Second presidency of Rafael Caldera

Rafael Caldera
60th President of Venezuela
In office February 2, 1994 – February 2, 1999
Preceded by	Ramón José Velásquez
Succeeded by	Hugo Chávez
Personal details
Born	24 January 1916 San Felipe, Yaracuy
Died	24 December 2009 (aged 93) Caracas, Venezuela[1]
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

The second presidency of Rafael Caldera took place from 1994 to 1999. Caldera had previously been President from 1969 to 1974.

Presidency

In his second presidency, Caldera included politicians from other political backgrounds who supported his candidacy 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 18 December 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).^[2] On 12 October 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.^[3]

Economic crisis

Venezuelan Presidential election 1993^[4]

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 the first year of his second presidency, Caldera was faced with a major financial crisis (Venezuelan banking crisis of 1994) that began with the failure of Banco Latino during the acting presidency of Ramón José Velásquez, continued with the failure of more than ten banks, and culminated with the loss of deposits. Money given by the government to the banks curtailed government spending in other areas, affecting thousands of people and creating 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 bankrupt, fundamentally due to the exchange rate regime imposed by the government, which made it difficult to obtain the currency to acquire intermediate goods. The prices of food, clothes and transport rose 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 27 June, he 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 bankrupted by the draining of deposits and those affected by speculative practices went to be adjusted by the State. In fact, the Central Bank of Venezuela announced the suspension of all its transaction in 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 never to accept the help of the International Monetary Fund, his government had to rescind the vow, due to the economic crisis and bad management. The effect of the interventionist practice on 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 bolívar was devalued by 70%, the exchange rate regime was imposed, fuel prices were increased by 800%, rates of interest were liberalized, and the process of privatization was continued. His program was welcomed by the IMF, but not by the country. Demonstrations and disturbances among the 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 labor law. The tripartite commission created 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 worldwide 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.^[5]

Amnesty to the 1992 coup participants

In 1994 Caldera fulfilled a promise made during the presidential campaign and pardoned the military figures involved in the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts.^[6] Many of these, once liberated, grouped in the political party MVR, under the leadership of Hugo Chávez, who ultimately, after several years in the political wilderness, won the 1998 presidential elections. That election saw the comprehensive 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.

Cabinet (1994-1999)

Ministries [7] OFFICE NAME TERM President Rafael Caldera 1994–1999 Home Affairs Ramón Escovar Salom 1994–1996   José Guillermo Andueza 1996–1998   Asdrúbal Aguiar 1998–1999 Outer Relations Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas 1994–1999 Finance Julio Sosa Rodríguez 1994–1995   Luis Ramón Matos Azócar 1995–1998   Freddy Rojas Parra 1998   Maritza Izaguirre 1998–1999 Defense Rafael Montero Revette 1994–1995   Moisés Orozco Graterol 1995–1996   Pedro Valencia Vivas 1996–1997   Tito Manlio Rincón Bravo 1997–1999 Development Luis Carlos Palacios 1994   Alberto Poletto 1994–1995   Werner Corrales 1995–1996   Freddy Rojas Parra 1996–1999 Transport and communications César Quintín Rosales 1994   Ciro Zaa Álvarez 1994–1996   Moisés Orozco Graterol 1996–1998   Julio César Martí Espina 1998–1999 Education Antonio Cárdenas Colmenter 1994–1999 Justice Rubén Creixens Savignon 1994–1996   Enrique Meier Echeverría 1996–1997   Hilarión Cardozo Esteva 1997–1999 Mines and Hydrocarbons Edwin Arrieta Valera 1994–1999 Labor Juan Nepomuceno Garrido 1994–1997   María Bernardoni de Govea 1997–1999 Environment Roberto Pérez Lecuna 1994–1997   Rafael Martínez Monró 1997–1999 Agriculture Ciro Añez Fonseca 1994–1995   Raúl Alegrett Ruiz 1995–1998   Ramón Ramírez López 1998–1999 Health and Social Assistance Vicente Pérez Dávila 1994   Carlos Walter Valecillos 1994–1995   Pedro Rincón Gutiérrez 1995–1997   José Félix Oletta 1997–1999 Urban Development Ciro Zaa Álvarez 1994   Francisco González 1994–1997   Julio César Martí Espina 1997–1998   Luis Granados 1998–1999 Family and Youth Mercedes Pulido de Briceño 1994–1996   Carlos Altimari Gásperi 1996–1999 Industry and Commerce Freddy Rojas Parra 1997–1998   Héctor Maldonado Lira 1998–1999 Secretary of Presidency Andrés Caldera Pietri 1994–1996   Asdrúbal Aguiar 1996–1998   José Guillermo Andueza 1998–1999 Office of Coordination and Planification Enzo Del Búffalo 1994   Luis Carlos Palacios 1994   Werner Corrales 1994–1995   Edgar Paredes Pisani 1995–1996   Teodoro Petkoff 1996–1999 CVG Alfredo Grúber 1994   Elías Innaty 1994–1999

References

1. Falleció ex presidente de la República Rafael Caldera. El Universal, Caracas, 24 December, 2009
2. Second term as president
3. Foreign policy
5. Economic Crisis
6. Efrain Hernandez Jr. (2009-12-24). "Former Venezuela President Rafael Antonio Caldera dies at age 93". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
7. Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela, period 1994-1999.

See also

• Rafael Caldera
• First Presidency of Rafael Caldera
• Presidents of Venezuela