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| Affiliation | Democratic Action |
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| Name | Carlos Andrés Pérez |
| Address |
, , Venezuela |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 27, 1922
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| Died | December 25, 2010
(88 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Oct 27, 2024 02:12am |
| Tags |
Convicted - Impeached - Removed From Office -
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| Info | Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (born October 27, 1922), best known as CAP was President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993.
A member of Acción Democrática, Carlos Andres Perez first made his mark as a tough, guerrilla-busting interior minister and canny machine politician in Raul Leoni's administration (1963-1968). In his first term as president he was praised by the country's leftist groups for taking steps to nationalize the petroleum and iron ore industries in order to control profits. In the 1970s, he denounced advocates of globalization as "genocide workers in the pay of economic totalitarianism". He lashed out at institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, claiming that it was the equivalent of a "Neutron Bomb that killed people, but left buildings standing." As a result he nationalized Shell, Exxon, U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel operations in the country.
In February 1989, at the beginning of his second term as President, he accepted an International Monetary Fund proposal known as the Washington consensus. In return for accepting this proposal, the International Monetary Fund offered Venezuela a loan for 4.5 billion US dollars. Poor economic conditions during his tenure led to massive popular protests in Caracas, the capital. These protests resulted in the deaths of many and resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency. The protest is now referred to as the Caracazo.
In February 1992, his government survived a bloody coup attempt by then-Army officer Hugo Chávez, who was later elected President of Venezuela. Pérez was impeached in 1993, following a scandal on the alleged mishandling of US$17 million from the presidents' special secret fund, used to help Violeta Chamorro's government in Nicaragua. His supporters claimed that the impeachment was politically motivated and had no legal basis, given the secret nature of the fund, as they argued that being secret meant that by law meant there was no reason for him to explain what he spent the funds on, and could use them any way he wished.
CAP's legacy is a complicated, contradictory one. The conservative policies he pursued in his second presidency in the 1990s were diametrically opposed to the populism of his first term in office. His first presidency is widely seen as having brought a sharp increase in official corruption - perhaps his most lasting legacy.
What his role was in the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 remains a mystery. In 2004, a group of Colombian paramilitary officers were arrested near Caracas and supposedly were hired to overthrow the presidency of Hugo Chávez. CAP was accused by the government of taking part in hiring these paramilitary officers, an accusation that he denies claiming it was a "montaje", or set up.
At the age of 26 he married his cousin Blanca Rodriguez with whom he has 6 children. During his first presidency it was a wide spread rumor that he had an ongoing affair with Cecilia Matos. The demands of political life dictated that Pérez could not even try divorcing Blanca to marry Cecilia. Besides, Blanca a devout catholic, would not agree to it. Pérez and Matos have two daughters together, one of them called Cecilia Pérez Matos. Once Perez completely retired from politics after failing to win a seat in the 1999 elections for the National Assembly, he sued Blanca for divorce, which is still pending in Venezuelan courts, and he currently lives with Matos in Miami, Florida since 2000.
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