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

Rafael Caldera in his second presidency

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).[1] 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.[2]

Economic crisis

Venezuelan Presidential election 1993[3]
CandidatesVotes %
Rafael Caldera1,710,72230.46%
Claudio Fermín1,325,28723.60%
Oswaldo Alvarez Paz1,276,50622.73%
Andrés Velásquez1,232,65321.95%
Abstention:3,859,57939.84%
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 liberalization measures 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.[4]

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.[5] 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[6]
MinisterNamePeríod
Internal RelationsRamón Escovar Salom1994–1996
José Guillermo Andueza1996–1998
Asdrúbal Aguiar1998–1999
Foreign AffairsMiguel Ángel Burelli Rivas1994–1999
TreasuryJulio Sosa Rodríguez1994–1995
Luis Ramón Matos Azócar1995–1998
Freddy Rojas Parra1998
Maritza Izaguirre1998–1999
DefenseRafael Montero Revette1994–1995
Moisés Orozco Graterol1995–1996
Pedro Valencia Vivas1996–1997
Tito Manlio Rincón Bravo1997–1999
DevelopmentLuis Carlos Palacios1994
Alberto Poletto1994–1995
Werner Corrales1995–1996
Transport and CommunicationsCésar Quintín Rosales1994
Ciro Zaa Álvarez1994–1996
Moisés Orozco Graterol1996–1998
Julio César Martí Espina1998–1999
EducaciónAntonio Luis Cárdenas1994–1999
JusticeRubén Creixens Savignon1994–1996
Enrique Meier Echeverría1996–1997
Hilarión Cardozo Esteva1997–1999
Energy and MinesEdwin Arrieta Valera1994–1999
WorkJuan Nepomuceno Garrido1994–1997
María Bernardoni de Govea1997–1999
EnvironmentRoberto Pérez Lecuna1994–1997
Rafael Martínez Monró1997–1999
Agriculture and BreedingCiro Añez Fonseca1994–1995
Raúl Alegrett Ruiz1995–1998
Ramón Ramírez López1998–1999
Health and Social CareVicente Pérez Dávila1994
Carlos Walter Valecillos1994–1995
Pedro Rincón Gutiérrez1995–1997
José Félix Oletta1997–1999
Urban DevelopmentCiro Zaa Álvarez1994
Francisco González1994–1997
Julio César Martí Espina1997–1998
Luis Granados1998–1999
FamilyMercedes Pulido de Briceño1994–1996
Carlos Altimari Gásperi1996–1999
Industry and CommerceFreddy Rojas Parra1997–1998
Héctor Maldonado Lira1998–1999
DispatchAndrés Caldera Pietri1994–1996
Asdrúbal Aguiar1996–1998
José Guillermo Andueza1998–1999
CordiplanEnzo Del Búffalo1994
Luis Carlos Palacios1994
Werner Corrales1994–1995
Edgar Paredes Pisani1995–1996
Teodoro Petkoff1996–1999
CVGAlfredo Grúber1994
Elías Innaty1994–1999

References

  1. Second term as president Archived 2007-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Foreign policy
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-17. Retrieved 2010-07-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Economic Crisis
  5. Efrain Hernandez Jr. (2009-12-24). "Former Venezuela President Rafael Antonio Caldera dies at age 93". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  6. Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela, período 1994-1999.

See also

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