The Senate of Venezuela was the upper house of Venezuela's legislature under its 1961 constitution. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly of Venezuela. However, since 1999 the former chamber of senators has been used by the National Assembly for solemn meetings and other special functions.
In Venezuela, lifetime Senate seats existed from 1961 to 1999. The former Presidents who held this position were: Rómulo Betancourt (1964–1981), Raúl Leoni (1969–1972), Rafael Caldera (1974-1994 and 1999–2000), Carlos Andrés Pérez (1979–1989, 1989–1993, 1993-1997 and 1999–2000), Luis Herrera Campins (1984–2000) and Jaime Lusinchi (1989–1999).
At the Senate's last election in 1998, it had 54 elected members (48 elected two per state plus 6 additional to get a more proportional result) and 3 lifetime senators.
Presidents of the Senate Primary sources:
PresidentTenurePartyCarlos R. Travieso1958-1959IndependentRaúl Leoni1959-1962Acción DemocráticaLuis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa1962-1965Acción DemocráticaLuis Augusto Dubuc1965-1968Acción DemocráticaArmando Vegas1968-1969COPEIJosé Antonio Pérez Díaz1969-1974COPEIGonzalo Barrios1974-1979Acción DemocráticaGodofredo González1979-1984COPEIReinaldo Leandro Mora1984-1989Acción DemocráticaOctavio Lepage1989-1990Acción DemocráticaDavid Morales Bello1990-1991Acción DemocráticaPedro París Montesinos1991-1993Acción DemocráticaOctavio Lepage1993-1994Acción DemocráticaEduardo Gómez Tamayo1994-1996National ConvergenceCristóbal Fernández Daló1996-1998Movimiento al SocialismoPedro Pablo Aguilar1998-1999COPEILuis Alfonso Dávila1999Movimiento V República
References
See also National Assembly (Venezuela), Unicameral legislature of Venezuela since 2000 Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies, Lower house of Venezuela 1961-1999