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Venezuela is officially known as the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is a federal republic situated along the northern coast of the South American continent. It is bordered by three countries and two islands which are Colombia to the west, Brazil to the south, Guyana to the east, and islands of Trinidad and Tobago to the Northwest. It has an area coverage of 353,841 square miles with an estimated population of 31 million. Caracas city is the capital and the largest city in the country. Its official language is Spanish aside from other native languages and is predominantly the Roman Catholic. The country is headed by the president who is also the head of the government.

Select Presidents of Venezuela

Marcos Pérez Jiménez

Marcos Pérez Jiménez was born in Táchira State, Venezuela to a farmer and a school teacher. He attended school in Táchira and Colombia and graduated in 1934 from the Military Academy in Venezuela. He participated in a coup in 1945 and rose to the top of the political realms. An election was held in 1952 which declared him a provisional president. In April of 1953, after the enacting of powers that gave him dictatorial powers, he became the president, and he ruled until 1958. He left the country due to uprising paving the way for the establishment of the fourth Republic of Venezuela.

Carlos Andrés Pérez

Carlos Andrés Pérez was born in the town of Hacienda in the La Argentina region as the eleventh child in a middle-class family with 12 children. He was schooled at the Maria Immaculada School in Rubio. Over the years, his interest in reading developed but due to rise in the cost of living and the declining prices of coffee, he was unable to get a good education. After his father had died, his family moved to Caracas. He began his life when he founded the Venezuelan youth party. In 1948, after the military coup against the then president, he was forced to exile for a decade, but he frequently sneaked back to the country. In 1952 he secretly to enter sneaked into the country where he fought against the dictatorial ruling of President Marcos. He was arrested and imprisoned severally. In 1973, the AD party nominated him to run for the presidency. He lost the elections to the opposition in the 1978 elections. He later became the president for a second term in 1989 and ruled until 1993.

Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez was born in July of 1954 in the Barinas State of Venezuela. He was the second child in a family of seven children. He was born in a humble background but managed to attend both primary and secondary education. He joined the Venezuelan Academy of military sciences in Caracas which provided him with the exposure he needed to achieve social justice. He participated in a lot of academy activities which led to his arrest in 1992 for an attempted coup which he surrendered himself. He was known to fight the injustices in the government without intimidation. He won the election in 1998 and was declared president in February of 1999, and ruled until 2013.

Nicolas Maduro

Nicolas Maduro was born in November of 1962 in Caracas. He began his political journey in the Liceo Jose Avalos, a public high school in El Valle a member of the student’s union. He became obsessed with politics and was unable to graduate. He worked as a bus driver before beginning his political career in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, he joined the campaign for the release of Hugo Chavez. He was first elected as a member of the national assembly in 1998. In 2006 he was appointed to be the foreign minister. In 2012, the then-President Hugo Chavez appointed him as the vice president. After the death of the president in 2013, he served as the interim president. Right now the incument president of Venezuela is disputed to be either Maduro or Guaidó. 

Roles of the President of Venezuela

Constitutional amendments in 1999 created a six-year term for presidents while an amendment in 2009 allowed unlimited terms for the president. The President is the head of the executive branch of government and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Venezuela. He appoints the members of the cabinet and represents Venezuela in international affairs.