In a bizarre turnaround that surprised Venezuelans and caught the international community off-guard, he was back in the presidential palace in Caracas yesterday, 48 hours after a military coup had forced him out of office.
Mr Chavez was flown by helicopter from his brief captivity on a Venezuelan island to the Miraflores palace, where he triumphantly resumed his presidential powers in a televised ceremony. "I'm still stupefied. I'm still assimilating," he said, smiling.
Thousands celebrated in the streets outside, singing the national anthem and setting off firecrackers.
Chavez - a fiery leftwing nationalist - appealed to the nation for calm. "I do not come with hate or rancour in my heart, but we must make decisions and adjust things."
He added: "Venezuela would not tolerate an autocracy."
An extraordinary week for the world's fourth largest oil-exporting country began last Tuesday with a general strike called by unions in solidarity with the state oil monopoly, PDVSA, which had objected to the way Mr Chavez was appointing political allies to top posts.
By Thursday hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans were marching against the president through the streets of Caracas. When the march drew close to the Miraflores palace witnesses reported seeing Chavez snipers fire at the crowds, killing more than 16 people.
Within hours the military high command had gathered at the palace and demanded that Mr Chavez resign - only three years after he had swept into office with vast popular support. The ousted president was then arrested and taken into custody at army barracks in Caracas. It was reported that he had asked for asylum in Cuba, but was refused so that he could be put on trial in Venezuela.
Pedro Carmona, the head of Venezuela's largest business association, was declared the leader of a transitional government. But by Saturday it was clear that the coup was beginning to collapse.
Mr Carmona had angered many by trying to sweep away all vestiges of Mr Chavez's rule by dissolving Congress and cancelling the constitution approved under his administration. He was soon forced to reverse his decision after the armed forces chief, General Efrain Vasquez, said he would only support Mr Carmona if the Congress was restored. Mr Carmona was then forced to suspend the inauguration of his new cabinet.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Caracas, thousands of demonstrators supporting Mr Chavez - or opposed to the way he was ousted - took over state TV to demand his return. Police fired water cannon and teargas. Agency reports claimed that dozens died in the violence.
Some military commanders stayed loyal to Mr Chavez, although one, at an airbase in the central city of Maracay, rebelled. For several tense hours it appeared factions in the divided armed forces would fight each other, but this did not happen.
By Saturday night Mr Carmona had resigned and, at the end of a day of tension and confusion, Mr Chavez's vice-president, Diosdado Cabello, made the dramatic announcement that his boss would resume power. He also said Mr Chavez had never resigned in the first place.
At the Miraflores palace, Chavez administration officials - many of whom had evaded police raids over the previous two days - and loyalist military officers hugged each other with relief and joy.
"In these past two days they have persecuted us," said Rafael Ramirez, president of the state-run gas consortium and a Chavez ally. Unshaven and with red-rimmed eyes, Mr Ramirez said he had hidden in friends' homes after Mr Chavez's arrest. Asked about the turnaround, he said: "It's marvellous, because the Venezuelan people responded to this illegal coup attempt."
Mr Chavez said he had not been mistreated in custody, and appealed for calm. He said there would be no recriminations although Mr Cabello had said earlier that Mr Carmona and his supporters would be tried for conspiracy of military rebellion.
More than 100 military personnel were under arrest. "They must take responsibility. They will be put on trial with all their rights, but they will be put on trial," Mr Cabello said.
Mr Chavez returns to lead a deeply divided country. His popularity has dwindled from 80% to 30% and he has managed to alienate almost every sector of Venezuelan society. His only support remains with the poor, although they have seen little improvement in their lives since he came to power.
Until the events of Friday, Venezuela had been South America's oldest democracy, dating back to 1958. Chavez had twice tried to seize power in military coups a decade ago, but he was captured and imprisoned. On his release he turned from paratrooper to politician and began on the road that ended in his presidency.
The most charismatic leader on the continent, Mr Chavez is also the most unpredictable. The 47-year-old modelled himself on Simon Bolivar, the 19th-century independence freedom fighter and even renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. He sidled up to Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein and pitched himself as the new leader of the developing world.
Iraq gave one of the first international reactions to Mr Chavez s glorious return to power. "We congratulate the friendly Venezuelan people for their victory over a US imperialistic conspiracy," the deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, told reporters.
The Bush administration was left with some egg on its face. Unlike Latin American countries, which voiced concern that the coup had forsaken democratic principles, the US showed no remorse at Mr Chavez's removal.
On news of his return Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, said: "We do hope that Chavez recognises that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time."
· Venezuela is the world's fourth largest oil exporter, but 85% of its 24 million population lives in poverty.
· Until Friday Venezuela had South America's oldest democracy, beginning in 1958.
· Hugo Chavez led two failed military coups before he took power via the ballot box, in 1998.
· Chavez has a weekly radio show, Hello President, in which he chats to the public.
· Venezuela, almost twice the size of France, includes Amazon jungle, Andean peaks and Caribbean coastline.
