Factbox: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has not been seen in public for more than two weeks following an operation in Cuba to remove a pelvic swelling.

His government says the 56-year-old is fine, but his long absence has prompted widespread speculation he may be seriously ill, possibly suffering from prostate cancer.

Here are some key facts about Chavez.

* Born to a poor family in the Venezuelan plains or "llanos" on July 28, 1954, Chavez once aspired to be a painter and then a professional baseball player. He often explains politics using baseball metaphors and the folksy language of the "llanos" he learned during his childhood.

* A former lieutenant colonel, Chavez spent much of his later military career conspiring with other leftist officers to overthrow the country's traditional political order. He led a 1992 coup that failed but made his reputation and propelled him toward the presidency.

* Chavez won power in a 1998 presidential vote and took office the next year. Opposition politicians and dissident troops led a coup against him in 2002, but supporters and loyal soldiers swept him back to power in less than two days. Chavez accuses the U.S. government of backing the putsch.

* Chavez has enjoyed wide backing among Venezuela's poor majority with massive social spending to expand health and education programs financed by income from oil exports. He has also cultivated support by confronting the United States, which he denounces as a decadent empire.

* Inspired by his friend and mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez has taken Venezuela down an increasingly radical path, nationalizing large swathes of the economy and running the government with a personalized -- many would say autocratic -- style. Opponents say he has become an old-style Latin American "caudillo" or dictator, repressing critics and squandering the nation's oil wealth to ruin the economy.

* Chavez has a deliberately populist style and is famous for his strong language and long-winded speeches that often drag on late into the night. His weekly Sunday TV talk show, "Hello, President," has lasted as long as eight hours.

(Reporting by Caracas bureau; Editing by Kieran Murray)