Hugo Chavez Dead at 58 [don't be dicks to each other or you will pay]

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The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Hugo Chavez Dead at 58 [don't be dicks to each other or you will pay]

Yoda: Dec 11, 2003; A Jedi I am

The leader of Venezuela has passed at age 58 from Pelvic cancer. Diosdado Cabello, the head of Venezuela's congress and the Vice President Nicolas Maduro are both technically to be sworn in as interim president, as Chavez was acting president (meaning VP takes over) and president elect (meaning Cabello takes over). It is unlikely this will cause any strife however as new elections must take place within 30 days regardless of constitutional interpretation.

A D&D thread about the last election that goes into some detail on Chavez, read first before passing judgement

BBC

BBC News posted:

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died, his vice-president has announced.

Mr Chavez had not appeared in public since he returned to Venezuela last month after cancer treatment in Cuba.

An emotional Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening, flanked by leading Venezuelan political and military leaders.

Earlier, he said the 58-year-old Venezuelan leader had a new, severe respiratory infection and had entered "his most difficult hours".

One of the most visible, vocal and controversial leaders in Latin America, the former army paratrooper won the presidency in 1998 and had most recently won another six-year presidential term in October 2012.

Continue reading the main story
Hugo Chavez

Born 28 July 1954 in Sabaneta, Barinas state, the son of schoolteachers
Graduated from military academy in 1975
Had four children
Keen baseball player
Last May, he said he had recovered from an unspecified cancer, after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy in 2011 and a further operation in February 2012.

However, in December 2012, he announced he needed further cancer surgery in Cuba, and named his Vice-President, Nicolas Maduro, as his preferred successor should the need arise.

Mr Chavez remained out of public view, finally returning to Venezuela in February.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera posted:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died after a two-year battle with cancer, ending the socialist leader's 14-year rule of the South American country, Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised speech.

Maduro, surrounded by other government officials, announced the death in a national television broadcast on Tuesday. He said Chavez died at 4:25 p.m. local time.

During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.

Chavez repeatedly proved himself a political survivor. As an army paratroop commander, he led a failed coup in 1992, then was pardoned and elected president in 1998. He survived a coup against his own presidency in 2002 and won re-election two more times.

The burly president electrified crowds with his booming voice, often wearing the bright red of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela or the fatigues and red beret of his army days. Before his struggle with cancer, he appeared on television almost daily, talking for hours at a time and often breaking into song of philosophical discourse.

Chavez used his country's vast oil wealth to launch social programs that include state-run food markets, new public housing, free health clinics and education programs. Poverty declined during Chavez's presidency amid a historic boom in oil earnings, but critics said he failed to use the windfall of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop the country's economy.

Inflation soared and the homicide rate rose to among the highest in the world.

The populist leader of oil-rich Venezuela became Latin America's most vocal and controversial leader and was Washington's chief antagonist in the region.

CNN

CNN posted:

