Jose Vincent Rangel

José Vicente Rangel Vale (Caracas, July 10, 1929-Ibidem, December 18, 2020) was a Venezuelan lawyer, journalist, and left-wing politician. He was a candidate for the Presidency three times, in 1973, 1978 supported by the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and the third time in 1983 supported by the People's Electoral Movement (MEP) and the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV).

He was also Vice President of the Republic, a position he held from April 28, 2002, when he replaced Diosdado Cabello, until January 8, 2007, when Jorge Rodríguez took office, being the oldest person of the who held said position during the government of Hugo Chávez.

Studies and beginnings in politics

José Vicente Rangel was born in Caracas on July 10, 1929, the son of Colonel José Vicente Rangel Cárdenas, who was President of Zamora State, and grandson of the soldier and politician Carlos Rangel Garbiras. He studied elementary and high school in Barquisimeto, Lara state. His political activity began in 1945 when he was 16 years old, in the progressive liberal Unión Republicana Democrática (URD), and intensified with his active opposition to the military coup that overthrew President Rómulo Gallegos in 1948 that resulted in the replacement of him by a military junta. He had started his law degree at the Universidad de los Andes (ULA), continued his studies at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), but was arrested by military authorities for his political activities and expelled from the country.

He went into exile in Chile, where he met the Chilean sculptor Ana Ávalos, whom he married. He continued his studies at the Law School of the University of Chile, and later in Spain, at the University of Salamanca, to end up graduating from the University of Santiago de Compostela.

In 1958, Rangel decided to return to Venezuela after the fall of the military dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, and was elected deputy to Congress for five consecutive legislatures, first representing the URD and later representing the left-wing parties Movimiento al Socialism (MAS), the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and the People's Electoral Movement (MEP). He ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for President of the Republic three times in the elections held in 1973, 1978 (both for the MAS party) and 1983 (for the MEP, PCV, among other organizations), obtaining results of 4.26%, 5.18% and 3.34% of votes respectively, not exceeding third place. Along with his political activity, he also practiced law.

Facet of a journalist

In 1990 he left the political leadership and fully immersed himself in empirical journalism producing radio micros for the Unión Radio network and was a columnist for the newspapers "El Universal", "Panorama", "El Informador", "La Tarde", "El Regional", "2001" and in the political magazine "Bohemia". He was Director of the weekly & # 34; Que Pasa en Venezuela & # 34; and from the newspapers "La Razón" and "Clarin". But his most outstanding work in the journalistic world was the direction of his television program called & # 34; José Vicente Hoy & # 34; on the new Televen channel at that time, being a program of politics and opinion, criticism and denunciations of corruption cases in the governments of Carlos Andrés Pérez and Rafael Caldera, his television program was comparable to the style of Alfredo Peña or Jorge Olavarría. Unlike their programs, the schedule of "José Vicente Hoy" It was broadcast on Sundays, when the usual thing in Venezuela is that opinion programs broadcast very early or at midnight. Despite the great popularity enjoyed by the program (which was also censored on several occasions by the ruling party at that time), he decided to leave it to join the cabinet of the newly elected President Hugo Chávez on February 2, 1999, although two months earlier Rangel had stated that he was not going to take part in the new government^{[citation needed]}.

Cabinet of Hugo Chávez

In the delivery of the Nazoa Annibal Awards in 2011.

President Hugo Chávez appointed him foreign minister. During his stay in the ministry, he directed the first major international tour that Chávez made, visiting all the OPEC member countries, as well as the creation of the Caracas Summit to finalize agreements between the member countries on the necessary reduction in the production of oil and thus increase its price in international markets. He held the position until February 2001.

In that same year he became head of the Ministry of Defense (being the first civilian to hold that position in the entire history of the Republic) until May 2002, when he was appointed Vice President of the Republic. In the April 11, 2002 coup that overthrew Chávez and his government for 47 hours, he was part of the resistance that carried out the counter-coup against the de facto president Pedro Carmona that allowed the restitution of Chavez on April 13.

On January 8, 2007, he handed over the position he had held until then and received a replica of the sword of the Liberator Simón Bolívar in recognition of his five years as vice president. In March of that year he resumed his television program & # 34; José Vicente Hoy & # 34;, Chávez himself being his first guest.

His son José Vicente Rangel Ávalos also served in the Chávez government, being elected in the 1999 elections by the MVR party to the National Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1999 constitution, and later elected in the 2000 elections as mayor of the Sucre Municipality of Caracas. During the government of Nicolás Maduro, Rangel Ávalos returned to the cabinet as vice minister of politics and legal security, to later opt again for the mayoral election of the Sucre Municipality of Caracas.^{[citation required ]}

Personal life

He had two children with his wife Ana Ávalos: Gisela Rangel Ávalos and José Vicente Rangel Ávalos. And his grandchildren: José Vicente Rangel and Nelson Totesaut.

Works and awards

Rangel was a two-time winner of Venezuela's National Prize for Cultural Journalism. He is the author of the Black File, a book that investigates human rights violations in the country between 1960 and 1970. He also published the works Tiempo de Verdades, Socialismo and Democracy, The Administration of Justice in Venezuela, among other essays on politics and human rights.

Death

On December 18, 2020, his relatives using his Twitter social network confirmed his death at the age of 91 due to cardiac arrest.