Hugo Chavez

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez

Fernando Llano / AP

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Hugo Chavez is the fiery populist president of Venezuela, a position he has held with a clenched fist since 1998.

Chavez's rhetoric and policy frequently puts him at odds with the United States. In 2006 he called then President Bush the "devil" during a speech before the United Nations General Assembly and has frequently accused the U.S. of encouraging coup or assassination plots against him. He has used Venezuela's oil wealth to fund social programs within Venezuela and to enhance the country's political importance in the region, fostering closer ties to Cuba in particular.

A telegenic personality, Chavez hosts his own weekly television and radio show, titled Alo Presidente. He uses the media platform to tout his policy accomplishments and insult and diminish political opposition. With no set length, the program lasts as long as Chavez wants.

Chavez's first appearance on the Venezuelan political scene was in 1992, as the leader of a failed military coup attempt against President Carlos Andres Perez. He served two years in prison for the attempt, but received a pardon and relaunched his political career as a civilian. As leader of the Fifth Republic Movement, he built a coalition of leftist parties and won the presidency in 1998 by promising to curtail the power of the oil executives and corrupt politicians he alleged were hurting the average Venezuelan.

Chavez has twice won reelection and successfully defeated a recall vote in 2004. But he faces term limits in 2012, after a constitutional referendum he spearheaded to remove the limits and expand presidential power narrowly failed in a 2007 vote.

-Dan Fletcher