Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was a Venezuelan politician and military officer who served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period of forty-seven hours in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when it merged with several other parties to form the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which he led until 2012.
The Fifth Republic Movement was a socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to support the candidacy of Hugo Chávez, the former President of Venezuela, in the 1998 presidential election. The "Fifth Republic" refers to the fact that in 1997 the Republic of Venezuela was the fourth in Venezuelan history, and the Movement aimed to re-found the Republic through a constituent assembly. Following Chávez' 1998 election victory, this took place in 1999, leading to the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela.
The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and his successor Nicolás Maduro. The Bolivarian Revolution is named after Simón Bolívar, an early 19th-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader, prominent in the Spanish American wars of independence in achieving the independence of most of northern South America from Spanish rule. According to Chávez and other supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.
The Bolivarian Circles are political and social organizations of workers' councils in Venezuela, originally created by President Hugo Chávez on 21 December 2001. The circles have also been described as militias and compared to Cuba's Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and Panama's Dignity Battalions.
Bolivarianism is a mix of panhispanic, socialist and national-patriotic ideals named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence throughout much of South America.
Telesur is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite news television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela and sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
The early life of Hugo Chávez spans the first twenty-one years (1954–1975) of the former President of Venezuela's life. Leader of the "Bolivarian Revolution", Hugo Chávez is known for his socialist governance, his promotion of Latin American integration, and his radical critique of neoliberal globalization and United States foreign policy.
Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela from 1999 until 2013, has elicited a variety of public perceptions regarding his policies, personality, and performance as a head of state.
The Bolivarian Forces of Liberation is a communist guerrilla organization operating in Venezuela. The group claims to fight for Bolivarianism, a left-wing, South American ideology. The group was formerly known as the Bolivarian Forces of Liberation – Liberation Army, but they have not attached the suffix to their name in recent years.
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is a left-wing to far-left socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by President Hugo Chávez.
El Caracazo is 2005 Venezuelan historical film that deals with the events of El Caracazo, the name given to a series of riots and lootings in and around Caracas on 27 February 1989. The film was produced and directed by the veteran Venezuelan filmmaker Román Chalbaud. It is a documentary drama, not only about the titular tragedy but also putting it in historical perspective. The film cost 3 billion bolívares, provided by the Ministry of Culture.
The Venezuela Information Office (VIO) was a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying agency that stated to be seeking to "present a more accurate view of the current process in Venezuela for the US public, build strategic allies for the Venezuelan people, and prevent the US from intervening in the democratic process in Venezuela." Created and financed by the government of Venezuela, VIO was registered with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. While operational, conservative and pro-opposition outlets have defined the agency of being a propaganda organization of the Venezuelan government and the Bolivarian Revolution.
Agriculture in Venezuela has a much smaller share of the economy than in any other Latin American country. After the discovery of oil in Venezuela in the early 20th century to the 1940s, agriculture has declined rapidly, and with the beginning of large-scale industrial development in the 1940s, agriculture and land reform was largely neglected by successive governments. Since 1999, under the Bolivarian Revolution of President Hugo Chávez, agriculture has had a somewhat higher priority. Agriculture in Venezuela accounts for approximately 3% of GDP, 10% of the labor force, and at least a quarter of Venezuela's land area.
Eva Golinger is an American lawyer, writer and journalist. She practices law in New York and specializes in immigration and international law. She is the author of several books about the late Hugo Chávez, of whom she was an outspoken supporter, and his relationship with the US. Chávez called her La novia de Venezuela, and she served as a foreign policy advisor to his government. The National Catholic Reporter wrote that Golinger headed the "pro-Chávez" Venezuela Solidarity Committee in 2004. Her website, venezuelafoia.info, aimed to shed light on what she called links between US government agencies and Venezuelan organizations by publishing documents obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Constituent National Assembly or ANC was a constitutional convention held in Venezuela in 1999 to draft a new Constitution of Venezuela, but the assembly also gave itself the role of a supreme power above all the existing institutions in the republic. The Assembly was endorsed by a referendum in April 1999 which enabled Constituent Assembly elections in July 1999. Three seats were reserved for indigenous delegates in the 131-member constitutional assembly, and two additional indigenous delegates won unreserved seats in the assembly elections.
Fundación Villa del Cine is a government-funded Venezuelan film and TV production house that was inaugurated on 3 June 2006 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in the city of Guarenas, near the capital, Caracas.
Bolivarian propaganda is a form of nationalist propaganda, especially in Venezuela and associated with chavismo, Venezuela's socialism. This type of propaganda has been associated with Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution, which used emotional arguments to gain attention, exploit the fears of the population, create external enemies for scapegoat purposes, and produce nationalism within the population, causing feelings of betrayal for support of the opposition.
Gregory Wilpert is a German activist and founder of Venezuelanalysis.com, a website supportive of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela. He has been described as "perhaps the most prominent Chavista". He is currently an editor at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
Aporrea is a Venezuelan website that publishes news and opinions from the point of view of supporters of former President Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution. It ranks as the fourth most visited local political site in the country, according to site metrics Alexa.com, and it claims to be the first among local independent left-leaning outlets. Most of the site'a content was supportive of the political changes promoted by late president Hugo Chávez, but in recent years, it has content critical of the current government led by Chavez's protégé Nicolás Maduro, turning it into a "gathering place for dissidence within chavismo".
Nikolas Kozloff is an American academic, author and photojournalist. He currently writes for Al-Jazeera and has also been featured on BBC, CNN, National Public Radio, PBS' Charlie Rose show, The Daily Show and the pro-Bolivarian Revolution website Venezuelanalysis.com.
