Hugo Chavez through the years
With word coming Tuesday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died, take a look at Chavez through the years.
With word coming March 5 that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58, take a look at Chavez through the years.
With word coming March 5 that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58, take a look at Chavez through the years.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is pictured during his school years in his hometown of Barinas.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is pictured during his Military Academy years with his parents Elena and Hugo.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is pictured during his army years in this undated photo. He was a member of Venezuela’s special forces unit.
Chavez attempted to lead a coup on Feb. 4,1992, which failed and landed him in jail. Here, he is pictured at his cell during his period at Yare prison, which lasted from 1992 to 1994.
Chavez reaches out to supporters in Carora in western Venezuela during his first presidential campaign in 1998.
Hugo Chavez waves to supporters alongside his wife, Marisabel, from the door of the Congress building moments after being sworn in as the country's new president on Feb. 2, 1999.
He went on to win elections for six-year terms in 2000, 2006 and 2012.
He may have kept winning elections, but that doesn't mean he had universal support in his homeland or abroad. He was briefly removed from power in 2002 by a military coup that Chavez believed was orchestrated by the United States, and survived a recall attempt in 2004.
Chavez's government has close ties to Cuba's government and other communist and socialist regimes. Here, he waves to reporters while standing next to Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba.
Chavez had been a fierce critic of -- and criticized by -- the United States. But that doesn't mean Chavez completely refused dealing with the U.S. Here, he tours the USS Yorktown while it participated in UNITAS exercises north of Venezuela in 2002.
Chavez speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in 2009.
Chavez first announced he had cancer in 2011, but never specified what kind. Here, he jokes about his hair cut due to his cancer treatment while talking to the media in April 2011.
Chavez had three surgeries to remove cancerous tumors since 2011.
Chavez was elected to his fourth term in October 2012. A few months later, he traveled to Cuba and underwent two months of cancer treatments. The Venezuelan government released few details about his condition, but in December Chavez did say he hoped Vice President Nicolas Maduro, seen here sitting next to Chavez, would succeed him if he died. He also missed his own inauguration in January.
People both inside and outside Venezuela had criticized the Venezuelan government for releasing little information about Chavez's condition. Venezuela's Ministry of Information did release this photo of a smiling Chavez in between his daughters, Rosa Virginia and Maria, taken while he was recovering from cancer surgery in Havana in February 2013.
Chavez reportedly returned to Venezuela to continue post-surgical treatments, but he had not been seen publicly since December 2012. After saying on Feb. 28, 2013, that Chavez was "fighting for his life," Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez had died on March 5.
