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Rafael Caldera

Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez (born January 24, 1916) was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.

Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party. He first ran for president unsuccessfully in 1946 and tried again every time it was possible until finally succeeding in 1968, winning by a relatively scant 33,000 votes against a recently divided Acción Democrática party. When he was sworn into office in 1969, it marked the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in Venezuela's history. During his first presidency, Caldera was able to pacify the country by granting an amnesty that allowed guerrilla fighters, who had been operating clandestinely for almost a decade, to reincorporate to society and participate in politics.

In 1993, Caldera split from COPEI, the party he had founded, to form a new political party, Convergence, which, supported by a coalition of many small leftist parties (MAS, MEP, PCV) as well as some centre-right parties (URD, MIN), raised Caldera to the presidency in December 1993. This was a fatal blow to the traditional parties which, leaderless and demoralized, garnered few votes in the election. He won a very narrow victory in that year's presidential election. During his second presidential period, he pardoned Hugo Chávez, who would eventually succeed him in 1999.

Family and education

Rafael Caldera, was born in San Felipe, Yaracuy, were his parents Tomás Rafael Caldera Izaguirre and Rosa Sofía Rodriguez Rivero. Orphan from young age, was adopted by his aunt Maria Eva Rodriguez Rivero, who was married to lawyer Tomás Liscano, becoming part of a wealthy Venezuelan Roman Catholic family. He married with Alicia Pietri de Caldera in 1941, with whom he has six children: Mireya, Juan José, Rafael Tomás, Alicia Helena, Cecilia, and Andrés Antonio Caldera Pietri.

Caldera studied elementary school in San Felipe 1921 - 1922, enters at San Ignacio school of the Society of Jesus in Caracas 1923 - 1925, in 1926 returns to Yaracuy studying at Padre Delgado school, and secondary education again in Caracas (San Ignacio school) 1927 - 1931, made his superior studies in this city, at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) 1931 - 1938, obtaining a doctorate in the Faculty of Right and Political Sciences, later was professor of sociology and law in several universities including the UCV, was a student leader, which took him to the political world.

Between his educative curriculum, Caldera dominates languages like the French, English, Italian, something of German and Portuguese. Also is a leading student of XIX Century humanist and educator Andrés Bello and has authored multiple books on politics, literature and Christian Democracy, and member of the Venezuelan Academy of the Language. As such, one of his achievements is the acceptance of millardo ("milliard", 10 ⁹) by the Royal Spanish Academy in 1995 as an alternative to mil millones (in English: one billion).

Caldera has participated in educative and political circles, like the direction of the Venezuelan Institute of Labor rights (1958-1966) and the presidencies of the Venezuelan Association of Sociology (1958-1967), the Christian Democratic Organization of Latin America (1964-1968) and the World-wide Christian Democratic Union (1967-1968).

Political life

Foundation of several parties, and the beginning of COPEI

Caldera was secretary of the Venezuelan Catholic Youth. In 1936 he participated in the formation of the National Student Union, which on October 1, 1938 become the political party Electoral Action. This party later merged with the National Action Movement, legalized on June 2, 1942, being one of the groups that formed on January 13, 1946 the social Christian party COPEI, with Caldera being a founder. Caldera stood as COPEI's candidate in the 1947 presidential elections, being defeated by the Acción Democrática (AD) candidate, writer Rómulo Gallegos. Gallegos was overthrown a few months later by a military junta, headed by Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, who was later succeeded by the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

Presidential candidate

After the overthrow of Pérez Jiménez and the consequent constitution of a provisional government headed by Wolfgang Larrazábal, Caldera was elected Solicitor General of Venezuela, but left this position, to participate in the 1958 Presidential Elections, which were won by Rómulo Betancourt of Acción Democrática. Nevertheless, Caldera had much influence for through his party, which the third strongest political force in the country at the time. Together with Betancourt, Jóvito Villalba, leader and founder of Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), and other political leaders, he elaborated and signed the Punto Fijo Pact, (named after Caldera's house, which was the site chosen by the leaders to sign the document). Supporters of the pact claimed that it provided the basis of a democratic coexistence which would hold for the next 40 years, laying the foundations for principles such as free and transparent elections, respect for electoral results, the conformation of governments balances, with representation of independent political forces, and the application by those governments of a Common Minimum Program that guaranteed the democratic viability and the development of the country with the due internal consensus.

