Editing Hugo Chávez (section)

===Military academy===
Aged 17, Chávez studied at the [[Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences]] in Caracas, following a curriculum known as the [[Andrés Bello]] Plan, instituted by a group of progressive, nationalistic military officers. This new curriculum encouraged students to learn not only military routines and tactics but also a wide variety of other topics, and to do so civilian professors were brought in from other universities to give lectures to the military cadets.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 30.</ref>
[[File:Hugo Chávez military academy.png|alt=|left|thumb|249x249px|Chávez as a student in the military academy]]
Living in Caracas, he began to get involved in activities outside of the military school, playing baseball and softball with the ''Criollitos de Venezuela'' team, progressing with them to the Venezuelan National Baseball Championships. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and drama, and painted.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 35.</ref> He also became interested in the Marxist revolutionary [[Che Guevara]] (1928–1967) after reading his memoir ''The Diary of Che Guevara''.<ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 29–30.</ref> In 1974, he was selected to be a representative in the commemorations for the 150th anniversary of the [[Battle of Ayacucho]] in Peru, the conflict in which Simon Bolívar's lieutenant, [[Antonio José de Sucre]], defeated royalist forces during the [[Peruvian War of Independence]]. In Peru, Chávez heard the leftist president, General [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] (1910–1977), speak, and was inspired by Velasco's ideas that the military should act in the interests of the working classes when the ruling classes were perceived as corrupt.<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka. p. 36">[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 36.</ref>

Befriending the son of Maximum Leader [[Omar Torrijos]], the leftist dictator of Panama, Chávez visited Panama, where he met with Torrijos, and was impressed with his land reform program that was designed to benefit the peasants. Influenced by Torrijos and Velasco he saw the potential for military generals to seize control of a government when the civilian authorities were perceived as serving the interests of only the wealthy elites.<ref name="Marcano and Tyszka. p. 36"/> Chávez later said, "With Torrijos, I became a Torrijist. With Velasco I became a Velasquist. And with Pinochet, I became an anti-Pinochetist".<ref>Chávez quoted in [[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. pp. 36–37.</ref> In 1975, Chávez graduated from the military academy as one of the top graduates of the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cidob.org/en/documentacio/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/hugo_chavez_frias |title=Hugo Chávez Frías / Venezuela / América del Sur / Biografías Líderes Políticos / Documentation / CIDOB home page |publisher=Cidob.org |date=23 March 2012 |access-date=14 April 2012 |archive-date=6 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406221518/http://www.cidob.org/en/documentacio/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/hugo_chavez_frias |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[#Mar07|Marcano and Tyszka 2007]]. p. 37.</ref>