President Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro, center, raises his fist while accompanying the funeral cortege of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on its way to the Military Academy in Caracas.

Venezuelan acting President Nicolas Maduro, center, raises his fist while accompanying the funeral cortege of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on its way to the Military Academy in Caracas.  (Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images)

Chicago Tribune
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Born into a working-class family, Hugo Chavez was a military officer who became dissatisfied with the Venezuelan political system. He worked to overthrow it in the early 1980s and eventually led an unsuccessful coup against the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992, for which he was imprisoned. Getting out of prison after two years, he founded a social democratic political party and was elected president of Venezuela in 1998. He was re-elected in 2000. In 2012, Chavez won his country’s presidential election for a third time and was elected for another six-year term. Chavez died on Tuesday, March 5, after a long battle with cancer, according to Venezuela’s vice president.

Crowd of admirers

The casket of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is transported from the Military Hospital to the Military Academy.  (Luis Camacho, AFP/Getty Images)

Amid the throngs

The hearse carrying the coffin of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez makes its way through thousands of people to the Military Academy.  (Juan Barreto, AFP/Getty Images)