Chavez Dies: Venezuela's Revolution Loses Its Voice

Hugo Chávez won the Venezuelan presidency in 1998 running against the political establishment on a platform of Bolivarian socialism, named for independence hero Simón Bolívar. He survived a coup attempt in 2002 that the United States had foreknowledge of. He nationalized oil, built social programs for the poor, and picked fights with the United States loudly enough to become an international figure. He called George W. Bush 'the Devil' at the United Nations in 2006 and said the podium still smelled of sulfur. He died March 5, 2013, from cancer at 58. Born July 28, 1954, in Sabaneta. The oil wealth he redistributed ran out after his death. Venezuela became something different without him — and without the oil prices that had made his programs possible.