Caldera was COPEI's unsuccessful candidate for president in 1963. However, he won the 1969 elections, and was sworn in as president on March 11, 1969. It was the first time in Venezuela's 139 years of independence that an incumbent government peacefully surrendered power to an elected member of the opposition. However, COPEI still had a minority in the legislature.

First term as president

Venezuelan Presidential election 1968

Results

Candidates	Votes	%
Rafael Caldera	1,083,712	29.13%
Gonzalo Barrios	1,050,806	28.24%
Miguel Angel Burelli	826,758	22.22%
Luis Pietro Figueroa	719,461	19.34%
Abstention:	135.311	3.27%
Total votes:	3,999,617

Caldera's first government emphasized the end of Betancourt doctrine, which denied Venezuelan diplomatic recognition to any regime, right or left, that came to power by military force. Caldera broke the isolation of Venezuela with the rest of Latin America, recognizing the military governments of the region, and made a policy in defense of the insular territories, and the Gulf of Venezuela, and also signed the Port of Spain Protocol with Guyana, which concerned the Guayana Esequiba. The president's economic policies were notable for the reinforcement of the power of the employer's association Fedecámaras, and the period of North American economic crisis, that also characterized the first term of Richard Nixon, with low oil prices, which caused the economic growth of Venezuela to stagnate. Caldera also presided over a period of pacification of the country, making a ceasefire with the left armed groups, which were then integrated into the political life, and legalising the Communist Party of Venezuela in spite of the opposition of Acción Democrática.

Caldera also reformed the 1961 Constitution to remove a ban on election to public office for people who had been sentenced to more than three years in prison, which had been specifically designed to politically disqualify General Marcos Pérez Jiménez, by means of its retroactive application. Caldera closed the Industrial Technical School permanently, and the Central University of Venezuela for a period of two years, due to student protests against his government. On December 9, 1970, Rafael Caldera created the Great Marshal of Ayacucho Institute of National Higher Defence Studies (IAEDEN), in order to the development of a state security perspective, and contribute to the defence culture of the nation.

Caldera, who raised the tax on the rent to the oil companies to 60 percent, initiated the construction of El Tablazo petrochemical complex, in Zulia state. He also inaugurated the Caracas Polyhedron, and the Miguel Pérez Carreño Hospital in Caracas, and concluded the demarcation of borders with Brazil. Rafael Caldera ended his first term as president on March 12, 1974, and was replaced by Carlos Andrés Pérez, from Acción Democrática, who won the 1973 elections.

Pacification of Venezuela

In 1969, the new government inherited a country with active urban and rural guerrilla movements, bans on two important political parties and many political leaders imprisoned. From the beginning of Caldera's presidency, this practice is suspended and the constitutional guarantees are maintained.

The government arrived with an attitude of ideological pluralism and dialogue across the political spectrum, entered into talks with the armed groups, legalized leftist parties and released jailed politicians, demanding only that they stay within Venezuelan law.

As result from this effort, by the end of Caldera's presidency, for the first time in many years, no significant political organization in Venezuela plans to take control of the government by violent means. At the 1973 elections, leaders of the old guerrilla movements were elected as senators and deputies.

Political activity and leaving COPEI

Caldera spend ten years of constitutional period, of no immediate re-election, and stood as a candidate again in the 1983 Presidential Elections with COPEI support, being defeated by Jaime Lusinchi of Acción Democrática. In 1987 stood for the COPEI nomination for the 1988 presidential election, being defeated by Eduardo Fernández. In 1993 he decided to leave COPEI, and participated in the presidential elections of the same year with his new party, known as National Convergence, with the support of groups which had been his historical opponents, such as the left parties PCV, MAS and MEP.

