Carlos Andrés Pérez
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Carlos Andrés Pérez | |
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Táchira | |
Personal details | |
Born | Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez 27 October 1922 Táchira, United States of Venezuela |
Died | 25 December 2010 Miami, Florida, U.S. | (aged 88)
Political party | Acción Democrática |
Spouse | Blanca Rodríguez |
Domestic partner | Cecilia Matos |
Children |
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Alma mater | Central University of Venezuela Free University of Colombia |
Signature | |
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010)
After the fall of dictator
Early life and education
Carlos Andrés Pérez was born at the
Pérez was educated at the María Inmaculada School in Rubio, run by
The combination of falling coffee prices, business disputes, and harassment orchestrated by henchmen allied to dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, led to the financial ruin and physical deterioration of Antonio Pérez, who died of a heart attack in 1936. This episode would force the widow Julia and her sons to move to Venezuela's capital, Caracas, in 1939, where two of Pérez's eldest brothers had gone to attend university. The death of his father had a profound impact on the young Pérez, bolstering his convictions that democratic freedoms and rights were the only guarantees against the arbitrary, and tyrannical, use of state power.[citation needed]
In Caracas, Pérez enrolled in the renowned Liceo Andrés Bello, where he graduated in 1944 with a major in Philosophy and Letters. In 1944, he enrolled for three years in the Law School of the Central University of Venezuela and one year in the Law School of the Free University of Colombia. However, the intensification of his political activism would prevent Pérez from ever completing his law degree.[citation needed]
Political life
The political life of Carlos Andrés Pérez began at the age of 15, when he became a founding member of the Venezuelan Youth Association and a member of the National Democratic Party, both of which were opposed to the repressive administration of General Eleazar López Contreras, who had succeeded the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935. He also co-operated with the first labour unions in his region. When he moved to Caracas, in 1939, he started an ascendant political career as a youth leader and founder of the Democratic Action (AD) party, in which he would play an important role during the 20th century, first as a close ally to party founder Rómulo Betancourt and then as a political leader in his own right.[citation needed]
In October 1945, a group of civilians and young army officers plotted the overthrow of the government run by General Isaías Medina Angarita. At the age of 23, Pérez was appointed Private Secretary to the Junta President, Rómulo Betancourt, and became Cabinet Secretary in 1946. However, in 1948, when the military staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Rómulo Gallegos, Pérez was forced to go into exile (going to Cuba, Panama and Costa Rica) for a decade. He temporarily returned to Venezuela secretly in 1952 to complete special missions in his fight against the new dictatorial government. He was imprisoned on various occasions and spent more than two years in jail in total. In Costa Rica, he was active in Venezuelan political refugee circles, worked as Editor in Chief of the newspaper La República and kept in close contact with Betancourt and other AD leaders.[citation needed]
In 1958, after the fall of dictator
After the end of the Betancourt administration and the 1963 elections, Pérez left government temporarily and dedicated himself to consolidating his support in the party. During this time, he served as head of the AD in Congress and was elected to the position of Secretary General of AD, a role that was crucial in laying the ground for his presidential ambitions.[citation needed]
First presidency
In 1973, Carlos Andrés Pérez was nominated to run for the presidency for AD. Youthful and energetic, Pérez ran a vibrant and triumphalist campaign, one of the first to use the services of American advertising gurus and political consultants in the country's history. During the run up to elections, he visited nearly all the villages and cities of Venezuela by foot and walked more than 5800 kilometers. He was elected in December of that year, receiving 48.7% of the vote against the 36.7% of his main rival. Turnout in these elections reached an unprecedented 97% of all eligible voters, a level which has not been achieved since.[citation needed]
One of the most radical aspects of Pérez's program for government was the notion that petroleum oil was a tool for developing countries like Venezuela to attain first world status and usher a fairer, more equitable international order. International events, including the Yom Kippur War of 1973, contributed to the implementation of this vision. Drastic increases in petroleum prices during the 1970s energy crisis led to an economic bonanza for the country just as Pérez started his term. Using high oil prices, Pérez bolstered his support, buying patronage by subsidizing prices, increasing wages[4] and tripling public spending.[5] His policies, including the nationalization of the iron and petroleum industries. Following the establishment of PDVSA, corruption in Venezuela as a system of patrimonialism was created.[6] He also promoted investment in large state-owned industrial projects for the production of aluminium and hydroelectric energy, infrastructure improvements and the funding of social welfare and scholarship programmes, were ambitious and involved massive government spending, to the tune of almost $53 billion. His measures to protect the environment and foster sustainable development earned the Earth Care award in 1975, the first time a Latin American leader had received this recognition.[citation needed]
In the international arena, Pérez supported democratic and progressive causes in Latin America and the world. He reestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba and submitted a resolution to the Organization of American States (OAS) that would have lifted economic sanctions against the country. He opposed the
Towards the end of his first term in office, Pérez's faced criticism for excessive government spending.
