Vladimir Villegas Poljak (born 11 December 1961[1]) is a Venezuelan journalist and politician. He was President of Venezolana de Televisión from late 2003 to December 2004. He has written regularly for El Nacional and El Mundo, with a weekly column in El Nacional. He is a founder of the Avanzada Progresista party,[2] having previously been a supporter of Patria Para Todos.

Vladimir Villegas
President of Venezolana de Televisión
In office
November 2003 – December 2004
Venezuela Ambassador to Brazil
In office
2002–?
Venezuela Ambassador to Mexico
In office
May 2005 – November 2005
Personal details
Born (1961-12-11) 11 December 1961 (age 62)
Caracas, Venezuela
Political partyAvanzada Progresista
EducationCentral University of Venezuela

Early life edit

Villegas is the son of Cruz Villegas, head union communist,[3] confined to the Amazon jungle during the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and former president of the United Workers of Venezuela (CUTV) and vice president of the World Federation of Trade Unions. His mother, Maja Poljak was Jewish Communist social activist and photographer born in Zagreb, Croatia, formerly Yugoslavia.

He is the brother of the journalist and politician Ernesto Villegas, Minister of Communication and Information since October 2012.[4][5]

Education edit

While attending the Central University of Venezuela, Villegas was a leader of the Communist Party of Venezuela, and he began his journalistic career at the Party's Tribuna Popular.[4] Later he became close to La Causa Radical and took a seat in the Chamber of Deputies.[6]

Political career edit

In the 1993 Venezuelan general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for La Causa Radical, representing the Venezuelan Federal District,[7] and was re-elected in the 1998 elections.[1]

He was a member of the 1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela which drew up the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela. He was the Venezuelan Ambassador to Brazil in 2002, and Ambassador to Mexico from May to November 2005, until the Mexico and Venezuela diplomatic crisis saw him recalled to Caracas.[4] From November 2003 to December 2004 he was the president of the state-run Venezolana de Televisión.[8] In 2006 he was named deputy Foreign Minister for Asia, the Middle East and Oceania;[4][6] he resigned in 2007 over disagreements regarding the 2007 constitutional referendum.[1]

On 2 May 2013, Villegas was offered the position of being the director of Globovisión beside Leopoldo Castillo.[9] Villegas ultimately declined the position citing "differences" with the newly created board of directors.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c (in Spanish) Daniel Suárez/DLATáchira, Diario de los Andes, 23 June 2012, "Siempre habrá conflictos entre el periodismo y los poderes"
  2. ^ (in Spanish) Vladimir Villegas, noticias24.com, 3 July 2012,Avanzada Progresista "se convertirá en una referencia para quienes creen en la Constitución"
  3. ^ "Cruz Villegas: "Un hombre de firmes principios y gran sensibilidad social"". Noticias24. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d (in Spanish) Últimas Noticias, 2 May 2013, Perfil | Conozca a Vladimir Villegas, el nuevo director de Globovisión Archived 2013-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ (in Spanish) Vladimir Villegas, El Tiempo, 14 April 2013, Nicolás Maduro, de chofer a heredero del chavismo; see also es:Ernesto Villegas
  6. ^ a b (in Spanish) El Nacional Web, 2 May 2013, Además de periodista, diputado y miembro de la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, ocupó cargos de cancillería Archived 2013-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ (in Spanish) notitarde.com, 23 August 2010, La Causa R
  8. ^ "Perfil | Conozca a Vladimir Villegas, el nuevo director de Globovisión | Últimas Noticias". Ultimas Noticias. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Vladimir Villegas y Leopoldo Castillo nuevos directores de Globovisión | Últimas Noticias". Ultimas Noticias. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Vladimir Villegas no asumirá riendas de Globovisión | Últimas Noticias". Ultimas Noticias. 21 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2020.

External links edit

  • (in Spanish) Columns at El Nacional