Caracas, Venezuela (CNN) -- Hugo Chavez, the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a "21st century socialist" and foe of the United States, died Tuesday, said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
Chavez, who had long battled cancer, was 58.
Chavez's democratic ascent to the presidency in 1999 ushered in a new era in Venezuelan politics and its international relations.
Once a foiled coup-plotter, the swashbuckling former paratrooper was known for lengthy speeches on everything from the evils of capitalism to the proper way to conserve water while showering. He was the first of a wave of leftist presidents to come to power in Latin America in the last dozen years.
As the most vocal U.S. adversary in the region, he influenced other leaders to take a similar stance.
But the last months of Chavez' life were marked by an uncharacteristic silence as his health condition became "complicated," in the words of his government. Chavez underwent a fourth surgery on December 11 in Cuba, and was not publicly seen again. A handful of pictures released in February were the last images the public had of their president.
Chavez's ministers stubbornly maintained a hopeful message throughout the final weeks, even while admitting that the recently re-elected president was weakened while battling a respiratory infection.
Chavez launched an ambitious plan to remake Venezuela, a major oil producer, into a socialist state in the so-called Bolivarian Revolution, which took its name from Chavez's idol, Simon Bolivar, who won independence for many South American countries in the early 1800s.
"After many readings, debates, discussions, travels around the world, etcetera, I am convinced -- and I believe this conviction will be for the rest of my life -- that the path to a new, better and possible world is not capitalism. The path is socialism," he said on his weekly television program in 2005.
Chavez redirected much of the country's vast oil wealth, which increased dramatically during his tenure, to massive social programs for the country's poor. He expanded the portfolio of the state-owned oil monopoly to include funding for social "missions" worth millions of dollars. That helped pay for programs that seek to eradicate illiteracy, provide affordable food staples and grant access to higher education, among other things.
But Chavez also leaves a legacy of repression against politicians and private media who opposed him.
He concentrated power in the executive branch, turning formerly independent institutions -- such as the judiciary, the electoral authorities and the military -- into partisan loyalists.
Through decrees and a judiciary tilted in the president's favor, many political opponents found themselves barred from running in elections against the ruling party. Even former allies, like Chavez's onetime defense minister, Gen. Raul Baduel, faced accusations that critics called trumped-up corruption charges.
Chavez's government similarly targeted opposition broadcasters, passing laws and decrees that forced at least one major broadcaster and dozens of smaller radio and television stations off the air.
Opponents also have criticized his social programs, calling them unsustainable over the long run and responsible for unintended consequences. Price controls, for instance, drove up inflation, while expropriations of farmland depressed production.
In lengthy, freewheeling speeches, Chavez saved his most acerbic barbs for the "imperialist" United States and its "colonial" allies in the region.
He accused the United States of trying to orchestrate his overthrow, and referred to President George W. Bush as the devil in front of the United Nations General Assembly.
At home, business interests accused him of scaring off investment by abusing the power of expropriation. Venezuela struggled to grow its economy during this period, even as the nation was flush with money from oil, which was at about $17 a barrel when Chavez took office and rose to more than $100 a barrel.
In addition to domestic social programs, the Chavez government pumped money into his foreign policy interests. He invested millions of dollars in oil and cash in countries that were ideologically similar.
Chavez considered former Cuban leader Fidel Castro a mentor, and aligned his country with Iran and other nations opposed to the United States.
Cuba loses a benefactor in Chavez, whose provision of an oil lifeline at below-market prices could be at risk under a new government.
While Chavez admired Castro, he found most inspiration from Bolivar, even renaming the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
An affable, if sometimes bombastic, man, Chavez had a disarming manner that even his critics could not deny.
Some called his style buffoonish, but he spoke like an ordinary Venezuelan -- not like a bureaucrat -- and voters reacted positively.
Other leftist leaders elected after him, like Bolivia's Evo Morales, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, followed Chavez's example to varying extents.
Chavez could also be secretive. He was slow to publicly admit that he had cancer, and never shared what type of cancer affected him. The government kept a tight seal on details of the president's treatment and declining health.
The death of the Venezuelan president leaves a sharply polarized country, with no clear successor for his party and an untested opposition. Chavez' passing means new elections will be held, although he had said previously he wanted Maduro to succeed him.
Chavez was born in the plains state of Barinas, in southwest Venezuela, on July 28, 1954, the third of the seven children of two educators.
As a child, he was an altar boy who went on to develop a great love of baseball. Recently, even as questions arose about his health, the media-savvy Chavez sought to reassure the public by playing catch with his foreign minister on state television.
As a young man, he enrolled in the Military Academy of Venezuela, reaching the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1975. He joined the parachute corps of the army and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant colonel.
