Presidency of Luis Herrera Campins

Luis Herrera Campins served as President of Venezuela from 1979 to 1984. Prior to his election, he founded the moderately conservative Christian COPEI party. He was succeeded by Jaime Lusinchi.

Luis Herrera Campins
Presidency of Luis Herrera Campins
12 March 1979 – 2 February 1984
Luis Herrera Campins
PartyCopei
SeatMiraflores Palace, Caracas
← Carlos Andrés Pérez
Jaime Lusinchi →

Presidential Standard (1970–1997)

Background

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In the Republic of Venezuela, presidents and congress were elected in the same election for five-year terms. At the 1978 election, AD fielded the unexciting Luis Piñerúa Ordaz and the COPEI selected Luis Herrera Campins.

Some observers believed that Venezuelans were ready to elect a leader who opposed the lavish expenditures of predecessor Carlos Andrés Pérez. Herrera Campins ran on the slogan "¡Basta!" ("Enough!") in reference to the spending levels at the time.[1] The adecos were in a no-win situation disillusioned as they were with Pérez and unexcited by Piñerua, and Herrera defeated his Adeco adversary by a vote of 1,133,059 to 1,053,137.[1] Venezuela had demonstrated once again that at the ballot level it was a working democracy.

Presidency

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At the start of Herrera Campins' term, Venezuela's economy was succeeding due to high oil revenues. However, it also faced extremely high foreign debt due to the effects of spending by the previous President, Carlos Andrés Pérez. During his campaign he pledged to reduce expenditures, but during his term he spent on extravagant projects such as the Teresa Carreño Theater and expensive public works such as the Caracas Metro. He promised to other Latin American countries to supply them with oil. When oil prices fell in 1983, an economic depression began.[2]

Few presidents had practiced winner-takes-all as Herrera Campins did. Even full-blooded Social Christians who had worked for the Pérez administration were fired. But Herrera did have in his cabinet a few figures that were not copeyanos, among them Manuel Quijada, the former anti-democracy conspirator. (Later, Quijada was one of the political advisors of Chavez before the former paratrooper won the presidency.[citation needed]) He named the economist Leopoldo Díaz Bruzual to the Venezuelan Central Bank. Díaz Bruzual was a protégé of and advisor to Reinaldo Cervini, a very rich man who had life-time tenure at Pro-Venezuela, a kind of semi-official institute founded to promote Venezuelan industrialization. Cervini doubled as Maecenas to communist intellectuals, who would physically confront anyone who dared criticize their patron. Herrera Campins toned down the showiness of his predecessor, even though his government had another windfall when oil prices rose dramatically again in 1983. Venezuela had increased its indebtedness beyond the levels attained by the Pérez government. There was much talk at the time of "bipolarity", the belief that Venezuela was stuck forever in the cycle of AD-COPEI ruling alternatively but following the same policies of high-spending, high-bureaucracy, and a statized economy. One brash foreign policy initiative taken by Herrera either should have gladdened or encouraged militarists in Venezuela. When the Argentine military dictator and "dirty war" veteran Leopoldo Galtieri had the Falklands invaded in 1982, Venezuela officially, though not materially, backed the Argentine move.

When dollars flooded Venezuela again, economists began talking of "overheating", although it wasn't clear whether they knew what they were talking about[citation needed]. It was pseudo-technical jargon, but Díaz Bruzual was among the adherents to this idea, if not actually the economist who got the "overheated" ball rolling. In the USA, president Jimmy Carter was fighting inflationary pressures and interests rates there, and in the industrialized nations generally, went up to unheard of levels. In Venezuela, a Canadian bank was offering interests as high as 21%. But because of the overheating thesis, Díaz Bruzual applied an old law whereby interest payments above 12% were considered usurious and illegal. Dollars started flowing out of Venezuela in the billions, and the central bank, which had always been zealous about national reserves, took fright at their growing depletion, but instead of counter-acting with incentives to reverse the outward flow, the bolivar was officially devalued by over 50% on its previous 4.30 to the dollar. The government, in brief, was not going to subsidize the bolivar at its previous rate. But the measure encouraged a further massive flight of dollars, and the government then clamped full currency control.

During his presidency the inauguration of Teatro Teresa Carreno and the Metro de Caracas took place, along with the presidential election of Jaime Lusinchi of Acción Democrática.

Herrera's cabinet (1979-1984)

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Ministries [3]
OFFICE NAME TERM
President Luis Herrera Campins 1979–1984
Home Affairs Rafael Montes de Oca 1979–1982
  Luciano Valero 1982–1984
External Affairs José Alberto Zambrano Velasco 1979–1984
Finance Luis Ugueto 1979–1982
  Arturo Sosa 1982–1984
Defense Fernando Paredes Bello 1979
  Luis Rangel Burgoing 1979–1980
  Tomás Abreu Rescaniere 1980–1981
  Bernardo Leal Puchi 1981–1982
  Vicente Narváez Churión 1982–1983
  Humberto Alcalde Álvarez 1983–1984
Development Manuel Quijada 1979–1981
  José Enrique Porras Omaña 1981–1984
Transport and Communications Vinicio Carrera 1979–1983
  Francisco Lara García 1983–1984
Education Rafael Fernández Heres 1979–1982
  Felipe Montilla 1982–1984
Justice José Guillermo Andueza 1979–1981
  J. Reinaldo Chalbaud Zerpa 1981–1984
Mines and Oil Humberto Calderón Berti 1979–1983
  José Ignacio Moreno León 1983–1984
Environment Vinicio Carrera 1979–1983
  Francisco Lara García 1983–1984
Agriculture Luciano Valero 1979–1981
  José Luis Zapata Escalona 1981–1982
  Nidia Villegas 1982–1984
Labor Reinaldo Rodríguez Navarro 1979–1981
  Rangel Quintero Castañeda 1981–1984
Health and Social Services Alfonso Benzecri 1979–1981
  Luis González Herrera 1981–1984
Urban Development Orlando Orozco 1979–1982
  María Cristina Maldonado 1982–1984
Information and Tourism José Luis Zapata Escalona 1979–1981
  Enrique Pérez Olivares 1981–1982
  Guido Díaz Peña 1982–1984
Youth Charles Brewer Carías 1979–1982
  Guillermo Yépez Boscán 1982–1984
Secretary to the Presidency Ramón Guillermo Aveledo 1979–1984
Office of Planning and Coordination Ricardo Martínez 1979–1982
  Maritza Izaguirre 1982–1984

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Venezuela's President‐Elect". The New York Times. 1978-12-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  2. ^ Romero, Simon (2007-11-13). "Luis Herrera Campíns, Venezuela Leader, Dies at 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  3. ^ Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela, period 1979-1984.