Early life of Hugo Chávez

The early life of Hugo Chávez spans the first twenty-one years (1954–1975) of the current President of Venezuela's life. Leader of the "Bolivarian Revolution", Hugo Chávez is known for his democratic socialist governance, his promotion of Latin American integration, and his radical critique of neoliberal globalization and United States foreign policy.Harv|O'Keefe|2005.]

Born on July 28, 1954 in rural Sabaneta, Chávez was raised in a poor family in the rural "llanos" (plains) region of the Venezuelan interior. Chávez later lived with his grandmother and rose through school to obtain entry into the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences as a cadet. In his college years, Chávez began associating with leftists and gained exposure to various Latin American populist leaders — including Juan Velasco Alvarado and Omar Torrijos. Meanwhile, he developed a critical perspective on South America's socio-political context. These influences led Chávez to incorporate both nationalist and socialist elements in a new political ideology that he would dub "Bolivarianism". These would all come to bear upon Chávez's thinking, eventually stoking plans for a 1992 coup d'etat, seeking the overthrow of Venezuela's government.

Family and ancestry

The second son of Hugo de los Reyes Chávez and Elena Frías de Chávez (née Frías), Chávez was born in the town of Sabaneta, Barinas on July 28, 1954. Sabaneta is situated in Venezuela's Andean lowlands, with the Andes Mountains to the west and south. Both Chávez's mother and father were local schoolteachers there. His father, Hugo Sr., had dropped out of school after completing the sixth grade. However he later qualified to teach primary school.Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.]

The Chávez family is Mestizo, that is, its ancestry is primarily Amerindian, Spanish and Afro-VenezuelanHarv|Kozloff|2005.] —has roots in central Venezuela's llanos. Chávez was the great-grandson of rebel Pedro Perez Delgado, better known as "Maisanta". Maisanta was a life-long rebel leader who helped spur an uprising that, before his capture in 1922, left dead both a Venezuelan ex-president and a state governor.Harv|Ellner|1999.] The extensive landholdings owned by Maisanta's family, known collectively as "La Marquesena", were then confiscated by federal authorities. More than eighty years later, this same estate would be expropriated by Chávez.Harv|Wilpert|2005.] Indeed, Chávez later recounted that the lost family estate had been of central importance in the stories he had been told by his paternal grandmother, Rosa, asserting that, "for me, [La Marquesena] was a meeting point for many things".Harv|O'Donoghue|2005.]

Childhood (1954–1971)

Chávez grew up in a small house composed of large palm leaves constructed over a bare dirt floor. His family lived in a small village just outside of Sabaneta. Chávez and his siblings were urged by his parents to embrace education as a way of escaping their rural surroundings and attain better lives in the more prosperous cities. Chávez's mother wanted him to become a Catholic priest, and so he was made to serve as an altar boy for one year. One of his duties was to clean and polish figurines depicting the saints and Jesus; Chávez developed a dislike of Jesus' depiction as a simple figurine. Specifically, Chávez was offended by what he saw as his church's portrayal of Jesus as "an idiot" and not, as Chávez considered Jesus to be, "a rebel". These experiences resulted in Chávez's lifelong distrust of religious hierarchies.Harv|Chávez|2005b.] Harv|Chávez|2005.]

Later, Chávez's parents sent him and his older brother Adán to live with their paternal grandmother, Rosa Inés Chávez, who lived in Sabaneta proper. This resulted in Chávez developing a stronger relationship with his grandmother than with his own mother. Later, Chávez's own parents and his siblings moved to a nearby house,Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.] Chávez recounts the odd situation of his parent's move to a different house (than that where he and his paternal grandmother lived) in Sabaneta:Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.]