His first political steps came when he founded the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement, or MBR-200, in 1982. A decade later, on February 4, 1992, he led a failed military rebellion against then-President Carlos Andres Perez. He also made his first public appearance in front of the television cameras.
"Compatriots, sadly for now the objectives that we proposed were not achieved in the capital city," he said. "That is to say, we here in Caracas did not succeed in gaining power. You did it very well out there, but now is time to avoid more bloodshed. Now is time to reflect and new situations will come."
Chavez served two years in prison before then-President Rafael Caldera granted him amnesty.
Chavez went on to form a new political party, the Fifth Republic Movement, which carried him to a presidential election victory in 1998. His fiery campaign speeches blamed the traditional parties for corruption and poverty.
Chavez married twice and divorced twice. He had three children with his first wife, Nancy Colmenarez: Rosa Virginia, Maria Gabriela and Hugo Rafael.
Years later, he married Marisabel Rodriguez, with whom he had a fourth daughter, Rosa Ines. He divorced in 2003; Venezuela has had no first lady since then.
Upon taking office, Chavez made rewriting the constitution one of his first orders of business. A July 2000 referendum affirmed the new constitution, which the government printed as a little blue book that Chavez used regularly as a prop during speeches.
In the following years, the charismatic Chavez rattled off a string of electoral victories that made him seem almost invincible.
He won re-election in 2000, survived a recall election in 2004, and won another six-year term in 2006.
Chavez secured another re-election victory in October, describing his win as "a perfect battle, and totally democratic." He vowed to "be a better president every day."
A turning point for Chavez came in April 2002, when a coup briefly removed him from office.
But the interim government couldn't consolidate power, and within 48 hours, with the help of the military, Chavez returned to power.
While short-lived, the coup had a profound effect on Chavez, who took a more accelerated authoritarian and leftist turn afterward.
Human Rights Watch wrote in 2010 that the coup provided a pretext for policies that undercut human rights.
"Discrimination on political grounds has been a defining feature of the Chavez presidency," the report concluded.
"At times, the president himself has openly endorsed acts of discrimination. More generally, he has encouraged his subordinates to engage in discrimination by routinely denouncing his critics as anti-democratic conspirators and coup-mongers -- regardless of whether or not they had any connection to the 2002 coup," the report said.
Consolidation of power in the presidency -- to the detriment of separation of powers -- became a theme in Chavez's policies.
Another challenge to Chavez's rule followed the coup. From December 2002 to February 2003, a crippling general strike pressured the president. The economy took a hit, but Chavez outlasted the strikers.
The following year, in 2004, the opposition gathered enough signatures to hold a recall referendum on Chavez, but again, the president survived.
Chavez's vitriol toward the United States also increased in the period after the brief coup because Washington had tacitly approved it.
In one of his most memorable insults, Chavez said of Bush in 2006 before the U.N. General Assembly:
"The devil came here yesterday. And it smells of sulfur still today."
In 2007, Chavez tasted defeat for the first time, in a referendum seeking approval for constitutional reforms that would have deepened his socialist policies. Nonetheless, thanks to a National Assembly friendly to him, Chavez achieved some of his goals, including indefinite re-election.
That same year, Chavez created a new political party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which merged his party with several other leftist parties.
His detractors accused him of being authoritarian, populist and even dictatorial for having pushed through a constitutional reform that allowed indefinite re-election.
Increasingly, Chavez used legislation to clamp down on broadcasters and other media. His government relentlessly went after opposition broadcaster Globovision, accusing it of a number of violations, from failure to pay taxes to disregarding a media responsibility law.
The broadcaster is the last remaining TV network that carries an anti-Chavez line, since the president refused to renew the license of another opposition station, RCTV, allegedly over telecommunication regulation violations. The station had to go off public airwaves and transmit solely on cable.
Abroad, Chavez was also known for his colorful -- if sometimes strange -- statements.
Last year, after several Latin American leaders were diagnosed with cancer, himself included, he wondered if the United States was behind it.
"Would it be strange if (the United States) had developed a technology to induce cancer, and for no one to know it?" he asked.
During a water shortage that Venezuela suffered in 2009, he took to the airwaves to encourage Venezuelans to take showers that lasted only three minutes.
At a summit in 2007, his repeated attempts to interrupt resulted in King Juan Carlos of Spain saying to him, "Why don't you shut up?"
Chavez was a believer that the days of the "Washington consensus," a model of economic reforms favored by the United States for developing countries, were over.
Along with Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and some Caribbean countries, Chavez formed the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, or ALBA, a group intended to offer an alternative to U.S. influence in the region.
As president, Chavez made clear his ambitions of being a regional and international leader who left, in his own way, changes that awakened passions and feelings in favor and against -- everything except indifference.

