The early life of Hugo Chávez concerns the childhood, college years, and military career of the current President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, prior to his 1992 coup attempt.
Family and ancestry
The second son of Hugo de los Reyes Chávez and his wife Elena Frías de Chávez (née Frías), Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías was born in Sabaneta, Barinas on July 28, 1954. The Chávez family is descended from the mestizos and mulattos that live in central Venezuela's vast and verdant llanos, home to a rural cattle-ranching culture famous for being restive and fiercely independent. Chávez himself was born with primarily indigenous Indian blood mixed with some African roots. Both Chávez's mother and father started their careers as local schoolteachers. Chávez's father, Hugo Sr., had dropped out of school after completing the sixth grade, but later qualified to teach primary school.
Chávez is descended from Pedro Perez Delgado (better known as "Maisanta"). Maisanta is best known as a life-long rebel who helped spur an uprising that, before his capture in 1922, left dead both a Venezuelan ex-president and a notorious state governor.[1] In the process, Maisanta had his family's vast landholdings—known collectively as La Marquesena—confiscated. This estate would, more than eighty years later, be again expropriated by Maisanta's own great grandson: Hugo Chávez.[2] Chávez later stated the central importance that the lost family estate had in the stories he was told by his paternal grandmother Rosa, asserting that "for me [La Marquesena] was a meeting point for many things."[3]
Childhood (1954–1971)
Early life with parents
Hugo Chávez was raised with six brothers and sisters in a small hut composed of large palm leaves constructed over a bare dirt floor. His family lived without electricity or running water, in a small village on the edge of Venezuela's vast southern grasslands. The village was itself mired in dire poverty, far from the oil-rich provinces that were then making northern and urban Venezuela rich. Chávez's own family was also very poor, his parents' meager teacher's salaries unable to sustain the family. Chávez and his siblings were urged by his parents to embrace education as a means to escape their humble origins and achieve a better life in the cities.[4] Chávez also inherited didactic and discursive skills from his schoolteacher parents, the fundamentals of the oratory and rhetorical skills that would be critical for him later in life.
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 disgust for Jesus' depiction as a helpless figurine and idol that one can only light candles for and offer prayers to. Chávez was, specifically, 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".[5] These experiences resulted in Chávez's lifelong distrust of religious hierarchies.
Childhood in Sabaneta
Later, at an early age, Chávez was sent by his parents to live with his paternal grandmother, Rosa Inés Chávez, in the nearby town of Sabaneta, so that she could help raise him. Although the vast majority of children in the area where Chávez grew up never pursued higher studies, Chávez progressed in his education while simultaneously pursuing such hobbies as painting and singing. After school, Chávez would work as a street vendor, selling the caramelized fruit sweets that his grandmother made.[6] Chávez developed a strong love of nature at this time, he would fondly recall later, because he lived next to a river: he would take fishing trips with his father there, as well as having Easter picnics on the river. Chávez, though, was most passionate about baseball, and one of his greatest childhood dreams was to become a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants—indeed, Chávez would be a strong baseball lover and fan throughout his life.
From his early childhood on, Hugo Chávez was also perpetually fascinated by the life, ideology, and writings of Simón Bolívar. Bolívar is widely honored both in Venezuela and in Latin America in general as a distinguished Venezuelan revolutionary and freedom fighter renowned for his role in the South American Wars of Independence. However, at the age of 17, out of financial necessity and an injury sustained during a sporting event, Chávez was forced to join the paratrooper legion of the Venezuelan armed forces. He subsequently enrolled at the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences.
College years (1971–1975)
Herma Marksman, who was Chávez's girlfriend and mistress for ten years of his young adulthood, has stated that she took active part in the development and writing of the capstone thesis that Chávez was required to submit in order to obtain his master's degrees. After graduating (eighth in his class) in 1975 with master's degrees in military science and engineering, Chávez did further graduate work in political science at Caracas's Simón Bolívar University, but left there without a degree.
Chávez's own version of Bolivarianism was developed by him in conjunction with fellow cadets and students during his college years. Although drawn heavily from Bolivar's ideals, this form of Bolivarianism was also strongly influenced by the writings of Marxist historian Federico Brito Figueroa. Chávez was also thoroughly steeped in the tradition of socialism and communism, such as that exhibited by Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
Life in the military (1975–1992)
Military career
After his studies, Chávez entered active-duty military service. Chávez's career as a professional soldier would last 17 years, during which time he would hold a variety of post, command and staff positions. Chávez would eventually rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Manuel Cedeño paratrooper battallion.