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Thus, Chávez and Adán remained with their grandmother. Yet Chávez did have regular contact with his parents.Harv|Marcano|2005|p=56] Although the majority of children in the region where he grew up never pursued higher studies, Chávez proved to be one of the exceptions. He began by attending elementary school at Julián Pino School. Meanwhile, he pursued such hobbies as painting and singing. At the ages of twelve and thirteen, Chávez was a very thin child with unusually large feet, and Chávez's peers dubbed him "Tribilin", the Spanish name for the Disney character Goofy.Harv|Marcano|2005|pp=54-55.] After school, Chávez worked as a street vendor, selling the caramelized fruit sweets that his grandmother made.Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.]

Chávez would later recall developing an appreciation for nature; this stemmed from his family's proximity to the Guanare River. There, he would take fishing trips with his father; on days such as Easter, his family held picnics on the riverbank.Harv|Chávez|2005b.] However, Chávez was most interested in baseball. One of his childhood dreams was to become a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, following in the footsteps of his childhood hero, Venezuelan pitcher Isaías "Látigo" Chávez (no relation). When Látigo died at age 23 on March 16, 1969 in Zulia,Harv|Chávez|2002.] in the second worst airplane crash in Venezuela's history,Harv|Organización Rescate Humboldt|2005.] Chávez was saddened to the extent that he refused to go to school for two days. Five years later, Chávez was still writing about Látigo in his personal diary,Harv|Marcano|2005|pp=58-59.] and Chávez would continue to play and enjoy baseball throughout his life.Harv|BBC|2005.] Chávez also played baseball and softball with the "Criollitos de Venezuela", who played in the 1969 Venezuelan National Baseball Championships. He also wrote poems, stories, and dramas.Harvard reference
Author = Government of Venezuela
Surname1 = Government of Venezuela
Year = 2005
Title = Presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías
Journal = Gobierno En Línea
URL = http://www.gobiernoenlinea.ve/venezuela/ejecutivo.html
Access-date = January 21, 2006.]

From his early childhood on, Hugo Chávez was also interested in the life, ideology, and writings of Simón Bolívar. Bolívar is widely respected both in Venezuela and the rest of South America as a Venezuelan revolutionary and freedom fighter. He is particularly well-remembered for his central role in the South American Wars of Independence. Indeed, from his childhood onwards, Chávez would tie key dates in his own life with important anniversaries relating to Bolívar's actions.Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.]

Chávez later moved to the larger town of Barinas, where he attended high school at the Daniel Florencio O'Leary School.Harv|Government of Venezuela|2005.] Throughout his high school years, Chávez's best friends were two brothers who were the sons of Jose Ruiz, a communist who had been incarcerated by the government of military dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez. In the library of the Ruiz family, Chávez first began to read books dealing with communism and socialism.Harv|Marcano|2005|pp=52-54.] Later, at the age of seventeen, Chávez joined the Venezuelan armed forces. He later recalled that he joined so that he would be eligible to play in the military baseball leagues.Harv|Gott|2005|p=35.] He subsequently enrolled at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences as a cadet.

Life as a cadet (1971–1975)

Aside from his regular studies in college, Chávez also read history books and debated politics with fellow cadets. Between 1971 and 1973, a group of Panamanian military cadets came to Chávez's academy. From them, Chávez first learned of Panama's leader, Omar Torrijos, and the recent leftist Panamanian revolution. Chávez's curiosity was piqued by Torrijos' efforts to regain control of both the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone from its traditional owner, the United States government. Thereafter, Chávez looked at Torrijos as a model leader.Harv|Marcano|2005|pp=71-72.]

In 1974, Chávez and around one dozen fellow cadets and soldiers—all youths—traveled to Ayacucho, Peru to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the eponymous Battle of Ayacucho. There, they were personally greeted by radical leftist Juan Velasco Alvarado, the President of Peru between 1968 and 1975. Velasco gave each of them a miniature pocket edition of "La Revolución Nacional Peruana" ("The Peruvian National Revolution"). The cadets also noted Velasco's perceived close relationship with both the Peruvian masses and the rank and file of the Peruvian military.Harv|Gott|2005|pp=35-36.] Chávez became attached to this book, and would both study its contents and constantly carry it on his person. However, Chávez later lost it after his arrest for leading the 1992 Venezuelan coup attempt. Twenty-five years later, as president, Chávez ordered the printing of millions of copies of his government's new Bolivarian Constitution — only in the form of miniature blue booklets, a partial tribute to Velasco's gift.Harv|Marcano|2005|pp=71-72.]