Yoda fucked around with this message at Mar 5, 2013 around 22:41

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:10

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# ? May 19, 2013 00:30

Vengarr: Jun 17, 2010; Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth;
Put out my hand, and taunted the opposing defense.

Yoda posted:

The leader of Venezuela has passed according to CNN. More incoming.

This is going to be the new Kennedy assassination, isn't it?

HE WAS POISONED! Well, poisonous, at any rate.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:11

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

I guess he was the next big name after UBL

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:11

Xodi: May 20, 2004; Xodi is.. alien dinosaur? wtf?! (thanks OMG ITZ JAMES)

That's going to leave a gaping power vacuum as wide as goatse's rear end in a top hat.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:12

Pochoclo: Feb 4, 2008; I like bread

Yesssss, the news are passing this. They're saying the CIA somehow may have given him cancer. Stupid media.

So much for the "opposing political parties are making up lies, the Commander's health is fine", huh? loving liars.

I love it when tyrants die. Memento mori and all that. Gives them all a friendly reminder that, at least in these times, death comes to us all, all the same.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:12

HATE CURES TRANNYS: Aug 16, 2005; PUSSY ALL NIGHT!

Take THAT socialism.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:12

Parallax Scroll: Nov 13, 2009

Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

I guess he was the next big name after UBL

And Kim Jong-Il.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:12

Strongylocentrotus: Jan 24, 2007; Nab him, jab him, tab him, grab him - stop that pigeon NOW!

Chavez may be gone, but we'll always have Fidel Castro. The man is immortal.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:13

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

Pochoclo posted:

Yesssss, the news are passing this. They're saying the CIA somehow may have given him cancer. Stupid media.

Okay, which one of us did it? Fess up now.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:13

Brotax: Jul 29, 2006; He's Mr. White Christmas.

He's Mr. Snow.

Wikipedia posted:

Death

Chavez died on 5 March 2013 after a long battle with cancer.

Thanks, Wikipedia! I wonder how quickly it was updated once the news broke.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:14

Phobophilia: Apr 26, 2008; Suffer this Terrible curse!

The raging hate-on America has over the dude says ~~*just as much about them as him*~~.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:14

NewtGoongrich: Jan 21, 2012; I am a shit stain on the face of humanity, I have no compassion, only hatred, bile and lust.

PROUD SHIT STAIN

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

I've spent far too much time trolling Teabaggers in the past two days.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:14

gfanikf: Jun 23, 2012

Vengarr posted:

This is going to be the new Kennedy assassination, isn't it?

HE WAS POISONED! Well, poisonous, at any rate.

Don't gently caress with US Super Cancer!

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:14

Eggs: Apr 15, 2007

Good riddance.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:14

shas: Jul 27, 2011

Why him, when Thatcher lives yet?

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:15

Iseeyouseemeseeyou: Jan 3, 2011

Parallax Scroll posted:

And Kim Jong-Il.

Supreme Glorious Leader will always be alive in my heart.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:15

Det_no: Oct 24, 2003

Aw poo poo. I was just talking with someone about how he was sick and how the media was not really making much about it when I saw the update on the BBC. I was going to ask how long until the despot accusations flew but I see I'm late already.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:15

5ive: Oct 5, 2010

The Onion probably said it best: Area Man Unsure If He�s Supposed To Want Hugo Chavez To Die Or Not

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:16

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Go on daaaahhhhling...

NewtGoongrich posted:

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

The US has finally killed communism.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:17

McDowell: Aug 1, 2008; Surely, Caligula was my greatest role

Died on the Anniversary of Stalin's death

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:17

gfanikf: Jun 23, 2012

Oh man some College freshmen are going to be really devastated when they hear the news

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:17

Ulio: Feb 17, 2011; by Y Kant Ozma Post

He will be missed?

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:18

Wicker Man: Sep 5, 2007; Just like Columbus...

Can anyone give a quick summation of what the guy did? I get the impression he was a bit of a douche, but was he really ever important? Did he restrict U.S influence in South America or anything like that?

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:20

Wagonburner: Jan 18, 2002; Heisenberg says relax!

Watch Obama start a loving order to fly flags at half mast.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:21

Dusseldorf: Mar 29, 2005

Wicker Man posted:

Can anyone give a quick summation of what the guy did? I get the impression he was a bit of a douche, but was he really ever important? Did he restrict U.S influence in South America or anything like that?

He nationalized Venezuela's oil and used the wealth to the help the very poor in Venezuela. This made the rich in Venezuela real angry and wasn't especially popular with the middle class.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:22

Telemarchitect: Oct 1, 2009; TOUCH THE KNOB

Immediately prior to his death, sources reported that Chavez was extremely happy that he would become his country's leading export in 300 million years

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:23

Three Olives: Apr 10, 2005; Go on daaaahhhhling...

Wicker Man posted:

Can anyone give a quick summation of what the guy did? I get the impression he was a bit of a douche, but was he really ever important? Did he restrict U.S influence in South America or anything like that?

He was a Marxist communist socialist dictator trying to destroy the United States if you ask conservatives and if you ask some far left liberals one of the greatest leaders that has ever lived. Everyone else doesn't really care but feels they are required to have a strong opinion on him but just never really bother.