Post-first term
Carlos Andrés Pérez maintained a high profile in international affairs. In 1980, he was elected president of the Latin American Association of Human Rights. He collaborated with Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere in the organization of the South-South Commission. He actively participated in the Socialist International, where he served as vice-president for three consecutive terms, under the presidency of Willy Brandt from West Germany. Willy Brandt and Carlos Andrés Pérez, together with the Dominican Republic's José Francisco Peña Gómez, expanded the activities of the Socialist International from Europe to Latin America. In 1988, he became a Member of the Council of Freely-Elected Heads of Government, established by the former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He was elected Chairman of the Harvard University Conference on Foreign Debt in Latin America, in September 1989,[citation needed] and received the Henry and Nancy Bartels World Affairs Fellowship at Cornell University.[7]
Second presidency
He based his campaign for the
Among the policies there was the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase of public transportation fares by thirty percent (VEB 16 Venezuelan bolívares, or US$0.4).[16][17][18] The increase was supposed to be implemented on 1 March 1989, but bus drivers decided to apply the price rise on 27 February, a day before payday in Venezuela. In response, protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, a town near Caracas, known as El Caracazo.[22][23][24][25] a lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the Caracas Metropolitan Police was on a labor strike, led to the protests and rioting quickly spreading to the capital and other towns across the country.[26][27][28][29][9][13] The response resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency and led to a large number of deaths, ranging from the official estimate of 277 dead[30] to extraofficial estimates of up to 5,000,[10] the most violent period of unrest in Venezuela's democratic history.[15] The deaths were attributed to Pérez's implementation of Plan Ávila, which resulted with authorities killing protesters.[31][32]
By late 1991, Carlos Andrés Pérez' administration received a total of US$2.287 billion due to privatization reforms.[35] The most notable auction was CANTV's, a telecommunications company, which was sold at the price of US$1.885 billion to the consortium composed of American AT&T International, General Telephone Electronic and the Venezuelan Electricidad de Caracas and Banco Mercantil. The privatization ended Venezuela's monopoly over telecommunications and surpassed predictions, selling over US$1 billion above the base price and US$500 million more than the bid offered by its next competitor.[36] By the end of the year, inflation had dropped to 31%, Venezuela's international reserves were now worth US$14 billion and there was an economic growth of 9% (called as an "Asian growth"), the largest in Latin America at the time.[35] Overall, the results of liberalization policies were mixed;[15] by 1992 many of the achievements were reversed, inflation remained between thirty and forty percent and Venezuela did not become macro-economically stable.[15][20] The main accomplishment during this period was that Venezuela was finally able to pay international debtors.[15]
In 1992, his government survived
Impeachment
On 20 March 1993, Attorney General Ramón Escovar Salom introduced action against Pérez for the embezzlement of 250 million bolivars belonging to a presidential discretionary fund, or partida secreta. The issue had originally been brought to public scrutiny in November 1992 by journalist José Vicente Rangel. The money was used to support the electoral process in Nicaragua,[37][38][39] and during the process it was revealed that the money was used to support and hire bodyguards for President Violeta Chamorro.[40] On 21 May 1993, the Supreme Court considered the accusation valid, and the following day the Senate voted to strip Pérez of his immunity. Many of those in the Senate who supported Pérez's impeachment were members of AD.[20] Pérez refused to resign, but after the maximum 90 days temporary leave available to the President under Article 188 of the 1961 constitution, the National Congress removed Pérez from office permanently on 31 August.[37]
Post-presidency
Pérez' trial concluded in May 1996, and he was sentenced to 28 months in prison.[37]
In 1998 he was prosecuted again, this time on charges of embezzlement on public funds, accused of having secret joint bank accounts held in New York with his mistress, Cecilia Matos.
