Profile: Venezuela's two leading presidential candidates

HUGO CHAVEZ

The incumbent president was born on July 28, 1954, in Venezuela's Sabaneta state. He graduated from the country's military academy in 1975 with a master's degree in military science and art. He also studied politics at Simon Bolivar University from 1989 to 1990.

In February 1992, when he was a paratroop officer, Chavez led a failed coup against then president Carlos Andres Perez and was jailed until 1994.