Three Olives fucked around with this message at Mar 5, 2013 around 22:25

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:23

mik: Oct 15, 2003; oh

This is really a beige alert for me

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:24

NecroMonster: Jan 4, 2009; KING OF ASPERGERS

Dusseldorf posted:

He nationalized Venezuela's oil and used the wealth to the help the very poor in Venezuela. This made the rich in Venezuela real angry and wasn't especially popular with the middle class.

Or America.

He also did a lot to improve education, especially for women as well, unless I'm totally miss-remembering.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:24

Pueidist: Jan 18, 2004; 8-bit retirement home

He was pretty good at resisting encroaching US interests I'm surprised he lasted this long.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:25

A Pale Horse: Jul 29, 2007; Show those chumps in Atlanta and Philly what real hatred is.

Wicker Man posted:

Can anyone give a quick summation of what the guy did? I get the impression he was a bit of a douche, but was he really ever important? Did he restrict U.S influence in South America or anything like that?

He was a hardline socialist who supported other socialists in South America and managed to get some elected. He was also not a fan of the U.S. and was often at odds with American interests and tried to counter the U.S.'s influence in South America. He also palled around with real lovely assholes like Ahmadinejad and Castro, but whether that was because the U.S. made him a pariah in the west or whether its because he was a lovely dictator was up for debate.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:25

Wicker Man: Sep 5, 2007; Just like Columbus...

Huh, I know he would pop up from time to time in the news, but I could never place a good analysis of him on it alone.

Hope the VP is a decent guy.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:25

Yaldabaoth: Oct 9, 2012

Now the zombie corporations will be free to utterly devour Venezuela and leave it a toxic, anti-life wasteland.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:25

Ialdabaoth: Nov 3, 2006; _{East side, west side,

All around the block,

The Bootlegger's

rushin' bizness

At all hours

of the clock.}

South American Leftist Cancer Roundup

-Argentina: Kirchner, thyroid cancer
-Brazil: Lula, larynx cancer
-Brazil: Rouseff, lymphoma
-Paraguay: Lugo, lymphoma
-Venezuala, Chavez, pelvic cancer

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:25

Ka0: Sep 16, 2002; hello

Dusseldorf posted:

He nationalized Venezuela's oil and used the wealth to the help the very poor in Venezuela. This made the rich in Venezuela real angry and wasn't especially popular with the middle class.

It also made him a lot less popular on Langley and Washington.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:26

Ialdabaoth: Nov 3, 2006; _{East side, west side,

All around the block,

The Bootlegger's

rushin' bizness

At all hours

of the clock.}

Wicker Man posted:

Can anyone give a quick summation of what the guy did? I get the impression he was a bit of a douche, but was he really ever important? Did he restrict U.S influence in South America or anything like that?

He used to call are president bad names.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:27

gfanikf: Jun 23, 2012

A Pale Horse posted:

He was a hardline socialist who supported other socialists in South America and managed to get some elected. He was also not a fan of the U.S. and was often at odds with American interests and tried to counter the U.S.'s influence in South America. He also palled around with real lovely assholes like Ahmadinejad and Castro, but whether that was because the U.S. made him a pariah in the west or whether its because he was a lovely dictator was up for debate.

Let's not forget his raging boner for Ghaddafi, which was often a source for much hilarity.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:27

Pochoclo: Feb 4, 2008; I like bread

Ialdabaoth posted:

South American Leftist Cancer Roundup

-Argentina: Kirchner, thyroid cancer
-Brazil: Lula, larynx cancer
-Brazil: Rouseff, lymphoma
-Paraguay: Lugo, lymphoma
-Venezuala, Chavez, pelvic cancer

This is just cancer being a relatively broad and common ailment, and presidents being human despite however much they wish the contrary.

Also, nationalizing petroleum was a very good move and I applaud the guy's balls for that, but censoring media left and right like he did, is not cool. He became a petty dictator eventually.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:28

dj_clawson: Jan 12, 2004; We are all sinners in the eyes of these popsicle sticks.

There's a sad Vice video about how people in Caracas literally worship dead thugs because they're easier to relate to. The city has the highest murder rate in the world. Good job, Chavez. Rest in hell, you anti-Semitic, incompetent bastard.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:28

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# ? May 19, 2013 00:30

El Jebus: Jun 18, 2008

He was also friends with evil communist Fidel.

# ? Mar 5, 2013 22:28

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The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Hugo Chavez Dead at 58 [don't be dicks to each other or you will pay]