After that, he self-exiled in Miami, Florida, from where he became an opponent of President Hugo Chávez. On 23 October 2003, at 80 years old, he suffered a stroke that left him partially disabled.[42] While in Miami, following the Daktari Ranch affair, Pérez said that the plot was a hoax but that Chávez had to be forcibly removed, saying that "Chávez has rejected all the peaceful exits that have been presented to him" and "it is not that I am in favor of violence, but that there is no other way out of Chavez".[43][44]
In 2009, Venezuelan attorney general Luisa Ortega Díaz ordered the extradition of Pérez due to his implementation of the Plan Ávila.[45]
Personal life
At the age of 26 he married his first cousin
Death
On 25 December 2010, Pérez was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Miami, where he died that same afternoon. The cause of death was initially reported as having been a heart attack,[48] but was later referred to as "respiratory failure".[49] It later emerged that Blanca Rodríguez and Pérez's four daughters and son learned of Pérez's death from a news website, as neither Matos nor her daughters notified them of the loss. Chávez offered condolences, but commented that he hopes Pérez's way of governing would not return to the country: "May he rest in peace. But with him ... may the form of politics that he personified rest in peace and leave here forever."[50] Pérez's relatives in Miami said that Pérez would be buried in Miami and that they have no intention of returning his remains to Venezuela until Chávez was no longer in office.[50] Less than 24 hours before the burial, legal representatives for Blanca Rodríguez obtained a court order to stop the ceremony. The order was based on Blanca Rodríguez's legal right as Pérez's widow to determine where he would be buried. It was reported that Miami relatives agreed to her wish to return Pérez's body to Venezuela[51] but later they denied having reached to an agreement.[52] On 4 October 2011, the remains of Carlos Andrés Pérez were brought back to Venezuela, nine months after his death. The casket arrived in a flight originated from Atlanta, Georgia, escorted by Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, friend of Pérez and member of Democratic Action (AD). Once in Caracas it was transported to the Headquarters of AD, where over 5,000 people waited to see the hearse and the casket covered with the Venezuelan flag. Pérez remains were interred on Thursday 6 October 2011.[53] Cecilia Matos died in Bogotá, Colombia, of "kidney and respiratory problems," one of her daughters told Efe. She was 66. The death of Cecilia Matos came 25 days after Pérez was buried in Venezuela, following a prolonged family dispute about where his final resting place should be.[citation needed]
In popular culture
The documentary film CAP 2 Intentos (English: CAP 2 Attempts), directed by Carlos Oteyza , focuses on the two non-consecutive presidential tenures of Andrés Pérez.[54]
Oteyza later released another documentary, CAP Inédito (CAP Unedited), featuring including previously unpublished material and from a private point of view.[55]
Honour
Foreign honours
- Italy:
- Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (17 November 1976)[56]
- Portugal:
- Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (1 June 1977)[57]
- Spain:
- Collar of the Order of Charles III (6 September 1978)[58]
- Malaysia:
- Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm (1990)[59]
- Jamaica:
- Honorary Member of the Order of Jamaica[60]
- Yugoslavia
See also
- List of presidents of Venezuela
- List of ministers of interior of Venezuela
- List of governors of Federal District of Venezuela
References
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- ^ According to es:Anexo:Cotización histórica del bolívar con respecto al dólar, 1983 began with an exchange rate of roughly 81 bolívars to a US dollar and ended at roughly 107 to the US dollar. Thus, 250 million bolívars would have been worth roughly 3.1 million dollars on 1 January and 2.3 million on 31 December, averaging roughly 2.7 million.
- ^ James D. Henderson, Helen Delpar, Maurice Philip Brungardt, Richard N. Weldon (2000), A reference guide to Latin American history, M.E. Sharpe. p516
- ^ JSTOR 166173.
- JSTOR 166273.
- ^ ISSN 1913-8067.
- ^ Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University, Past Bartels World Affairs Fellows Archived 17 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 131
- ^ from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ a b R. Guy, Emerson (2011). "A Bolivarian People: Identity politics in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela". Humanities Research. Canberra: Australian National University. 17 (1): 87–111.
- ISBN 978-0-520-95918-7.
- ISBN 978-3-319-59506-1,
the el Caracazo massacre in 1989
- ^ a b "Venezuela's Chavez Era". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ Ali, Tariq (9 November 2006). "A beacon of hope for the rebirth of Bolívar's dream". The Guardian. London.
- ^ S2CID 143947955.
- ^ a b Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 132
- ^ a b Rivero 2011, p. 102
- ^ a b Margarita López Maya, 2003. "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness", Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol.35, No.1 (2003), pp 120-121 (See #Further reading).
- S2CID 145292996.
In this regard, the Caracazo was not such a spontaneous outburst as is commonly believed. We have found that anti-neoliberal student protest had been building in the previous days in Merida as well as other cities.
- ^ a b c d DiJohn, Jonathan (December 2005). The Political Economy of Anti-Politics and Social Polarization in Venezuela, 1998-2004. London School of Economics. pp. 14–15.
- .
- ^ El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999 Archived June 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007
- ISBN 1-876646-27-6.