Over the course of his college years, Chávez and various associates developed a left-nationalist doctrine that they dubbed "Bolivarianism". Although drawn heavily from Simón Bolívar's ideals, this philosophy was also influenced by the writings of Marxist historian Federico Brito Figueroa. Other contributions came via the philosophies of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Fidel Castro, Salvador Allende, and Che Guevara — all representative of the South American breed of socialism and communism. Nevertheless, Simón Bolívar, Simón Rodríguez (Bolívar's tutor and companion), and Ezequiel Zamora (a peasant leader who warred in support of the landless poor) held central importance for Chávez.Harv|Harnecker|2003.] Together, these influences were key in the formation of his political philosophy and style of governance.Harv|Gott|2005|p=39.]

While studying at the military academy, Chávez generally avoided all discussion of politics with his family, especially whenever he stayed with them during holidays. He particularly disliked political discussion with his father, who was then a member of the COPEI political party—indeed, his father would eventually rise to the position of Education Director of Barinas during the COPEI administration of Luis Herrera Campins. However, Chávez did enjoy such talk during his regular visits to the Ruiz family household.Harv|Marcano|2005|p=66.] For several months during 1974, Chávez maintained a personal diary; in it, he was careful in his usage of proper Spanish language. Chávez also expressed a leftist political orientation; writing of his dislike of U.S. foreign policy and Venezuela's perceived lack of a distinct national or cultural identity. As an example, he noted that both Venezuela's national sport (baseball) and Venezuela's popular music ultimately were American in origin.Harv|Marcano|2005|p=77.]

As a so-called "provinciano" ("provincial person", that is, an implication of backwardness regarding the social graces of urban life), Chávez was "prima facie" regarded by his peers as both polite and shy. However, by the time he had graduated, Chávez had emceed a beauty contest as well as taken charge of his own obscure radio program.Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.] As a young man, Chávez had two girlfriends, who were considered by other students as unattractive. Chávez too was widely considered unattractive,Harv|Marcano|2005|p=58.] and these girlfriends were more interested in two of Chávez's best friends, the Ruiz brothers, than in Chávez himself. Chávez also had his share of social upsets; for example, when a young woman whom he considered attractive refused to pay any attention to him, Chávez found a rotting donkey head on the side of the road and left it in front of her door.Harv|Marcano|2005|p=66.] Later, Chávez found another girlfriend, Herma Marksman, who helped draft a capstone thesis required of him prior to graduation. Chávez would — after his marriage at age 23 [ja icon [http://74.125.39.104/search?q=cache:3RSxaXuGo3UJ:www.mofa.go.jp/Mofaj/press/pr/pub/geppo/pdfs/05_3_1.pdf+%E3%82%B3%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9&hl=ja&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=jp&lr=lang_ja 研究ノート] - according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry: "'同じ頃、23歳のチャベスは、最初の妻となるナンシー・コルメナレス（Nancy Colmenares）と結婚するが、家族に対しては中立"'、無党派で通しており、状況によって2つの立場を使い分けていたようである。"] to Nancy Colmenares— later commit adultery with Marksman. His relationship with Marksman lasted nine years.Harv|Byrne|2005.] Harv|Guillermoprieto|2005.]

Chávez graduated eighth in his classHarv|Guillermoprieto|2005.] on July 5, 1975 as a sub-lieutenant with a degree in military arts and science.Harv|Berger|2004.] After receiving his sword of command personally from the hands of President Carlos Andrés Pérez during an annual parade, Chávez entered military service.Harv|Gott|2005|p=36.]

