Hugo Chavez -- President and candidate

December 05, 2006 | Pulitzer Center

Nov. 13, 2006--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seen on a state television broadcast at a hotel in Barquisimeto. The president's image along with his message of revolution and reform are everywhere.

November 6, 2006-- Campaign posters for Hugo Chavez line a wall in the notorious Caracas slum of 23 January where the incumbent president draws almost universal support.

Nov. 7, 2006--The president's image hangs is backlight by a rising sun as the day begins in downtown Caracas.

Oct. 30, 2006-- President Hugo Chavez is seen in this collage of stills from a broadcast on state television.

Nov. 9, 2006-- Swarmed by supporters and media, Chavez makes his way around a campaign event in Caracas.

Nov. 9, 2006-- Venezuelan President Hugh Chavez mixes with supporters during a visit to the Venezuelan International Book Fair in Caracas where he announced a government plan to distribute 30,000 copies of

Nov. 15, 2006-- Marta Shepis, 34, poses below a portrait of President Hugo Chavez inside her shack on a squatter camp in the rural town of Montelban, Venezuela where several dozen families have built temporary homes on private land to demand government housing assistance.

Nov. 21, 2006-- President Chavez enjoying almost universal support from the country's poor, campaigns in the open air with little security during parades through the Caracas slums.

Nov. 21, 2006-- Supporters cheer from their windows for Chavez as he makes his way through the La Vega slums of Caracas.

Nov. 8, 2006--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sips coffee during one of his signature hours-long news conferences at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas.

The populist leader who has often infuriated U.S. officials while cutting a wide swath through world capitals was just as dominant in the frenzied campaigning leading up to his bid for re-election on Dec. 3 -- on television, barnstorming through poor barrios, leaving his supporters enthralled and his detractors enraged. One thing no one disputes is that Hugo Chavez's outsized personality commanded center stage.