Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez

Introduction

Venezuela is a South American country which is very rich in natural resources and also the number one oil supplier outside Middle East in the world. Despite that the latter half of 20th century witnessed a devastating recession. The majority of people in Venezuela lived in poverty and the power was in command of some elites in the country. (www. credoreference.com) This was the time when Hugo Chavez became the president of Venezuela in 1998 and promised the people of Venezuela, a widespread change. Hugo Chavez since his teenage was deeply influenced by a local historian José Esteban Ruiz Guevara, who apprised him about the teachings of the German philosophers, Bolívar and Karl Marx who had a thoughtful impact on Chavez's political values and beliefs.

Also, Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader who supported the National Liberation Armed Forces or Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) became Chavez's later political cogitate. He put in lots of efforts to establish reforms including subsidized food programs, educational campaigns, political party reformation and subsidized food programs. This is how Chavez attracted legions of fans from the lower class of the country. The opposition was also working hard to remove him from the office but Hugo Chavez proved to be unstoppable. He again got elected with an outstanding majority in 2000, carried on a takeover in 2002 and emerged as a successful president in August 2004 from a recall vote.

Discussion

The discussion covers the life of Hugo Chavez from his childhood till his presidential era. Hugo Rafael Chavez was born on 28th July, 1954 in a village of Sabaneta in western grassland region of Venezuela. Hugo has got a multi-heritage background of Afro-Venezuelan, Amerindian and Spanish. He was the second son among the six children of his parents. Both school teachers, the parents did not have enough money to raise all their children, therefore, Hugo and his brother, Adan were raised by their grandmother in the city of Barinas. The grandmother, Rosa Inés Chávez was the one who instilled the love of politics and history in Hugo Chavez. Chavez's family was dark skinned as well as poor in a country with very strong ethnic divisions but the ability that distinguished him from Venezuelan crowd was his exceptional skills as a baseball player in a baseball crazy nation. In 1969, Chavez played through a national baseball team known as Criollitos de Venezuela and continued to do extremely well at it as an adult. He used to play for teams linked with educational institutions or military. (www.credoreference.com)

With an aspiration of proving himself, Chavez deemed about becoming a foremost baseball league player. He also vaguely considered of entering into politics after attending the inaugural ceremony of the President of Venezuela, at the age of 19. But assuming that a political career would not be a feasible option, he joined the army. He graduated in engineering from the National Military Academy of Venezuela in 1975. Chavez was extremely popular among his fellow soldiers and within a small period of ...