Caldera won his second term as president in February 1994 - a win with its roots in his speech to the National Congress on February 4, 1992, the date of the first coup d'etat against the second government of Carlos Andrés Pérez. In this speech Caldera said:

We cannot ask to people with hunger to immolate themselves for a democracy that has not been able to give them enough to eat

This phrase, implying his tacit support to the Caracazo in 1989, and opposition to the neoliberal economic reforms pursued by Pérez in his second term, mark the beginning of Caldera's return to the presidency for a second term. Caldera won with around 30% of the votes, followed very close by three other candidates, but the abstention rate was 39.84%.

Second term as president

Venezuelan Presidential election 1993

Results

Candidates	Votes	%
Rafael Caldera	1,710,722	30.46%
Claudio Fermín	1,325,287	23.60%
Oswaldo Alvarez Paz	1,276,506	22.73%
Andrés Velásquez	1,232,653	21.95%
Abstention:	3,859,579	39.84%
Total votes:	5,829,216

In his second presidency, Caldera included politicians from other political backgrounds who supported his candidature in his cabinet, like some representatives of MAS party, Teodoro Petkoff at the Ministry of the Central Office of Coordination and Planning, and Pompeyo Márquez at the Border Ministry, as well as some independents in other ministries. In any case the support of the MAS and other parties were fundamental to approve some laws in the National Congress in his first years of government, due to his own party having few seats in Congress. On December 18, 1994 he inaugurated the Plaza Venezuela - El Valle section of the Caracas Metro which had been initiated by previous governments. In 1996, he received Pope John Paul II on his second visit to Venezuela, when he blessed the prisoners of the Catia Prison, on the west side of Caracas (After this visit, the building was demolished). On October 12, 1997 he received U.S. President Bill Clinton, in November of the same year Margarita Island hosted the Seventh Ibero-American Conference. In June 1998, the Inaugural meeting of the XXVIII General Assembly of the Organization of American States was held in Caracas.

Economic Crisis

In the first year of his second presidency, Caldera was faced with a major financial crisis that began with the intervention of Banco Latino (Latino Bank), during the acting presidency of Ramón José Velásquez, continued with the intervention of more than ten banks, and culminated with the draining of deposits, by concept of financial aid granted by the government to the banks, it produced thousands of affected people and a serious imbalance in the Venezuelan economy. The confidence and credibility of Venezuelans and foreigners at the Financial institutions were affected seriously. More than seventy thousand medium and small companies went bust, fundamentally due to the Exchange rate regime imposed by the government, which made it difficult to obtain the currency to acquire Intermediate goods. The price of food, clothes and transport was raised without control, impoverishing a greater number of Venezuelans.

Caldera also had to handle a vertiginous inflationary spiral and a parallel reduction of the Forex reserves, employees generously for the support of the bolívar in front of the U.S. dollar. On June 27, announced the temporary suspension of some constitutional guarantees, fundamentally related to the private property and the free economic activity, to allow control of the exchange market, the banking system and prices by the State. The financial organizations in bankruptcy by the draining of deposits and the affected by speculative practices, went to be adjusted by the State, in fact the Central Bank of Venezuela announced the suspension of all its operations of transaction of dollars. These economic measures were tolerated by the mass media and the international community, but not by the Venezuelan people.

Although Caldera promised during his campaign to never accept the help of the International Monetary Fund, his government had to make it, because of the economic crisis and the incapacity of management. The effect of the interventionist practice in the economy of Venezuela caused Caldera to announce the Agenda Venezuela (Venezuela Agenda) programme, which promised to restore the macroeconomic balance and to beat inflation. He applied measures labeled by his opponents as Neoliberal, in agreement with the recommendations of the IMF, that he had previously resisted. The Venezuelan currency (Bolívar) was devalued by 70%, the Exchange rate regime was imposed, fuel prices increased by 800%, liberalized the types of interest, was continued the process of privatization. This program was welcomed by the IMF, but not by the country. Demonstrations and disturbances among the Venezuelan population were frequent.

