MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Back in 1994 when Chavez visited Uruguay, “the current ruling coalition did not take him seriously”

However according to Batlle that same year Chavez travelled and to his surprise Fidel Castro was waiting for him

Uruguayan former president Jorge Batlle recalled in his Facebook column that when a still unknown Hugo Chavez visited Uruguay back in 1994, the now left-leaning ruling coalition didn’t take him seriously and the leader of the movement at the time General Liber Seregni did not receive him.

“It was back in 1994, when Chavez was in the process of forging his leadership that he visited Uruguay, with little echo among the different groups making up the (current ruling coalition) Broad Front”.

However “in his return to Venezuela he was invited to participate in a political congress in Cuba. Chavez flew in a commercial airline, paid for his ticket, and when the plane was about to land in Havana airport, it was given the order to head for the presidential ramp, where, to the young former Venezuelan paratrooper officer surprise, none else but Fidel Castro was waiting for him. Castro embraced him and that sealed Chavez destiny”, said Batlle in his Facebook column.

“He was undoubtedly one of the most relevant political phenomena in recent South American history” underlined Batlle who also recalled the long path of Chavez who after a failed coup and jail chose the political trail.

“During four years Chavez toured Venezuela up and down, East-West, every city, town, village, every neighbourhood, almost house by house patiently building the political movement that finally took him to victory in 1999”, says the Uruguayan leader, now in the opposition.

“The weakness of Venezuelan historic political parties at the time and a very effective campaign against corruption and in favour of austerity took his to office at the end of that decade, where he remained for fourteen years”, added Batlle.