Those who knew Hugo Ch谩vez the boy still support Hugo Ch谩vez the president
Lourdes Urquiola sits outside his small concrete home in the hamlet of Los Rastrojos, on Venezuela's scorching plains of Los Llanos, occasionally spitting out a brown tobacco paste popular with locals.
Opposite him is the patch of land where Venezuelan President Hugo Ch谩vez grew up. Mr. Urquiola has lived there all his life and proudly describes the Venezuelan president as like his own son, having been Mr. Ch谩vez鈥檚 father鈥檚 best friend. 鈥淗e was a good son, always a companion to his father, going fishing and walking with him.鈥�
Now, Urquiola is anxious about Ch谩vez鈥檚 treatment for cancer in Cuba, praying for a return to good health. 鈥淚 ask God to save him,鈥� he said.
Though the outspoken, confrontational Ch谩vez is still subject to broad criticism outside his country, many in the small village offer him their unflinching support. So too in the neighboring town of Sabaneta, where Ch谩vez later moved with his elder brother Ad谩n to live with their grandmother Rosa In茅s. Ms. In茅s lived in a mud hut covered by palm leaves.
鈥淗e used to run around these streets playing with friends,鈥� said Flor Figueredo, whose own house is just opposite that of In茅s鈥�. 鈥淗e was a very active boy.鈥� The retired teacher describes a humble family. 鈥淎nd look, now we have the president,鈥� she says with a smile.
Ms. Figueredo shows off sepia-tinged photographs which depict the young Ch谩vez with classmates. One shows him around eight or nine years old, wearing a cap and white T-shirt in front of a giant map of Venezuela.
In the bustling state capital of Barinas, an hour鈥檚 drive from Sabaneta through maize and sugar cane fields, school nurse Ana M谩rquez de Mej铆as sits outside the modern-looking Liceo O鈥橪eary secondary school. Though elderly, she is still animated when talking about the young Ch谩vez who studied there before heading to Caracas. 鈥淗e was an intellectual from the beginning," she says.
Ms. Marques de Mej铆as has no concerns that Ch谩vez will not return to full health. 鈥淕od has given his blessing to the president of Venezuela!鈥� she says with clear excitement.
But not all residents of Barinas are so forthcoming with their praise of Ch谩vez. Unemployed electrician Javier Moreno sits beneath a bust of nineteenth century independence hero Ezequiel Zamora 鈥� a childhood hero of Ch谩vez 鈥� in a city square. Mr. Moreno complains that the ruling family has forgotten its roots.
鈥淚f Ch谩vez is a revolutionary and wants equality, his family would live like us in the barrios, without a car and breaking their backs every day to eat,鈥� Moreno says, despondent. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 live like that!鈥�
Moreno, who has been without work for four years, believes the government has a part to play. 鈥淭he revolution has its good and bad points. It serves some and not others. Today, if you want to find work but you're not a government supporter, you're screwed.鈥�
