The life and times of Hugo Chavez

His death ended 14 years of charismatic, volatile rule that turned him into a major world figure. Ever the showman, Chavez would jump from theology to jokes, and from Marxist rhetoric to baseball metaphors in building an almost cult-like devotion among followers. Here’s an obituary to the socialist showman who transformed Venezuela.

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Born the second of six sons of teachers in the cattle-ranching plains of Barinas state and raised by his grandmother Rosa Ines in a mud-floor shack.
Born the second of six sons of teachers in the cattle-ranching plains of Barinas state and raised by his grandmother Rosa Ines in a mud-floor shack.