Passion or Profession: President

Period: 1954–to-date

Chavez became involved in the military right after high school and graduated from the Venezuelan Military Academy. Years later he would study political science for a short time before leading an unsuccessful coup in 1992. He was imprisoned for his role but later pardoned. In 1998 elections, Chavez won the presidential election, promising to help the country’s poor gain more power. Although many of the nation’s poor still support him, his critics have said he is fast becoming a dictator and have unsuccessfully attempted to oust him from power.