| Ramón José Velásquez | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office 5 June 1993 – 2 February 1994 |
|
| Preceded by | Octavio Lepage |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Caldera |
|
Secretary of the Presidency of Venezuela
|
|
| In office 1959 – 1963 |
|
|
|
|
| Born | 28 November 1916 San Juan de Colón, Táchira, Venezuela |
| Spouse(s) | Ligia Betancourt Mariño |
| Alma mater | Central University of Venezuela |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Signature |  |
Ramón José Velásquez Mujica (born 28 November 1916) is a Venezuelan political figure. He served as president of Venezuela between 1993 and 1994. He is known as a historian, journalist, lawyer, politician and entertainer of companies for his knowledge of the "national life".
Velásquez was born in San Juan de Colón, Táchira state, on 28 November 1916. Studied law and political sciences at the Central University of Venezuela, graduating in 1942. On 23 January 1958, when the democratic process began in Venezuela, founded the vespertine El Mundo. Velásquez has also been the president of El Nacional during two occasions (1964-1968/1979-1981). His interest in the media projected into the university atmosphere and this was reflected in the creation of a particular class on the history of the mass media in Venezuela at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. Velásquez was also founder a class on historical processes in Venezuela at the Metropolitan University of Caracas. As well as another class at the Institute of Historical Investigations and one on the Venezuelan Media at the Central University of Venezuela. He is a member of the International Council of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation.
Historian
As historian, has imposed his authority, thanks to the density of his works on episodes and personalities of Venezuelan history. From his work as investigator and his initiatives lead to the creation of the Archivo Histórico de Miraflores (Historical Archive of Miraflores) (1961), the Foundation for the rescue of the Venezuelan Documentary Heap (1974) and the Office of Investigations of Political History of the Congress (1983), of which he was also president. Velásquez has rescued several documents and significant papers of the national life, and has put them in diverse collections of bibliographical value, of these last ones, under his direction, they deserve to stand out at the Bulletin of the Historical Archive of Miraflores (founded in 1961) Pensamiento político venezolano del siglo XIX (Venezuelan Political Thought of the XIX century) (15 volumes, 1961), Viajando por Venezuela (Travelling Venezuela) (9 volumes, 1961), Nuestro siglo XIX, 1830-1900 (Our XIX century , 1830-1900) (9 volumes, 1961), Pensamiento político venezolano del siglo XX (Political Thought of the XX century) (1983). These important works have brought him many recognitions, individual of number of the National Academy of History (1964), Maria Moors Cabot prize of the University of Columbia, New York in 1967, Municipal prize of Prose (1972) fpr his book La caída del liberalismo amarillo (The fall of yellow Liberalism), individual of number of the Venezuelan Academy of Language (1977), and the Honoris Causa degree from the Andes University (1987), University of Carabobo (1987), Santa María University (1987) and the National Experimental University of Táchira (1992).
Politician
During the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Velásquez was jailed during a year. For his role at the compilation of the Libro negro de la dictadura (Black book of dictatorship). The files of this book, helped to know the crimes of the dictatorial period. When the country initiated its democratic life, worked as secretary of presidency during the government of Rómulo Betancourt. After that, was part of the National Congress, being considered as a factor of balance in the Venezuelan democracy. During Rafael Caldera´s term at presidency, served as minister of communications. Velásquez was also a permanent advisor not only of heads of government but also of parliamentarians, leaders, and political parties. In 1993, as a result of the crisis produced by the destitution of president Carlos Andrés Pérez, congress designated him as interim president, finishing the constitutional period in 1994.
Ramón José Velásquez currently resides in Caracas.
External links
- Biography (in Spanish) by CIDOB Foundation
- "La Paz Ramónica" (Velasquez´s government) by Edgar C. Otálvora
- "RJV La Red de Liberales y Socialdemócratas" (Velasquez´s biography by Edgar C. Otálvora)
|
|||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
