Editing Hugo Chávez (section)

==Political rise==
[[File:HUGO CHÁVEZ FRÍAS en Buenos Aires 1995.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Chávez speaking at an event in [[Buenos Aires]] in October 1995]]

While Chávez and the other senior members of the MBR-200 were in prison, his relationship with [[Herma Marksman]] broke up in July 1993.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 104–05.</ref> In 1994, [[Rafael Caldera]] (1916–2009) of the centrist [[National Convergence]] Party who allegedly had knowledge of the coup<ref name=ENHfeb2015/> was elected president and soon afterward he freed Chávez and the other imprisoned MBR-200 members, though Caldera banned them from returning to the military.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 107–08.</ref> After his release, on 14 December 1994, Chávez visited Cuba during the [[Special Period]], where he was received by [[Fidel Castro]] with head of state honors. During his visit, Chávez gave a speech at the Aula Magna of the [[University of Havana]] before Fidel and the Cuban high hierarchy where, among other things, he said "We have a long term strategic project, in which the Cubans have and would have much to contribute" and "it is a project of a twenty to forty year horizon, a sovereign economic model".<ref>{{Cite book|title=El Legado: Frases y Pensamientos de Hugo Chávez|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9_0DwAAQBAJ&dq=chavez%2C+habana%2C+%22un+proyecto+estrategico+de+largo+plazo%22&pg=PT937|publisher=Softandnet|date=21 September 2017|access-date=2 September 2021|isbn=978-980-12-7509-1|first=Carlos|last=Herrera}}</ref>{{sfn|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=147}}
[[File:MBR-200 meeting.png|thumb|left|A 1997 image of MBR-200 members meeting ([[Nicolás Maduro]] is seen on the far left while Chávez is seen speaking in the center)]]
Travelling around Latin America in search of foreign support for his Bolivarian movement, he visited [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], Chile, [[Colombia]], and [[Cuba]], where he met Castro and became friends with him.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 214–215, 220.</ref> According to journalist [[Patricia Poleo]], during his stay in Colombia, he spent six months receiving guerrilla training and establishing contacts with the [[FARC]] and [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)]] [[Marxist]] guerrilla groups, and even adopted a ''[[nom de guerre]]'' Comandante Centeno.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perdue|first1=Jon B.|title=The War of All the People : The Nexus of Latin American Radicalism and Middle Eastern Terrorism|date=2012|publisher=[[Potomac Books]]|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=978-1597977043|page=100|edition=1st}}</ref>

By now Chávez was a supporter of taking military action, believing that the oligarchy would never allow him and his supporters to win an election.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 116.</ref> Chávez and his supporters later founded a political party, the [[Fifth Republic Movement]] (MVR – ''Movimiento Quinta República'') in July 1997 to support Chávez's candidacy in the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|1998 presidential election]].<ref name="sylvia66" /><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 119.</ref> Chávez went on a tour around the country. On his tours, he met [[Marisabel Rodríguez de Chávez|Marisabel Rodríguez]], who would give birth to their daughter shortly before becoming his second wife in 1997.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 235–36.</ref>

===1998 election===
{{main|1998 Venezuelan presidential election}}
[[File:Logo MVR.jpg|thumb|A painted mural in support of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) found in [[Barcelona, Venezuela|Barcelona, Anzoátegui, Venezuela]]]]
At the start of the election run-up, front runner [[Irene Sáez]] was backed by one of Venezuela's two primary political parties, [[Copei]]. Chávez's revolutionary rhetoric gained him support from ''[[Patria Para Todos]]'' (Homeland for All), the ''[[Communist Party of Venezuela|Partido Comunista Venezolano]]'' (Venezeuelan Communist Party) and the ''[[Movement for Socialism (Venezuela)|Movimiento al Socialismo]]'' (Movement for Socialism). Chávez received support from different sectors: the lower class felt identified with Chávez, that he cared about their needs and would offer a solution to their problems; part of the middle class also supported, feeling frustrated with corruption and wishing for a strong-handed government; Chávez also received support from members of the old left,<ref name=":2" /> as well as the members of the militarist right wing, some of them nostalgic for the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> By May 1998, Chávez's support had risen to 30% in polls, and by August he was registering 39%.<ref name=":2" /> Voter turnout was 63%, and Chávez won the election with 56.2% of the vote.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/Venezuela%27s%201998%20Presidential%2C%20Legislative%20and%20Gubernatorial%20Elections.pdf|title = Venezuela's 1998: Presidential, Legislative, and Gubernatorial Elections: Election Observation Report|date = 12 February 1999|access-date = 17 February 2015|website = Election Observation Report|publisher = International Republican Institute|page = 12|quote = Voter turnout rose significantly in the 1998 elections, reversing a two-decade trend toward lower participation.|archive-date = 4 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150904050524/http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/Venezuela%27s%201998%20Presidential%2C%20Legislative%20and%20Gubernatorial%20Elections.pdf|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/documentos/estadisticas/e006.pdf|title = Elecciones Presidenciales Cuadro Comparativo 1958–2000|access-date = 17 February 2014|publisher = Consejo Nacional Electoral}}</ref>