T-shirt featuring Venezualan socialist leader, Hugo Chavez. The text below reads "Viva la revolucion, viva chavez". Hugo Chavez was President of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. He was one of the chief founders of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which had been formed from the amalgamation of several smaller leftist parties. The main achievement of the merger was the implementation of the social project known in South America as the Bolivarian Revolution. This resulted in the creation of a new constitution, the nationalization of key industries, the growth of participatory councils, increased funding for healthcare & education, & a significant reduction of general poverty. Chavez was a former military career-officer who had become disillusioned with the corrupt, right-wing Venezuelan system. He had founded the secretive Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement in the 1980s to work towards overthrowing the corrupt US-backed regime in Venezuela. He was popular at home & abroad, applauded for his defiant stance against US-interests. He died of cancer in 2013 aged 58.