José Vicente Rangel

José Vicente Rangel

José Vicente Rangel Vale (born July 10, 1929 in Caracas ) is a Venezuelan politician , lawyer and journalist. From May 2002 to January 2007 he was the successor to Diosdado Cabello, Vice President of Venezuela.

Political beginnings

His political career began at the age of 16 in the Unión Republicana Democrática (URD) ​​and intensified with his opposition to the coup that overthrew Rómulo Gallegos in 1948 . He was a law student at the time but was arrested by the military authorities and expelled from Venezuela.

He settled in Chile , where he met the sculptor Ana Avalos and married. He continued his studies and eventually graduated in Spain. In 1958, after the overthrow of the dictator Marcos Perez Jiménez, he returned to Venezuela and was elected to Congress as a member of the URD. He also worked as a journalist and lawyer.

In 1973, 1978 and 1983 he also ran for the office of President as a candidate for the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), Partido Comunista de Venezuela (PCV) and Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo (MEP).

Work as a journalist

In the 1990s he left politics and devoted himself to journalism with columns in, among others, “ El Universal ” or “ Panorama ”. His most outstanding work was his 1998 television show " José Vicente Hoy " ( José Vicente Today ), in which he commented on political events and also supported the then presidential candidate Hugo Chávez .

Reign

Chávez appointed him Minister of Foreign Affairs on February 2, 1999, a post he held until February 2001. He then became Minister of Defense until he was finally appointed Vice President on April 28, 2002.

author

José Vicente Rangel is the author of the book " Expediente Negro ", which examines the violations of human rights in Venezuela in the 1960s.

Further works are “ Tiempo de Verdades ”, “ Socialismo y Democracia ” and “ La Administración de Justicia en Venezuela ”.

Web links

• Official information on the Vice President ( Memento of March 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)