Chávez first commanded the Communications Platoon of the Manuel Cedeño mountain infantry battalion in Barinas/Cumaná between 1975 and 1977. Afterwards, between 1978 and 1979, Chávez was commander and squad leader of the Bravos de Apure AMX-30 armored tank battalion in Maracay. Chávez was promoted rapidly and eventually became company commander and head of the Department of Physical Education at the Military Academy of Venezuela, remaining in that position from 1980 to 1981. He then headed the Departament of Culture at the Academy in 1982. Chávez was also a founding commander of the José Antonio Páez Company at the Academy from 1983 to 1984.
It is at this time that Chávez was beginning to be recognized for his fiery and popular lectures at Caracas's war college, in which he would speak for hours in a "folksy" manner that captivated supporters in his audiences.[7] Chávez's interest in the politics of Venezuela grew throughout his career in the military. On July 24, 1983—the 200th anniversary of Bolívar's birth—Chávez established the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) and established as its political goals the realization of "Bolivarianism" by means of a "Bolivarian Revolution".
Chávez was later commander of the Francisco Farfán cavalry unit in Elorza, Apure between 1985 and 1986. He then commanded the Cívilian-Military Development Nucleus at the Arauca-Meta border between 1986 amd 1988. Afterwards, in 1988, Chávez was appointed assistant head of the National Security and Defense Council in the Miraflores presidential palace, remaining in that position until 1989. In 1990 he was appointed official in charge of civilian matters with the Cazadores Brigade in Maturín. In his last two years of service, from 1991 to February 4, 1992, Chávez served as commander of the Colonel Antonio Nicholas Briceño Parachutists Battalion based in Maracay.
Chávez was decorated many times in his military career. He received the Star of Carabobo (Estrella de Carabobo) and the Land Forces Cross (Cruz de las Fuerzas Terrestres), and was also awarded membership into the Military Order of Francisco de Miranda, the Order of Rafael Urdaneta, and the Military Order Libertador V Clase.
Off-duty artistic and sporting career
In addition to his professional duties in the military, Chávez kept up his early passions for baseball, softball and literature. He went to the National Baseball Championships, held in Barinas, in 1976. Chávez also played in military baseball tournaments, such as those held in Cumaná in 1977, the Dominican Republic in 1980, and the University League Chamionships held in Caracas through 1984 and 1985. Chávez was also in charge of all patron saints' feasts held in Elorza, Apure between 1987 and 1988.
In his literary endeavors, Chávez authored numerous collections of stories and poems, including Vuelvan Caras, Mauricio, and lastly El Genio y el Centauro. El Genio y el Centauro ("The Genius and the Centaur") eventually won 3rd prize in 1987, after being performed at the Teatro Histórico Nacional ("National Historical Theater") in Cañafístola. Chávez also authored a poem in honor of the late Felipe Acosta Carles, who helped co-found the MBR-200. Chávez also sculpted, producing such works as Sombra de Guerra en el Golfo ("Shadows of War in the Gulf") in 1980.
Notes and references
- ^ Ellner, Steve. (10 Dec 1999). "President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela". Retrieved 10 Nov 2005.
- ^ Wilpert, Gregory. (Venezuela Analysis, 26 Sep 2005). "Chavez Highlights Venezuela’s Land Reform with Broadcast from Seized Farm". Retrieved 10 Nov 2005.
- ^ O'Donoghue, Patrick J. (15 Sep 2005). "Historian details Presidential interest in controversial Barinas landed estate". Retrieved 10 Nov 2005.
- ^ ABC News. (16 Sep 2005). "Transcript: Hugo Chavez Interview". Retrieved 10 Nov 2005.
- ^ Chávez, Hugo. [Untitled Speech]. Latino Pastoral Action Center. Bronx, New York City. 17 Sep 2005. Downloadable Audio. Retrieved 05 Nov 2005.
- ^ Guillermoprieto, Alma. (New York Review of Books, 06 Oct 2005). "Don't Cry for Me, Venezuela". Retrieved 15 Oct 2005.
- ^ a Gott, Richard. (The Guardian, 25 Aug 2005). "Two fingers to America". Retrieved 18 Oct 2005.