---
born: 1954-07-28
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 2013-03-05
location: Sabaneta, Venezuela
summary: Venezuelan President and ally of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya
  who opposed the 2009 Honduras coup.
tags:
- Person
- Politician
- Military
---

[Hugo Chavez](/people/hugo-chavez/) was the Venezuelan President. He was a close ally of [Manuel Zelaya](/people/manuel-zelaya/), the ousted president of [Honduras](/places/honduras/), and a "nemesis" of the [United States](/places/united-states/). Chávez stated he would consider it an "act of war" if there were hostilities against his diplomats and put the armed forces of [Venezuela](/places/venezuela/) on alert.[^1]

[General Daniel Lopez Carballo](/people/general-daniel-lopez-carballo/) justified the coup against Zelaya by stating that Chávez would eventually be running [Honduras](/places/honduras/) by proxy if the military had not acted. Zelaya had been in the process of forming a friendship or alliance with Chávez, which could have led to the [United States](/places/united-states/) losing its airbase in [Honduras](/places/honduras/) (Soto Cano Air Base). Chávez reportedly had close ties to [Iran](/places/iran/) and offered military support to [Iran](/places/iran/) in the event of a war with the [United States](/places/united-states/).[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.