Hugo de los Reyes Chávez
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Hugo de los Reyes Chávez (born January 6, 1933) was a regional director of education and subsequently rose to prominence as a member of the Social Christian Party COPEI
COPEI
Copei – Social Christian Party of Venezuela is a third way political party in Venezuela. The name stands for Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente...
. He was (from 2000 to 2008) governor of Barinas
Barinas (state)
Barinas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Barinas. Current President Hugo Chávez was born in this state...
in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. He is best known as the father of current Venzuelan president Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, and the current governor of Barinas Adán Chávez
Adán Chávez
Adán Chávez Frías is the governor of Barinas state in Venezuela, and was Minister of Education from 2007 to 2008. He is the elder brother of current Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Adán Chávez Frías was a student at the University of the Andes, and now collaborates in his electoral campaigns and...
, and the mayor of Sabaneta, Barinas
Sabaneta, Barinas
Sabaneta is a city in Venezuela's Barinas State. It was the birthplace of President Hugo Chávez. Sabaneta is the capital city of Alberto Arvelo Torrealba municipality in Barinas. The city was founded by Juan de Alhama in 1787. The principal industry is sugar production....
, Anibal José Chávez Frías
Aníbal José Chávez Frías
Aníbal José Chávez Frías is the current mayor of Sabaneta, Barinas; the birthplace of his brother: President Hugo Chávez.-Mayor of Sabaneta:Aníbal is the mayor of Sabaneta, a city in Venezuela's Barinas State. Sabaneta is the capital city of Alberto Arvelo Torrealba municipality in Barines. The...
. His mother is Rosa Inés de Chávez.
The Chávez family is descended from the mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
s and mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
s that live in central Venezuela's vast and verdant llano
Llano
Llano is the Spanish word for plain. It may refer to:* Llano, California* Llano Estacado, a region in northwest Texas and eastern New Mexico* Llano, Texas, a small city in Llano County, Texas* Llano County, Texas* Llano River, a Texan river...
s, home to a rural cattle ranching culture famed as restive and fiercely independent. Chávez himself was born with primarily indigenous Amerindian blood mixed with some African and Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
roots. Chávez and his wife, Elena Frías de Chávez
Elena Frías de Chávez
Elena Frías de Chávez is the mother of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and is the former First Lady of the state of Barinas. She grew up in the village of San Hipólito, close to the capital city of Barinas, and met her husband, Hugo de los Reyes Chávez, when she was 16 and he was 19 and working as...
, started their careers as local schoolteachers. He dropped out of school after completing the sixth grade, later qualifying to teach.