Jump To Hugo Chavez's Stats
The President of Venezuela has been running things in the South American country for 24 years – that's like six times what a president in the U.S. could do. He has served through U.S. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. Hugo Chávez' time as its leader may only be limited by an ongoing medical condition that he is under treatment for now in Cuba. But during his 24-year run, his net worth has been measured at $1,238,000,000.
As a sitting member of OPEC, Venezuela and Chávez gets that core wealth from the rich oil reserves that Venezuela sit on and produces. The proceeds of Venezuela's oil have come from Chávez nationalizing the oil industry there. His political desires were born after a 17-year military career where he determined that the haves and the have naughts were too imbalanced. Campaigning with a platform designed to equal that imbalance, Chávez earned the countries popular support with his election to the Presidency in 1998.
The bombastic orator can inflame audiences both in Venezuela and around the world. In a 2006 appearance at the United Nations, Chávez took the podium and lambasted then President Bush's leadership effort, accusing him of a concerted effort to keep many of the world's populace as servants to the United States. Besides calling Bush the devil, Chavez ranted and raved about the imperialistic ways of the President's administration and the evil doings of the U.S. in general.
Despite the country’s internal political struggles and his grandiose persona, Chávez has proven to be unstoppable. He was reelected by an overwhelming majority in 2000, survived an attempted coup in 2002, and emerged victorious from a recall vote in August 2004. His health seems like the only hiccup that will dictate his continued political dominance in the future.
Chávez has been able to keep up with new world ways. His Twitter account has more than one million followers. As much as some people would like the world to ignore his rants, in 2005, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