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See also

Notes

References

* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Berger
Given1 = RM
Year = 2004
Title = A Presidential Option for the Poor in Venezuela?
Journal = Sojourners
URL = http://ww.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1168
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Author = BBC News
Surname1 = BBC
Year = 2005
Title = Profile: Hugo Chávez
Journal = BBC News
URL = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3517106.stm
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Byrne
Given1 = J
Year = 2005
Title = Venezuela — Bolivarian Revolution
Journal = Foreign Correspondent
URL = http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s882059.htm
Access-date = January 25, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Chávez
Given1 = H
Year = 2005
Title = Transcript: Hugo Chávez Interview
Journal = ABC News / Nightline
URL = http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/International/story?id=1134098&page=1
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Chávez
Given1 = H
Year = 2005b
Title = Hugo Chavez Special: Chavez NYC Speech (Untitled Speech delivered at the Latino Pastoral Action Center in Bronx, New York City)
Journal = Democracy Now!
URL = http://www.democracynow.org/
Access-date = January 26, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Chávez
Given1 = NI
Year = 2002
Title = Néstor Isaías "Látigo" Chávez
Journal = Venezuela Tuya
URL = http://www.venezuelatuya.com/biografias/latigo_chavez.htm
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Ellner
Given1 = S
Year = 1999
Title = President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela
URL = http://www.neravt.com/left/contributors/ellner2.htm
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Gott
Given1 = R
Year = 2005
Title = Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution
Journal = Verso Books
ID = ISBN 1-84467-533-5
URL = http://www.versobooks.com/books/ghij/g-titles/gott_hugo_chavez.shtml
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Author = Government of Venezuela
Surname1 = Government of Venezuela
Year = 2005
Title = Presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías
Journal = Gobierno En Línea
URL = http://www.gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/venezuela/presidente.html
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Guillermoprieto
Given1 = A
Year = 2005
Title = Don't Cry for Me, Venezuela
Journal = New York Review of Books
Date = October 6, 2005
URL = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18302
Access-date = January 21, 2006.

* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Harnecker
Given1 = M
Year = 2003
Title = The Venezuelan Military: The Making of an Anomaly
Journal = Monthly Review
URL = http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1040
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Kozloff
Given1 = N
Year = 2005
Title = Hugo Chávez and the Politics of Race
Journal = Counterpunch
URL = http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff10142005.html
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Lynn
Given1 = BC
Year = 2003
Title = Hugo Chávez and His Bolivarian Revolution
Journal = Mother Jones
Date = January 2003
URL = http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/09/richard_gott.html
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Marcano
Given1 = C
Surname2 = Barrera Tyszka
Given2 = A
Title = Hugo Chávez Sin Uniforme: Una Historia Personal
Publisher = Random House Mondadori
Year = 2005
ID = ISBN 9-80293-284-1.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = O'Donoghue
Given1 = PJ
Year = 2005
Title = Historian Details Presidential Interest In Controversial Barinas Landed Estate
Journal = V Headline
URL = http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=45975
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = O'Keefe
Given1 = D
Year = 2005
Title = Building a Democratic, Humanist Socialism: The Political Challenge of the 21st Century
Journal = Z Communications
URL = http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=7396
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Author = Organización Rescate Humboldt
Surname1 = Organización Rescate Humboldt
Year = 2005
Title = Accidentes Aéreos En Venezuela
Journal = El Universal
URL = http://www.el-universal.com/2005/08/17/pol_esp_17A599757.shtml
Access-date = January 21, 2006.
* Harvard reference
Surname1 = Wilpert
Given1 = G
Year = 2005
Title = Chavez Highlights Venezuela’s Land Reform with Broadcast from Seized Farm
Journal = Venezuela Analysis
URL = http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1766
Access-date = January 21, 2006.