Eight years ago, the death of the former Army general and president of the refounded Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, died. Born in 1954, Chávez was probably in this beginning of the 21st century one of the most popular representatives of the American continent, as well as one of the most influential on the international scene, consecrating together with his regional peers the large homeland as a multilateral political project. Under the banners of the Bolivarian Revolution and Socialism, Chávez based much of his legitimacy on the strong support gained in all his electoral holdings, something that resulted in the profound transformations in all areas that the country experienced.
Since his rise to power in 1999, Chávez has split waters into the caribbean country’s society, something the official himself took advantage of in highlighting from his extensive and frequent speeches. The result of this way of doing politics left the questions that his designated successor, Nicolás Maduro, will then strongly deepen about democratic quality, economic development and social welfare for a strongly based or oil-dependent economy. The truth is that after his 13th birthday in power and newly recovered from chemotherapal treatment, he ensured his triumph in that regard and the willingness to run for elections that would allow him to renew at the Miraflores Palace until 2019.
Unlike the previous ones, the elections for the fourth consecutive term, third of six years, did not have the result sung in advance, but the Venezuelan leader, comfortable winner over his opposition adversary, Henrique Capriles, ended up being once again re-elected to the executive. After this process, Chávez experienced a severe relapse in his illness. He was unable to take office and on March 5, 2013 died in Caracas at the age of 58, succeeding his appointed heir, Nicolás Maduro, until then executive vice president.
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