On this day: Hugo Chavez is elected - The Jewish Chronicle

Six years after he lead a failed coup against the government of President Carlos Andres Perez, Venezuela chose the anti-globalist revolutionary and former paratrooper Hugo Chavez as its president.

Seen domestically as a champion of the poor, he swept into power on a populist platform vowing to overhaul the South American country’s corrupt politics. The wealthy, the church and much of the media have come under criticism in his 12 years in power.

On the international stage, Chavez has focused on building controversial ties with states including Iran, Cuba and China, while his rule has seen Venezuelan-American relations plummet. The same can be said of Venezuelan-Israeli relations; earlier this year in a typically baffling comment Chavez accused Mossad of trying to kill him and said that Israel was financing the Venezuelan opposition.

The country is home to more than 10,000 Jews but relations between the community and the government are not strong. Anti-Jewish sentiment has been a problem throughout his presidency, and in the last decade synagogues have been desecrated and increasingly more antisemitic incidents have been reported.