“I became a soldier, not because I had a military vocation initially, but because it was the only way that that young, poor-class child from the provinces could go to the center of the country: through baseball, which was my dream.”

Venezuelan politician, revolutionary, and military officer

Hugo Chávez was a Venezuelan politician, revolutionary, and military officer. He served as president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, and his political ideas became known as Chavismo. He led the Bolivarian Revolution and changed the country's name from the Republic of Venezuela to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, creating the fifth republic in Venezuelan history. He also headed the Fifth Republic Movement from its founding in 1997 until it merged into the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which became the ruling party in 2007.