Hugo Chávez.

In 1974, Hugo Chávez traveled to Peru for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho and met President Juan Velasco Alvarado. Velasco gave him a book, La Revolución Nacional Peruana, which influenced his political thinking. Born on July 28, 1954 in Sabaneta, Venezuela to schoolteachers Elena Frías de Chávez and Hugo de los Reyes Chávez, he grew up with his older brother Adán in a modest home. He later attended the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela, becoming a cadet.

On February 4, 1992, Hugo Chávez led a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Andrés Pérez that left over 140 dead and made him a national figure. He served time in prison, received a pardon, then ran for president and won in 1998. He took office on February 2, 1999 and launched the Bolivarian Revolution, nationalizing industries and expanding social services. In 2002, a coup briefly ousted him, but he returned to power. Earlier, in 1997, he had founded the Fifth Republic Movement, which became the United Socialist Party of Venezuela in 2007. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2005 and 2006. He appeared in documentaries The War on Democracy 2007 and South of the Border 2009. He clashed with King Juan Carlos of Spain at the 2007 Ibero-American Summit, who told him to shut up — a phrase that became a meme.

In 1977, Chávez married Nancy Colmenares. They had two daughters, María Gabriela and Rosinés, before divorcing in 1995. Two years later, in 1997, he married Marisabel Rodríguez; that marriage ended in 2004. Both his parents were teachers, and he had three siblings: older brother Adán, plus Argenis and Aníbal. His nicknames included El Commandante and Esteban de Jesús, and he used the alias Hugo Rey. He carried a pocket edition of La Revolución Nacional Peruana, given to him by Velasco Alvarado, until losing it after his 1992 coup arrest.

Hugo Chávez died on March 5, 2013 in Caracas from cancer at age 58. His Bolivarian Revolution continued under successor Nicolás Maduro. Chávez received many honors, including the Order of José Martí and the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights. He challenged U.S. hegemony and pushed for 21st-century socialism, leaving a lasting imprint on Venezuela and Latin America.