bridge."
Around the same time, a friend from Barinas who was a cadet
came home to visit and urged Chávez to sign up. "I asked him if they
played baseball, and he said, yes, and that José Antonio Casanova and
Héctor Benitez Redondo were the managers. Casanova? Benitez? But
that was the glory, like Olympus, and immediately I signed the papers."
Casanova and Benitez Redondo were Venezuelan baseball legends.
Casanova was a shortstop and later a manager of the Caracas Leones in
Venezuela's winter league. Benitez Redondo had been a cleanup hitter
in the 1940s and 1950s.
Chávez passed a preliminary entrance examination held at the
local barracks in Barinas. Later he received a telegram instructing him
to report to Caracas for more tests. He got on a bus and traveled to the
nation's bustling capital for the first time in his life. It was another world
compared with provincial Barinas. He passed that test, too. But after he
returned to Barinas, he ran into a problem.
Chávez was generally a good student and an avid reader. But he
could not get himself interested in one class: chemistry. He sat in the
back of the room and asked few questions. His teacher, Manuel Felipe
Díaz, thought Chávez was grasping everything he presented. Chávez
wasn't. Díaz was a tough teacher. Students dubbed him Venenito —
little poison. When it came time for the tests, Chávez's grades were
poor. So Díaz flunked him.
That presented a problem for getting into the military academy.
Applicants with a failed course generally were not accepted. There was
one exception: If they played a sport well enough, they could get in and
retake the course. That was fine with Chávez. At his next interview at
the academy, instructors sent him to a nearby stadium for a tryout to
"see if you can really play," as he recalled it.
When Chávez walked into the stadium, his jaw dropped. Casanova
and Benitez Redondo were conducting the tryouts. The two stars told
the young men that their first test would be to see who could put on
their uniform the fastest. Those who couldn't put it on properly would
be eliminated. Chávez had played on organized teams in Barinas, and
he was among the first out on the field.
The coaches put him on the mound to see how he could pitch.
Chávez had thrown in a game in Barinas a few days earlier. With his
arm still sore, he was wild. The coaches pulled him off the mound.
He was one step away from losing his chance to get into themilitary
academy. Luckily, Chávez also played first base and was a respectable
hitter. The coaches sent him to the batter's box to see what he could do.
A teenager from the city of Maracaibo was on the mound. He hurled
three fastballs. Chávez smacked them against the outfield wall.
The performance saved him. Chávez was admitted to the military
academy. His hitting arguably altered the course of Venezuelan history.
If he had struck out, he probably never would have become president.
After his ascent to power, his chemistry teacher, Díaz, spent years
second-guessing himself, thinking he had failed as an instructor and
nearly derailed Chávez'scareer.Chávez often made good-natured jokes
about Venenito on national television and radio.
On Sunday, August 8, 1971, Chávez and 374 other aspiring cadets
entered Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas. They lined up for the
induction ceremonies on a sprawling courtyard surrounded by a glistening
white, U-shaped building. Chávez had made it to Venezuela's
version of West Point. Back in Barinas, Rosa Inés was horrified. She
didn't think the military was right for Hugo, and she worried that
his rebellious streak would get him into trouble. She took to lighting
votive candles, praying to the patron saint of Sabaneta that he would
come home.
Despite his initially lukewarm feelings about the military, Chávez
soon felt comfortable. When he found himself "in uniform, with a rifle, on
the live firing range, the close order drills, the marches, the early morning
runs, the
Around the same time, a friend from Barinas who was a cadet
came home to visit and urged Chávez to sign up. "I asked him if they
played baseball, and he said, yes, and that José Antonio Casanova and
Héctor Benitez Redondo were the managers. Casanova? Benitez? But
that was the glory, like Olympus, and immediately I signed the papers."
Casanova and Benitez Redondo were Venezuelan baseball legends.
Casanova was a shortstop and later a manager of the Caracas Leones in
Venezuela's winter league. Benitez Redondo had been a cleanup hitter
in the 1940s and 1950s.
Chávez passed a preliminary entrance examination held at the
local barracks in Barinas. Later he received a telegram instructing him
to report to Caracas for more tests. He got on a bus and traveled to the
nation's bustling capital for the first time in his life. It was another world
compared with provincial Barinas. He passed that test, too. But after he
returned to Barinas, he ran into a problem.
Chávez was generally a good student and an avid reader. But he
could not get himself interested in one class: chemistry. He sat in the
back of the room and asked few questions. His teacher, Manuel Felipe
Díaz, thought Chávez was grasping everything he presented. Chávez
wasn't. Díaz was a tough teacher. Students dubbed him Venenito —
little poison. When it came time for the tests, Chávez's grades were
poor. So Díaz flunked him.
That presented a problem for getting into the military academy.
Applicants with a failed course generally were not accepted. There was
one exception: If they played a sport well enough, they could get in and
retake the course. That was fine with Chávez. At his next interview at
the academy, instructors sent him to a nearby stadium for a tryout to
"see if you can really play," as he recalled it.
When Chávez walked into the stadium, his jaw dropped. Casanova
and Benitez Redondo were conducting the tryouts. The two stars told
the young men that their first test would be to see who could put on
their uniform the fastest. Those who couldn't put it on properly would
be eliminated. Chávez had played on organized teams in Barinas, and
he was among the first out on the field.
The coaches put him on the mound to see how he could pitch.
Chávez had thrown in a game in Barinas a few days earlier. With his
arm still sore, he was wild. The coaches pulled him off the mound.
He was one step away from losing his chance to get into themilitary
academy. Luckily, Chávez also played first base and was a respectable
hitter. The coaches sent him to the batter's box to see what he could do.
A teenager from the city of Maracaibo was on the mound. He hurled
three fastballs. Chávez smacked them against the outfield wall.
The performance saved him. Chávez was admitted to the military
academy. His hitting arguably altered the course of Venezuelan history.
If he had struck out, he probably never would have become president.
After his ascent to power, his chemistry teacher, Díaz, spent years
second-guessing himself, thinking he had failed as an instructor and
nearly derailed Chávez'scareer.Chávez often made good-natured jokes
about Venenito on national television and radio.
On Sunday, August 8, 1971, Chávez and 374 other aspiring cadets
entered Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas. They lined up for the
induction ceremonies on a sprawling courtyard surrounded by a glistening
white, U-shaped building. Chávez had made it to Venezuela's
version of West Point. Back in Barinas, Rosa Inés was horrified. She
didn't think the military was right for Hugo, and she worried that
his rebellious streak would get him into trouble. She took to lighting
votive candles, praying to the patron saint of Sabaneta that he would
come home.
Despite his initially lukewarm feelings about the military, Chávez
soon felt comfortable. When he found himself "in uniform, with a rifle, on
the live firing range, the close order drills, the marches, the early morning
runs, the
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