Hugo Chávez: Portrait of A Man With Many Faces

Chávez shows Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman a tiny copy of Venezuela's constitution he carries around. (Miraflores Photo)

Chávez first tried to become president in 1992 by masterminding a military coup d'etat. But he blew it. The coup failed. He spent two years in prison, basking at times in his new heroic image. Four years out of jail, he was elected president -- then reelected twice. In 2002, he survived a coup attempt by opponents in the military and in business. Turnabout apparently is fair play in Venezuelan politics. And in 2004, an attempt to recall him came up far short.

Our 19-member delegation spent nine hours in Miraflores, the presidential palace, caught in Chávez's peculiar world -- waiting for him for hours, witnessing his strange news conference performance art, and having a coffee klatch that stretched from a planned 15 minutes to nearly two hours. As I said: The man changes but does not tire, not least when he has a captive audience.

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Reporters and editors snapped to their feet, news cameras rolled and still cameras flashed as Chávez entered the room, wearing a red T-shirt and olive-colored jacket in proper populist-chic fashion.

He took his seat behind a bulky black desk. Simón Bolívar, the Liberator, peered over his shoulder from a large portrait, as if to say, "Don't worry. I got your back."

And Chávez would need it, for he was under siege. Reports that day out of Colombia confirmed the authenticity of computer files linking Chávez to the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). The data were seized from a camp of the communist insurgents who are seeking to oust Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.

The files were voluminous: 37,000 written documents, 8,000 e-mail addresses, 210,000 images and more. "No one can ever question whether or not the Colombian government tampered with the seized FARC computers," proclaimedRonald K. Noble, the Interpol secretary general.

No one, that is, except Chávez.

In some other place, with some other president, one might expect officials to counter with their own technical data, expert opinions or even political spin. Chávez left that to his ministers and diplomats.

His style was this: After first complimenting the beautiful eyes of a Spanish reporter, Chávez curled his lips, frowned and scornfully declared that the Interpol news conference, "this show organized by these clowns," did "not deserve a single serious comment." Then he commented ad infinitum in an hour-long counterattack.

There was guilt by association and character assassination. He called Noble, a former U.S. law enforcement official, "disgusting," "immoral," "corrupt," "irresponsible," "shameful" and "Dick Tracy, the super-cop," and a "gringo cop" at that.

There were theater and faux magic. He used a mock card trick (he said he learned it from Castro) to help dramatize how he thought the incriminating data had wound up on the computers. He scribbled a note, stepped into the audience and showed it to a reporter. Then he walked over and planted it on one of his ministers sitting in the front row -- just as he believed the files would have been planted on the computers.