66 years ago, Hugo Chávez Frías was born in Sabaneta, Barinas state, the man who raised the flag of the Liberation Army and fought against imperialism, to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of Venezuela.
From teacher parents, Chávez, at only 16 years old, came to Caracas with a suitcase full of dreams, for him – at that time – to become a star player as he was for that time, Néstor Isaías Chávez, better known as “Látigo” (whiplash) , who was part of the Navegantes del Magallanes Baseball team.
However, his life takes an unexpected turn, when in August 1971 he decides to tour the spaces of the Military Academy of Venezuela, and would receive three months later, the Cadet Dagger that accredited him to study in the Simón Bolívar class.
Leaving behind his dream of being a baseball player, he trained as a cadet of the Homeland, feeling inside – as he himself explained at one time – the flame and the hope of changing, of living in a country where social justice, solidarity and independence was the center.
He repeatedly questioned these military bases, marked by repression and crimes against humanity, only to protect foreign interests; facts that were evidenced in the “Caracazo” uprising of 1989, during the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez.
This fact awoke – much more – Chávez’s revolutionary flame, until it led him to lead the military rebellion of February 4, 1992, against a government that left its people aside, only to respond to imperial interests.
“El Caracazo” was the spark that ignited the engine of the Bolivarian Revolution”, said Chávez during his address to the country, when the anniversary of the social outbreak was commemorated.
What many called failure, for Chávez was an opportunity to show the Venezuelan population that changes can be promoted. With his remembered “For now”, while admitting the defeat of the uprising, he recognized before the people that the way to conquer the popular victory would be different.
In July 2015, journalist José Vicente Rangel referred to the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution as “a man who managed to turn a military defeat into a political triumph and did it with serenity, revealing that characteristic of his character that is to excel in situations more adverse”.
He was imprisoned for two years in the San Francisco de Yare prison, in Miranda state, until he received the presidential dismissal, in the second government of Rafael Caldera.
With the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), Chávez manages to win the presidential elections in 1998, where he begins a reform of the State, calling for a National Constituent Assembly, which would be in charge of developing a new Magna Carta, which would give more power to the people, and turn Venezuela into a truly democratic and representative country.
For 16 years – and backed by billions of Venezuelans, evidenced on every election day -, Commander Hugo Chávez carried out the transformation of an inclusive state, where social programs came to respond to and satisfy those social demands that were left behind, for 40 years of puntofijismo.
Its main objective was to rescue the ideals of the Liberator, Simón Bolívar; of the union of the region against imperialism.
During his government, he highlighted the construction of a new diplomacy, which was based on respect for the self-determination of the peoples, which ended up concluding extraordinary agreements with Cuba, Russia and China, as well as the creation of regional organizations, to ensure integration from the countries of the region, such as ALBA or PetroCaribe.
On December 8, 2012, Commander Chávez spoke to the country on a national joint broadcast, and announced that he needed a new operation to recover his health and asked that, should any situation occur, the people should elect Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela.
Four months later, Maduro would announce the death of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution.
Every July 28, millions of Venezuelans gather at the Cuartel de la Montaña (Mountain Barracks), located in the 23 de Enero parish in Caracas – where the remains of the revolutionary leader lie – to celebrate the anniversary of his birth.
