Hugo Chávez on Barbara Walters

Video Synopsis:

Hugo Chávez on Barbara Walters: “Barbara Walters from ABC interviews president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Aired Fri, Mar 16th, 2007.”

Hugo Chávez Frias was born on July 28th, 1954 in Sabaneta, Barinas State. Both his parents were teachers, and were not wealthy. The family sold bananas and corn to make ends meet. As a child, Hugo Chávez had a love for baseball, and became a proficient pitcher. Chávez’s love for baseball eventually led him to the Venezuela Military Academy, which he hoped could lead to a career in the Major Leagues. Chávez graduated from Venezuela’s Military Academy with a degree in Military Sciences and Arts in 1975. Rather than becoming a baseball player, Hugo Chávez pursued a military career. He served in an armored unit, an anti-guerilla unit along the Colombian border, and then as a military ethics instructor. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

While in the military, Hugo Chávez became fed up with the systemic corruption within the officer corps. In the late 1980s, he formed a secret anti-corruption group to combat abuses. His work culminated in a failed coup against the unpopular President Carlos Andres Perez on February 4th, 1992. Perez was eventually impeached, and Chávez became a popular figure perceived to have stood up against government corruption. Hugo Chávez was pardoned by President Caldera in 1994. Once Chávez was released, he organized a political party called the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). In 1998, Chávez won the presidential campaign.

He quickly made a name for himself as a leftist firebrand. Chávez is heavily influenced by the ideals of Simón Bolívar, as well as the writings of Marxist historian Federico Brito Figueroa. Chávez’s thinking has also been shaped by other socialist thinkers, as well as social theorists such as Noam Chomsky. Hugo Chávez supports the role of democratic socialism, a system where a few hundred local residents decide how to spend government money for social development.

Hugo Chávez is a self-styled “man of the people,” hosting a weekly radio show called “Hello President” and a television program called “Face to Face with the President.” Hugo Chávez often quotes the Bible and Simon Bolivar in his speeches, and is known to be a very “hands-on” President. Hugo Chávez’s fiery rhetoric and leftist politics invited the ire of President George W. Bush. Hugo Chávez, for his part, has called President Bush “the devil,” and has accused Bush of an attempted coup. Currently, relations between the United States and Venezuela could possibly improve with President Barack Obama’s more conciliatory approach to Venezuela and Hugo Chávez.

Additional Resources About Hugo Chávez:

Time magazine profile about Hugo Chávez

Christian Broadcast Network’s Hugo Chávez“Hugo Chávez Vs. America”

BBC’s profile of Hugo Chávez