Bolivar of his time.

This July 28th, the hearts of Cuba, Venezuela and the Patria Grande beat together on the 69th anniversary of the birth of Fidel’s closest brother and eternal devotee of the friendship between our nations, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.

Born in the Venezuelan city of Sabaneta, where since he was a child he developed a marked fondness for baseball, painting, creative writing, music and theater, the young Chávez stood out for his excellent grades during his student life and his stay at the Venezuelan military academy and various courses of the Armed Forces.

As a faithful enthusiast of the ideals of the Liberator of his land, Simón Bolívar, it is worth mentioning that on February 4th, 1992 he commanded a military revolt against the neoliberal economic measures and the social injustice of the regime of then President Carlos Andrés Pérez and, although the feat became a setback and his precursors were apprehended, Chávez’s notoriety did not stop growing and two years later, before the persistent popular claim, he was released from prison.

After his imprisonment, he dedicated himself to preach freedom and justice in different enclaves and sectors of the Venezuelan population and his Fifth Republic Movement was his driving force to win 56.24 percent of votes in his favor at the end of 1998 and assume power on February 2nd, 1999.

In spite of his detractors, during his mandate, Chávez updated the constitutional model and supported the design of a democratic, participative, protagonist, multiethnic and pluricultural Venezuela and guarantor of the right to life, work, culture, education, social justice and equality without discrimination or subordination, in close civil-military alliance and in pursuit of the defense of its sovereignty.

It also laid the foundations for the socialism of the 21st century, promoting the birth of organizations such as the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas-People’s Trade Treaty, the Southern Common Market, the Caribbean Petroleum Union, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, all of which promote regional integration and cooperation.

His bond with Cuba began in 1994, when he accepted the request of historian Eusebio Leal and traveled to the island expressing his honor to meet Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz. From that day on, an indestructible friendship sprouted, whose bonds have always survived in memory and have maintained their strength through bilateral bridges of peace, respect and cooperation.

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías passed away on March 5th, 2013 and left behind a huge amount of distinctions and decorations such as the José Martí, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Libertador Fifth Class, Rafael Urdaneta, the Order of the Friendship of the Peoples, the Medal of the Atlantic Alliance of the South, among many other awards.

One of the greatest brothers of our Island and precursor of the sovereignty, integration and unity of all America departed, because just as Bolivar overflowed with passion for the defense of his land, Chavez was the strongest Liberator of his time.

Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.