- ISBN 9781108981873.
Caracazo anti-neoliberal uprising
- S2CID 145292996.
In this regard, the Caracazo was not such a spontaneous outburst as is commonly believed. We have found that anti-neoliberal student protest had been building in the previous days in Merida as well as other cities.
- ISSN 1913-8067.
- ISSN 0094-582X.
- ^ Rivero 2011, p. 109
- ^ Branford, Sue (5 February 1992). "Hugo Chavez fails to overthrow Venezuela's government". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ Rivero 2011, p. 118
- ^ Nelson, Brian A. (Fall 2007). "One Crowded Hour". Virginia Quarterly Review.
- ^ TalCual, Opinión (15 November 2021). "Del plan Ávila al plan Zamora, por Beltrán Vallejo". Tal Cual (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Venezuela: The Eclipse of Human Rights" (PDF). Amnesty International. 1993.
- ^ "Human Rights in Venezuela" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. October 1993.
- ^ a b Rivero 2011, pp. 180–181
- ^ Rivero 2011, p. 179
- ^ a b c Kada, Naoko (2003), "Impeachment as a punishment for corruption? The cases of Brazil and Venezuela", in Jody C. Baumgartner, Naoko Kada (eds, 2003), Checking executive power: presidential impeachment in comparative perspective, Greenwood Publishing Group
- ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.
- ISBN 9781732877719.
- ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.
- ^ a b c (in Spanish) Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez' biography, CIDOB
- ^ "El ex presidente venezolano Carlos Andrés Pérez, hospitalizado por un accidente cardiovascular" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 26 October 2003.
- ^ "Ex presidente y líder de oposición llaman a la rebelión en Venezuela". El Universo (in Spanish). 12 May 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ "EU rechaza patrocine golpe contra Chávez". Hoy Digital. 11 May 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
Pérez aseguró que «en estos momentos no hay algún complot contra Chávez, pero hay que sacarlo por la fuerza».
En Venezuela «no se presentará un nuevo caracazo», pero «inevitablemente habrá muertos, como en toda acción armada», advirtió el ex presidente venezolano en declaraciones desde Miami a la privada radio Caracol de Bogotá.
«Chávez ha rechazado todas las salidas pacíficas que se le han presentado. De manera que ya no queda sino el último recurso: la violencia», agregó Pérez, tras insistir en que «no es que yo sea partidario de la violencia, sino que no hay otro camino para salir de Chávez». - ^ "Extradition of Former Venezuelan President Requested". Americas Quarterly. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ Vinogradoff, Ludmila (26 October 1992). "Corrupción y faldas en la cúpula venezolana". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ Union Radio (1 April 2008). "Ex presidente Carlos Andrés Pérez desea regresar a Venezuela" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 5 April 2008.
- ^ El Universal (25 December 2010). "Falleció el ex presidente Carlos Andrés Pérez" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- ^ Salomon, Gisela. "Venezuelan ex-president Carlos Andres Perez dies - Politics AP". MiamiHerald.com. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Chavez bids critical farewell to adversary Perez". The Associated Press. 27 December 2010.
- ^ "Feud over former Venezuelan president's body ends". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
- ^ "Row over Venezuela ex-leader Perez's burial rekindled". BBC News. 4 January 2011.
- ^ "Body Carlos Andres Perez, Former President, Returns To Venezuela". Huffington Post. 5 October 2011.
- ^ "Ganadores del premio Algo de Cine". Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- Diario las Américas(in Spanish). 3 October 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
- ^ "Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana". www.quirinale.it. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "ENTIDADES ESTRANGEIRAS AGRACIADAS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". www.ordens.presidencia.pt. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-1978-23372". www.boe.es. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang, dan Pingat Persekutuan". Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- ^ "Order of Jamaica". jis.gov.jm. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Одликувања" (PDF). Službeni list SFRJ. XXXII (41): 1272. 17 September 1976.
- ^ "Идеје Симона Боливара имају трајну вредност". Borba: 1. 19 March 1976.
Bibliography
- Hernández, Ramón and El Nacional, 2006
- ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.
- ISBN 978-1-7328777-1-9.
- Tarver, H. Micheal. The Rise and Fall of Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez: An Historical Examination, Volume 1: The Early Years 1936-1973. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.
- Tarver, H. Micheal. The Rise and Fall of Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez: An Historical Examination, Volume 2: The Later Years 1973–2004. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2005.
- Tarver, H. Michealand Luis A. Caraballo Vivas. "Administrative Corruption: The Case of Carlos Andres Perez." Current World Leaders Volume 37 Number 6 (December 1994): 75–97.