Post date: Jul 01, 2011 4:33:31 PM
Hailed by supporters as a champion of the country's millions of poor, and reviled by foes as a boorish dictator, the maverick president of Venezuela has become one of the best known politicians in the world.
CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Venezuelans reacted with shock on Friday (July 01) to the news that their president, Hugo Chavez, is being treated for cancer but the whole story of Chavez began back in 1992 when as a paratrooper he lead a coup attempt against the president then in power: Carlos Perez.
The coup failed but it led Chavez to national prominence.
After a brief spell in prison he was released to the cheers of thousands of supporters and went on to win the presidential elections in 1998 after preaching that the way to end poverty was to "give power to the poor".
"Now is the time of the people!" Chavez yelled during his election campaign.
Soon after his swearing-in, one of the new president's first acts was the passing of a revised constitution which helped launch Chavez' self-proclaimed socialist revolution inspired by none other than the 19-century Venezuelan independence leader, Simon Bolivar.
At the time, Chavez enjoyed high popularity levels, especially in the sprawling slums of the capital Caracas.
"The fundamental objective of the revolution is life and happiness for all the people and nobody will stop us from going down this path, nobody will take it away from us," Chavez said during a military parade.
Slowly however Chavez started to come under withering criticism from political foes, business and labor leaders, Catholic bishops and even dissident soldiers.
A group of military officers tried to push him out in their own coup in 2002 and put Chavez under arrest for two days.
"We announce that we declare ourselves in legitimate disobedience and we do not recognize the current regime," Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez said, announcing the government takeover.
Loyalist troops lead a counter-coup and street protests by tens of thousands of supporters which finally forced interim leader Pedro Carmona to resign and Chavez was restored to power.
The former paratrooper had proven he was a survivor.
"I am still the king," he sang on his return to the presidential palace, Miraflores.
The coup seemed not to soften Chavez but to harden his determination.
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro became a close mentor, despite regular accusations from his critics for being corrupt and inept and of steering Venezuela toward a Cuban-style authoritarian regime.
Chavez has also courted other anti-U.S. states such as Iran and Libya, to the irritation of Washington, which has long been the main foreign buyer of Venezuelan oil.
He has defended his policies as a long-overdue crusade to close the yawning gap between rich and poor in Venezuela, which combines huge oil and mineral riches with widespread poverty, unemployment and rampant crime.
The president himself rose a long way from humble rural roots, the second of six sons of teachers from the cattle-ranching plains of Barinas state.
He once aspired to be a professional baseball player or a painter.
But that all changed when he joined the army at 16 and was later promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
As president, Chavez' favorite attire is still his paratrooper red beret and a camouflage uniform or a bright red shirt.
He says he is misunderstood abroad, and the victim of an unstinting U.S.-led campaign of propaganda.
But there is no doubting that he has gained a larger-than-life reputation as one of Latin America's most colorful - and controversial - leaders.
His folksy anecdotes, quirky behavior and other antics make supporters hail him as a gifted communicator - especially with Venezuela's poor and uneducated majority.
Even some of his detractors concede that he displays an uncanny charisma.
The once-slender and sports-loving president has prided himself on a vigorous physical image during his 12 years in power.
But in the last few years, the 56-year-old has gained weight and looks more haggard, though nothing beyond the normal aging process.
In recent months, colds then a knee operation that left him on crutches, have dampened his usual busy schedule, though he did manage brief visits to Ecuador and Brazil and declared to crowds he would never stop serving Venezuela.
"I will never stop serving the Venezuelan people. Never. Until the day I die," Chavez said in May.
When Chavez disappeared almost entirely from public view after an operation on June 10 in Cuba and more questions were raised.
Venezuelans closely studied videos released by the government showing Chavez alongside Fidel Castro, scouring for clues.
Initially, the official line was that he was recovering well from an operation to remove a pelvic abscess and would return soon.
But in a speech on Thursday (June 30), Chavez announced he has had surgery for cancer.
So far he has not said when he would be back from Cuba.