Aristóbulo Istúriz

Aristóbulo Istúriz Almeida (born 20 December 1946) is a Venezuelan politician and academic who has been Vice President of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela since 4 August 2017; he was also Vice President of Venezuela from January 2016 to January 2017.

Aristóbulo Istúriz
Vice-President of the Constituent Assembly
In office 4 August 2017 – 17 August 2017
President	Delcy Rodríguez
Succeeded by	Elvis Amoroso[1] Tania Díaz
Vice President of Venezuela
In office 6 January 2016 – 4 January 2017
President	Nicolás Maduro
Preceded by	Jorge Arreaza
Succeeded by	Tareck El Aissami
Governor of Anzoátegui
In office 2012–2016
Preceded by	Tarek Saab
Succeeded by	Nelson Moreno
Personal details
Born	Aristóbulo Istúriz Almeida 20 December 1946 Curiepe, Miranda
Political party	United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)
Alma mater	Central University of Venezuela

Life and career

He was a professor at the Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES) of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was elected to Parliament several times for Acción Democrática, representing the Federal District (now the Capital District), before joining the Radical Cause in 1986.[2] He was elected as Mayor of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas on December 6, 1992, serving in that post until January 2, 1996. After finishing his term as mayor (having lost his re-election bid to Antonio Ledezma), he became co-presenter of the Globovisión television show Blanco y Negro.

In 1997, together with some other ex-Radical Cause members, he co-founded Homeland for All (Patria Para Todos, PPT), which in the 1998 presidential election decided to support Hugo Chávez. Between 2001 and 2007 he served as Minister of Education in Chávez's government. In 2008 Istúriz was the pro-Chávez Patriotic Alliance's candidate for Mayor of Caracas;[3] he was narrowly defeated.

He was leader of the Venezuelan teachers' association SUMA for a time.[2]

In the 2012 regional elections, he was elected Governor of Anzoátegui.

On 6 January 2016, President Nicolas Maduro appointed Istúriz as Vice President of Venezuela.[4] He remained in office for one year, until Tareck El Aissami was appointed to succeed him on 4 January 2017.[5]

In October 2017, Istúriz ran again for governor of Anzoátegui. He lost to MUD/AD candidate Antonio Barreto Sira.[6]

Controversy

Sanctions

Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Istúriz, in September 2017.[7][8] The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people will killed in the 2017 Venezuelan protests and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship"; Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister said, "Canada will not stand by silently as the government of Venezuela robs its people of their fundamental democratic rights."[7]

The Canadian regulations of the Special Economic Measures Act prohibited any "person in Canada and any Canadian outside Canada from: dealing in property, wherever situated, that is owned, held or controlled by listed persons or a person acting on behalf of a listed person; entering into or facilitating any transaction related to a dealing prohibited by these Regulations; providing any financial or related services in respect of a dealing prohibited by these Regulations; making available any goods, wherever situated, to a listed person or a person acting on behalf of a listed person; and providing any financial or other related services to or for the benefit of a listed person."[9]

References

1. "Elvis Amoroso designado como primer vicepresidente de la ANC". Ultimas Noticias (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
2. Margarita López-Maya, "The Rise of Causa R in Venezuela", in Douglas A. Chalmers, Carlos M. Vilas, Katherine Hite, Scott B. Martin, Kerianne Piester, Monique Segarra (editors), The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America: Rethinking Participation and Representation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p129
3. Cancel, Daniel (27 June 2008). "Chavez Candidate Leads Caracas Mayor Race, Poll Says". Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
4. "Maduro appoints Aristóbulo Istúriz as new Vice-President". El Universal. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
5. "Venezuela names economy czar, oil minister in cabinet shuffle", Reuters, 4 January 2017.
6. "Divulgación Elecciones Regionales 2017" (in Spanish). Consejo Nacional Electoral. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
7. "Canada imposes sanctions on key Venezuelan officials". CBC Canada. Thomson Reuters. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
8. Zilio, Michelle (22 September 2017). "Canada sanctions 40 Venezuelans with links to political, economic crisis". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Also at Punto de Corte and El Nacional
9. "Canadian sanctions related to Venezuela". Government of Canada. Retrieved 4 April 2019.

External links

• (in Spanish) Official website