1994. Febrero, 7. Rafael Caldera en su segunda presidencia.jpg Photo by Oficina Central de Información de Venezuela (1994-1999) – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Facts about Rafael Caldera


 

Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodriquez was born on 24 January 1916. He was elected the president of Venezuela twice and served two five-year terms. Valdera is known for becoming the longest-serving democratically elected leader to govern the country in the twentieth century. His first term marked a peaceful transfer to power to the opposition in Venezuela’s history.

Rafael Calder is widely acknowledged as one of the founders of Venezuela’s democratic system and one of the main architects of the 1961 Constitution. He is also known as a pioneer of the Christian Democratic Movement in Latin America. His leadership established Venezuela’s reputation as one of the more stable democracies in Latin America.

During his early life, he attended the Jesuit-run Catholic school San Ignacio de Loyola where he completed his secondary at the age of fifteen. The following year he began law studies at the Central University of Venezuela. After graduating with a degree in law and political science from the Central University of Venezuela in 1939, he embarked on a 70-year-long career that combined political, and intellectual activities.

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1. Early Achievements

RC en su biblioteca de Tinajero.jpg Photo by Wikimedia Photo by Unknown author – Wikimedia Commons

When he was a university student, he exhibited precocious intellectual brilliance. When he was 19, studied the 26 volumes of Andres Bello’s collected works and wrote a comprehensive analysis of the life and work of Andres Bello. The book reflected on Angelo’s literary, linguistic, legal, historic, philosophical, and political texts.  The book received an award from the Venezuelan National Academy of Language in 1935. 

Other than that, he was actively engaged in student politics. He even joined the Venezuelan Federation of Students which was led by students who led revolted in 1928 against the dictator Juan Vicente Gomez. Even though he was younger than his peers, Rafael courageously split from this demanding the expulsion of the Jesuits and other religious orders from Venezuela.

2. Introduction to The Political Life

Immediately after he graduated from university, Rafael founded National Action. It was a political movement formed to participate in municipal elections. After he founded the National Action Party in 1941, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for his native state of Yaracuy.

Rafael co-founded COPEI on 13 January 1946, it was the Christian Democratic Party that grew to become one of the two largest mass political parties in Venezuela. Four months later, he resigned from his position as Solicitor General in protest against the continuous violent attacks that members of his newly created party were suffering from government supporters.

In the same year, he was elected as a representative to the National Constituent Assembly and was inaugurated on 17 December. He delivered celebrated speeches on the social rights of workers, the social function of private property, and the need for direct, popular elections of state governors.

3. The Year-by-Year Elections

Rafael Caldera y Óscar Sambrano Urdaneta.jpg Photo by Prensa Rafael Caldera – Wikimedia Commons

At the age of 31, he ran for president for the first time and traveled around the country to spread the ideas of his newly created party. Even though renowned Venezuelan novelist Romulo Gallegos won the election, he didn’t give up. He went ran for Congress and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the period 1948-1953. 

In 1952, Rafael was elected representative to the National Constituent Assembly. After Colonel Marcos Perez Jimenez ignored the electoral triumph of the URD party, also known as the Democratic-Republican Union, Rafael and other members who were elected of COPEI refused to participate in the new Constituent Assembly.

4. Exilement and Puntofijo Pact

In 1957, Caldera was exiled by the Perez dictatorship in January 1958. During this time, he traveled to New York City and was greeted by Romulo Betancourt and Jovito Villalba. His exile only lasted a few days since Marcos Perex was deposed by a civil revolt and military coup. 

When he returned to Venezuela, the three leaders signed the Puntofijo Pact which was named Rafael’s residence where it was signed. The pact contained political agreements and the commitment of all major political parties to build, protect, and strengthen. The pact served as the foundation for the longest period of civil democratic rule in Venezuela.

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5. His First Term in Office

Rafael Caldera was sworn in on 11 March 1969, his transition was labeled as the first time there was a peaceful and democratic transfer of power. It was also the first time in the country’s history that a party won power without ever having restored to violence.

In his first term, President Caldera restored bilateral relations with the Soviet Union and the socialist nations of Eastern Europe. The most important domestic priorities during his first administration were education, housing, and infrastructure. Caldera dramatically increased the number of educational institutions by doubling the number of public secondary schools. The universities that were built and inaugurated include Simon Bolivar University, Simon Rodriguez, Tachira, and the Institute of Higher Studies National Defense.

During his first presidency, there was a total of 291,233 housing units were built. This was only half of the infrastructure and public buildings. Some of them include. the buildings for the ministry of education, the courts of law, the Rios Reyna Theatre of the Teresa Carreno Cultural complex, and the general hospitals of Maracay, Coro, Merida, San Carlos, and Valle de la Pascua.

6. His Addition To International Leadership

1998. Julio, 4. Rafael Caldera y Nelson Mandela en Santa Lucía.jpg Photo by Oficina Central de Información de Venezuela 1994-1999 – Wikimedia Commons

After leaving the presidency, he was appointed to several important positions in international organizations. He served as President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union from 1979 to 1982. He was elected President of the World Congress of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in 1979. 

In 1980, he presided over the International Committee in charge of preparing an international agreement for the establishment of the Univerisity for Peace which was approved by the General Assembly of the United States.

7. Last Term In Office

At the beginning of his second term, Rafael pardoned the military officers of the failed coups of 4 February, to which he delivered a memorable speech at Universidad Central de Venezuela a month after. He also pardoned the coup attempt on November 27.

During his second term in office, there was a great magnitude like a steep decrease in oil prices, the economic recession, and the high inflation of 1993. In 1997, the gross domestic period grew above five percent and the inflation rate was cut in half. However, due to the dramatic low levels, the government was forced to make large budget cuts. 

8. His Intellectual Life

UCAB.jpg Photo by Ronsuez – Wikimedia Commons

Rafael is known as a man of learning and an orator. Even though he had spent more than a month outside Venezuela, he was known for being fluent in English, French, and Italian, and proficient in German and Portuguese. He was also a full professor in Labor Law and Juridical Sociology at Central of Venezuela and Andres Bello Catholic University from 1943 to 1968. 

Caldera was bestowed with honorary doctorates, degrees, and professorships throughout the course of his career. He received them from a dozen universities and academies in Venezuela and from thirty universities worldwide some of them are the University of Louvain in Belgium, the Hebrew of Jerusalem in Israel, and the Catholic University of America in the U.S.

9. Personal Life

Caldera was a family man and devout Catholic. He married Alicia Pietri Montemayor on 6 August 1941, the couple had six children namely Mireya, Rafael Tomas, Juan Jose, Alicia Helena, Cecilia, and Andres. At the time of his death, the couple had twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Alicia died a little more than a year after her husband.

10. Life After the Presidential Seat

When Rafael returned to his home, he lived a simple life and was an honorable public servant in a country where corruption is pervasive. In 1999, he published his last book, De Carabobo a Puntofijo: Los Causahabientes. The book included its balanced assessment of Venezuela’s democratic experience from 1958 to 1999. 

Gracely affected by Parkinson’s disease, he slowly withdrew from the public eye and died in his him in 2009.

For more information about famous personalities from Venezuela, click here.