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Here are some key events from his life
Date of birth: 28 July 1954
Place of birth: Sabaneta, Barinas, Venezuela
Birth name: Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias
Father: Hugo Chavez, school teacher
Mother: Elena (Frias) Chavez, school teacher
Marriages: Marisabel Rodríguez de Chavez (December 1997- 2004, divorce); Nancy Colmenares de Chavez (divorced mid-1990s)
Children: with Marisabel Chavez: Rosa Inés; with Nancy Chavez: Rosa Virginia, María Gabriela, Hugo Rafael, Raúl Alfonzo
Education: Military Academy of Venezuela in Caracas, 1975
Religion: Roman Catholic
Other facts: Closely aligned with Fidel Castro of Cuba
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TIMELINE
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4 Feb 1992-26 Mar 1994: Leads failed attempt to overthrow government of President Carlos Andres Perez, jailed for two years
1994: Relaunches his party as the Movement of the Fifth Republic, a political opposition group
6 Dec 1998: Is elected youngest president in Venezuela's history
2 Feb 1999: Sworn in as president of Venezuela
25 Apr 1999: Venezuelans overwhelmingly approve Chavez's proposal to draft a new constitution
30 Jul 2000: Wins re-election to the presidency for a six-year term, under the new constitution
11 Apr 2002: Gunfire erupts as protesters demanding president's resignation march toward presidential palace; 19 killed. That spurs revolt by dissident generals who arrest Chavez and usher in interim government
12 Apr 2002: Chavez says he will "abandon his duties" and Pedro Carmona Estanga becomes President. On the following day, demonstrations force Carmona to resign and Diosdado Cabello, Chavez's vice president, takes over for one day
14 Apr 2002: Loyal army officers rescue Chavez, restore him to power
3 Dec 2002: Business organisations, labour unions, political parties and executives from state-run oil company call strike demanding that Chavez agree to nonbinding referendum on his rule. Strike fizzles after two months, government regains control of oil industry
20 Aug 2003: Opposition groups present election officials with approximately 2.7-3.2 million signatures calling for the removal/recall of Chavez from the presidency
3 Jun 2004: The National Electoral Council of Venezuela announces that Chavez's opponents have collected enough valid signatures to force a recall vote
15 Aug 2004: A vote to potentially recall Chavez fails and he remains president; 59% of voters want him in office
22 Aug 2005: Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson calls for the United States to assassinate Chavez, calling him "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas. "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson tells viewers on his "The 700 Club" show. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war"
20 Sept 2006: Chavez calls US President George W. Bush "the devil" in speech at United Nations General Assembly, raising tensions with Washington
3 Dec 2006: Wins re-election to six-year term, capturing 63% of vote
31 Jan 2007: The Venezuelan National Assembly approves a law that gives Chavez the authority to rule by decree. He has been granted the special powers for 18 months
30 Apr 2007: Chavez announces that Venezuela will formally pull out of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
28 May 2007: Radio Caracas Television, country's oldest private network, goes off air after Chavez refuses to renew its broadcasting license
14 Mar 2008: In a public statement, Chavez dares the US to put Venezuela on list of countries that sponsor terrorism
15 Feb 2009: Chavez wins voter approval to eliminate term limits, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely; he vows to remain in power for at least another decade
7 Sept 2009: Oliver Stone's film "South of the Border," featuring Chavez, premieres at the Venice Film Festival. Chavez attends the premiere
10 June 2011: Chavez undergoes surgery in Cuba for pelvic abscess
28 June 2011: New videos and photos of Chavez appear on Venezuelan state television, showing him on his feet and talking with Fidel Castro
30 June 2011: Chavez appears on television to confirm he had a cancerous tumour removed. He later says tumour extracted was the size of baseball
4 July 2011: Chavez returns to Venezuela after more than three weeks of treatment in Cuba
13 July 2011: Announces he is in his second phase of cancer treatment and may undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment
16 July 2011: Chavez returns to Cuba for further cancer treatment. Before leaving Venezuela, delegates some of his power to Vice President Elias Jaua and Finance Minister Jorge Giordani
23 Sept 2011: Says he has completed chemotherapy, calls the treatment successful. Says subsequently that tests show no reappearance of cancerous cells
25 Sept 2011: An audio recording of Chavez airs on Venezuelan state-run television, assuring listeners he is recovering successfully from his last round of chemotherapy
20 Oct 2011: After five days of medical tests in Cuba, Chavez says he's beaten cancer. "There are no malignant cells in this body. They don't exist," he says
21 Feb 2012: Says his doctors found new lesion in same place where tumor was previously removed, and announces plans to return to Cuba for surgery
26 Feb 2012: Undergoes operation that removes tumor from same location in pelvic region. Says later that follow-up tests showed tumor was "recurrence of the initially diagnosed cancer"
24 Mar 2012: Travels to Cuba to begin first round of radiation therapy
09 Jul 2012: Says at a news conference that tests have shown he is "totally free" of cancer
7 Oct 2012: Wins re-election as president for a new six-year term
28 Nov 2012: Arrives in Cuba for another round of medical treatment
07 Dec 2012: Returns to Venezuela from Cuba after receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatment
08 Dec 2012: Announces that his cancer has returned and that he needs surgery again. Also says for the first time that if he is unable to stay on as president, Vice President Nicolas Maduro should take his place and should be elected president
11 Dec 2012: Chavez undergoes six hours of surgery in Havana, Cuba
30 Dec 2012: Vice President Nicolas Maduro says Chavez suffers from 'new complications', his health remains "delicate"
09 Jan 2013: Venezuela's Supreme Court rules that Hugo Chavez will remain president even though he is unable to attend his inauguration, scheduled for 10 January
18 Feb 2013: Chavez returns to Venezuela from Cuba. He announces his return via Twitter saying, "We come back to the country of Venezuela. Thank God! Thank you dear people! Here we continue the treatment"
05 Mar 2013: Government announces the death of Hugo Chavez
