The first presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez or the First Andrés Pérez Presidency or the First Andrés Pérez Administration was Carlos Andrés Pérez's first tenure as the President of Venezuela, which lasted from 11 March 1974 to 11 March 1979. His first Presidency coincided with the oil boom of 1974, which saw Venezuela's economy prosper. Carlos Andrés Pérez launched a program of rapid modernization. His first presidency also saw the nationalization of the oil industry. He would later regain the presidency following his Victory in the 1988 Elections in Venezuela. His Second presidency would start on February 2 1989.
Background Venezuelan Presidential election 1973 Results Candidates Votes % Carlos Andrés Pérez 2,122,427 48.70% Lorenzo Fernández 1,598,929 36.70% Jesús Paz Galarraga 221,827 5.05% José Vicente Rangel 186,255 4.26% Abstention: 164,935 3.48% Total votes: 4.572.187 In 1973, Carlos Andrés Pérez was nominated to run for the presidency for AD. Youthful and energetic, Perez 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.
Many people were skeptical that Venezuelans would choose such a controversial figure as Pérez, but when the results were in they showed he had won a clear a victory, but, what was even more important, AD had an absolute majority in Congress: the pardo masses were still adecos to the core (1973). Pérez's appeal was not only to the poor but also to the elite and the middle class, for, it was widely reported in political circles and the media, that his political advisor Diego Arria created his public persona as a well-tailored man and in general refurbished his "image".
Cabinet
Ministries Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela, period 1974-1979.OFFICENAMETERMPresidentCarlos Andrés Pérez1974–1979Home AffairsLuis Piñerúa Ordaz1974–1975Octavio Lepage1975–1978Manuel Mantilla1978–1979Foreign Relations1974–1975Ramón Escovar Salom1975–1977Simón Alberto Consalvi1977–1979FinanceHéctor Hurtado1974–1977Luis José Silva Luongo1977–1979DefenseHomero Leal Torres1974–1976Francisco Álvarez Torres1976–1977Fernando Paredes Bello1977–1979DevelopmentCarmelo Lauría Lesseur1974Constantino Quero Morales1974–1975José Ignacio Casal1975–1976Luis Álavarez Domínguez1976–1979EducationLuis Manuel Peñalver1974–1977Carlos Rafael Silva1977–1979Gerardo Cedeño Fermín1979JusticeOtto Marín Gómez1974–1975Armando Sánchez Bueno1975–19761976–1979Mines and HydrocarbonsValentín Hernández Acosta1974–1979Environment1977–1979AgricultureFroilán Álvarez Yépez1974Luis José Oropeza1974–1975Carmelo Contreras Barboza1975Gustavo Pinto Cohén1975–1979LaborAntonio Leidenz1974–1976José Manzo González1976–1979Health and Social Assistance1974–1975Antonio Parra León1975–1979CommunicationsArmando Sánchez Bueno1974–1975Leopoldo Sucre Figarella1975–1976Jesús Vivas Casanova1976–1977Transport and communicationsJesús Vivas Casanova1977–1979José Ignacio Álvarez Maldonado1979Urban DevelopmentRobert Padilla Fernández1977–1979Information and TourismDiego Arria1977–1978Celestino Armas1978–1979YouthPedro París Montesinos1977Alfredo Baldó Casanova1977–1979Secretary of PresidencyRamón Escovar Salom1974–1979Efraín Schacht Aristeguieta1975–1976José Luis Salcedo Bastardo1976–1979Office of Coordination and PlanificationGumersindo Rodríguez1974–1977Lorenzo Azpúrua Marturet1977–1979
Domestic policy
Legislative policy Congress gave Pérez a mandate to rule by decree for 100 days – and then for a further 100 days. He also had a fiscal fortune in his hands such as no Venezuelan president ever had. And Pérez didn’t lose time to start spending it. He commissioned a report on government, which was prepared and carried out by Arnoldo Gabaldón. It contained a blueprint for further large scale bureaucratic expansion. Gabaldón himself was named to a super-ministry, which combined public works and communications.Stewart, William S., Change and Bureaucracy. Public Administration in Venezuela, 1978 Since it was impossible to hire every Venezuelan, Pérez decreed that all public places should have bathroom attendants and that every elevator the country over should have an operator, although Venezuela had only had one or two hand-operated elevators before the Pérez Jiménez building euphoria. Contracts were handed out with abandon, and Venezuelans applauded with gusto. Pérez proclaimed that the oil wealth would not be squandered and founded a huge fund for "productive investments". This fund was exhausted very quickly. Congress had surrendered its power of fiscal oversight, one of the historical bases of democracy.
Economics Nationalization of iron and oil One of the most radical aspects of Pérez's program for government was the notion that petroleum oil was a tool for under-developed nations 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.
