Carlos Andrés Pérez, Led Venezuela Through Boom and Bust, Dies at 88
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: December 26, 2010
CARACAS, Venezuela — Carlos Andrés Pérez, the former president who tried to make Venezuela a leader of the developing world during a 1970s oil boom only to have his legacy upended in a tumultuous 1989 return to the presidency marked by civil unrest, coup attempts, impeachment and exile, died Saturday in Miami. He was 88.
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Mr. Pérez burst onto the Latin American political scene in the mid-1970s when a quadrupling of oil prices suddenly enriched Venezuela’s government, opening the way for state-led development efforts and an era of glitzy consumption known here as “Venezuela Saudita,” or Saudi Venezuela.
A gifted orator known for his bushy sideburns and flashy suits, Mr. Pérez nationalized Venezuela’s oil industry and the holdings of American iron-ore companies. At the same time, he secured a vocal role for Venezuela in hemispheric affairs, portending, in some ways, President Hugo Chávez’s more assertive foreign policy.
In his first term, Mr. Pérez re-established ties with Cuba and donated a ship to Bolivia, in support of that landlocked nation’s aspiration to regain sea access. He opposed the right-wing Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua and encouraged Omar Torrijos, Panama’s leftist military leader, in his effort to gain sovereignty over the Panama Canal.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/world/americas/27perez.html?_r=1&ref=global-home