In 1997, a tripartite commission, consisting of representatives of industrialists, workers and the Government, assumed the reform of the regime of social benefits, and the deep revision of the Labour law. The tripartite commission creates a system of social benefits that anticipated, among other things, the annual payment and the cease of the labor performance, at the same time, five subsystems of social security with the purpose of improving the Government's activity, at the resolution of the basic problems of the Venezuelan workers.

Also during the second Caldera presidency, the process of Apertura Petrolera began with the purpose of increasing the involvement of the private sector, national and international, in the operation, exploration and refinement of petroleum and natural gas. The world-wide oil market crisis negatively influenced this process.

Due to differences with his coalition partners such as MAS, Caldera looked for the support of AD in Congress. Some AD members entered the Ministerial cabinet.

Amnesty to the 1992 coup participants

During the second Caldera presidency, the military figures involved in the 1992 coup were liberated, who grouped in the political party MVR, under the leadership of Hugo Chávez, with the hope of obtaining the support of left groups for his government to overcome his minority support in Congress. Caldera gained the presidential elections after leaving COPEI, creating a populist movement (National Convergence) with the support of the groups before mentioned. This period finally saw the defeat of Acción Democrática and COPEI, which had alternated in government for 35 years (from 1959 to 1994), and which now lost their influence on the Venezuelan political scene. The fall of the traditional parties and the movement initiated by Caldera, gave the bases to Chávez to initiate his own movement, which was crystallized with the legalization of the MVR, and his victory in the 1998 presidential elections.

After politics

On February 2, 1999, Rafael Caldera concluded his second term as president, and was succeeded by Hugo Chávez. Although Caldera liberated Chávez from prison (in March 1994), the new president did not exclude him from criticism in his inaugural speech. After the parliamentary elections of July 30, 2000, National Convergence remained with a single representative in the new unicameral National Assembly until 2005.

His poor health in recent years and his age have made Caldera definitely retire from politics.

Bibliography

Rasgos Biográficos del prócer José Gabriel Álvarez de Lugo (1932)
Andrés Bello (1935)
Derecho del Trabajo (1939)
Idea de una sociología venezolana (1953)
Aspectos sociológicos de la cultura en Venezuela (1957)
El Bloque Latinoamericano (1961)
Moldes para la Fragua (1962)
El lenguaje como vinculo social y la integración latinoamericana (1967)
Especificidad de la Democracia Cristiana (1972)
La Casa de Bello (1973)
Temas de Sociología Venezolana (1973)
Cinco años de cambio (1974)
La Nacionalización del Petróleo (1975)
Reflexiones de la Rábida (1976)
Caracas, Londres, Santiago de Chile: las tres etapas de la vida de Bello (1981)
Parlamento Mundial: una voz latinoamericana (1984)
Bolívar Siempre (1987)
El pensamiento jurídico y social de Andrés Bello (1987)
Los causahabientes, de Carabobo a Puntofijo (1999)

Trivia

Caldera is famous by his hairstyle, and for the use of Hair gel.
During Rafael Caldera's first government, a new style of official communication starts, with the television program Habla el Presidente, the head of the Venezuelan state informed about his projects and policies.
In 1996, the astrologer José Bernardo Gómez, predicts the death of Caldera, and the non culmination of his period, later arrested by the Venezuelan Political Police (DISIP), this astrologer decides to abandon his career.
During his second presidency, because of his age and unintelligible speeches, Caldera was imitated by many Venezuelan comedians, one of them Laureano Márquez.
In 1967, Rafael Caldera had a height of 5 ft 8 in (1,77 m) and a weight of 176,3 pounds (80 kg).