come to pay their final respects.
Chavez was a revolutionary legend that will now be put to rest but his ideals will continue to live on in his country.
PHOTO CREDITS: Getty Images
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