Breaking with 40 years of bipartisanship, Hugo Chavez profoundly changed from 1999 the history of his country, one of the main oil producers, yet marked by deep inequalities when he became head of state.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chavez, who had tried a few years earlier, in 1992, to seize power by arms, was elected president in 1998 with 56% of the vote, on the promise to change the Constitution and build a new democracy including the popular classes.
He then established the "Bolivarian revolution", named after Simon Bolivar, the Liberator who drove out the Spanish crown in the 19th century.
Over the years, the project to establish a socialist system in Venezuela became clearer and more concrete.
Carried by a barrel of oil at a high price, Hugo Chavez finances social programs and schools, and builds free housing for thousands of Venezuelans.
At continental and global level, the charismatic head of state, cantor of American anti-imperialism, became the spokesperson for a new left.
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The neoliberal economy imposed on Latin America has not only widened inequalities but also given rise to a revanchism embodied by the figure of the "Comandante"
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Admirer and disciple of Fidel Castro, with whom he became close, Hugo Chavez also breathed new life into Cuba thanks to cooperation projects to break the blockade, such as that of an exchange of Venezuelan oil for Cuban doctors.
For nearly fifteen years, Hugo Chavez won practically every election.
He thus perpetuates himself in power by democratic means.
Enjoying great popularity in the most modest circles, he gradually put in place what he called "21st century socialism".
Red becomes the national color and, gradually, power hardens.
His adage: "Fatherland, socialism or death".
His political vision is hegemonic, filling all spheres of society and drawing inspiration from military mystique.
Facing him, the eternally divided opposition is unable to win the votes of the majority of the population.
But in 2013, as he began his third presidential term, Hugo Chavez succumbed to devastating cancer.
More than 5 million Venezuelans in exile
The successor he named before he died, his vice-president Nicolas Maduro, narrowly won the 2014 presidential election. The heir pledged to continue at all costs the construction of the socialist regime initiated by his mentor.
Opponents are imprisoned.
At the same time, the country's economy begins to sink with the fall in oil prices, carried away by a management aggravated by the corruption of certain circles of power.
Hyperinflation is at record highs, while shortages of basic foodstuffs and severe insecurity are rampant.
From 2017, the United States imposed economic sanctions that ended up bringing the country to its knees.
Venezuelans then began to leave en masse, towards the whole continent, and especially towards neighboring Colombia.
These last years,
Today, when the economic situation is beginning to improve significantly, how do we live in a Venezuela that seems to be adrift and at the same time ruled with an iron fist by the Chavista power?
While Hugo Chavez's project promised to eliminate inequalities, twenty-two years after he came to power, the opposite seems to have happened.
Hit hard by the crisis, the most vulnerable are more precarious than ever.
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