In 1975, the iron industry was nationalized and, the following year, the oil industry was nationalized, creating the company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). International events, including the Yom Kippur War of 1973, contributed to the implementation of Pérez's vision, as the drastic increase in oil prices that led to an economic boom for the country just as Pérez began his term in office.
His policies, including the nationalization of the iron and petroleum industries, 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 programs, were extremely ambitious and involved massive government spending, to the tune of almost $53 billion. His measures to protect the environment and foster sustainable development earned him the Earth Care award in 1975, the first time a Latin American leader had received this recognition.
Yet Pérez's credentials as a nationalist leader were not soiled. In fact, for many they were enhanced because in 1975 he nationalized the iron industry, and in 1976 he jumped further and nationalized the oil industry. Since by that time Venezuela was equipped to manage it, not much harm was done by that in itself, but with all the new collaterals that the government could offer, Pérez, after having gone through the "surplus" for investments, started taking out international loans and not small ones but sizable ones. Pérez "statized" the Venezuelan economy to such a degree that the load of paperwork to open a business was so heavy that a service branch was created called "permisología" (approximately, the "science of permits"), to which businessmen had to recur as a matter of course if they wanted to get the necessary bureaucratic approval. Permisologia was not meant to deter foreigners, and it was more burdensome on Venezuelan small entrepreneurs than on any other economic sector. Leftists were in a dazzled quandary because, on one hand, they disliked Pérez, but, on the other, they couldn’t complain about the state's interference because that was part of their own social and economic agenda. Labor unions, which in Venezuela were corrupt and pervasive and AD-managed, stood solidly behind Pérez.
Oil boom
Most people in Venezuela with a minimum of money and initiative could go to Miami and bring back a suitcase full of products that were sold to customers, generally friends or neighbors. Even servants' quarters were part of this informal import economy network. In Miami, Venezuelans became known as the "gimme two" people (due to a popular Venezuelan expression, "Ta' barato, dame dos"). The government of Carlos Andrés Pérez had an average poverty rate of 13%, and this era is remembered as "Saudi Venezuela". During this period, significant amounts of capital left Venezuela, especially in the later years.
Economic indicators The GDP per capita of the economy grew by an average of 0.27% annually. Meanwhile, the average unemployment rate was 5.88%, while average annual inflation reached 8.2%. In addition, the poverty index increased by 5 points compared to the previous democratic period and remained at an average of 14.08 points, although by the end of the period the poverty index had fallen to 11.67.
Education policy During the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, the Biblioteca Ayacucho and the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Program were created. At the same time, the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela was created under the initiative and leadership of the Venezuelan musician José Antonio Abreu.
Environment Pérez introduced legislation to protect the environment, whereas Caldera had tried to build a road into the vast southern area of Venezuela known as Amazonas, which his government wanted to settle and exploit. Since soils there are barren, all that could have been achieved would have been the destruction of forested areas where only Amerindian tribes and missionaries, both Catholic and Baptist, lived. By the time that Pérez was through with Venezuela, it was palpable that its society was more unequal than it ever had been: The pardos had been done in again, and as to economic diversification, there was essentially none. Even import-substitution in the automobile industry went down the drain when Pérez started importing Dodge Darts and selling them at subsidized prices.
Security
Kidnapping of William Niehous William Niehous was an American businessman kidnapped by far-left guerrillas. His kidnapping was the longest in Venezuelan history, lasting 3 years and 4 months. The government of Carlos Andrés Pérez mobilized quickly for his rescue. There were some controversies in the case; RCTV was shut down for 3 days due to the disclosure of exclusive information about the kidnapping. The founder of the Socialist League, Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, was detained by agents of the DISIP, on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping; Jorge Antonio Rodríguez was tortured and died on July 25 of that year from a heart attack. Deputy Salom Mesa was also accused of being involved in the kidnapping, and his parliamentary immunity was lifted; he was imprisoned for two years in the San Carlos Barracks.
Human Rights During Pérez's first government, the non-governmental organization Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDDH) denounced cases of forced disappearance, as well as the claims of relatives searching for the bodies of the victims. The CDDH also denounced harassment, persecution, and arrests carried out against labor and student leaders and activists linked to certain leftist groups.
In 1975, following the escape of a group of prisoners from the San Carlos barracks, approximately 200 people were arrested for alleged involvement in the escape. Some were later released after it was proven that they had not participated in the incident. The CDDH denounced the mistreatment suffered by the detainees and the prohibition on receiving family visits.
That same year, the murder of nine young people in a boarding house occurred, a case that became known as the Valencia massacre. In response to the increase in cases of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial executions committed by the Judicial Police Technical Corps (PTJ), the CDDH requested the repeal of the Vagrancy and Misconduct Law and the elimination of a crime-fighting plan known as the "Christmas Plan."