Jorge Alberto Arreaza Montserrat (Venezuelan ; born 6 June 1973) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n politician who has held several important positions in the administration of President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

and his successor

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...

. From August 2017 to August 2021, Arreaza served as Venezuela's

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Education and early career

Born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Arreaza Montserrat received a degree in international studies from the

Central University of Venezuela The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...

(UCV) and was awarded a scholarship by the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Foundation during the 1990s, which allowed him to earn a master's degree in European Policy Studies at

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, England. At UCV, he also worked as a journalist and university teacher, in addition to working as an announcer and interviewer on several public television venues in Venezuela, and as host of the television show ''Diálogo abierto'' on

Venezolana de Televisión Corporación Venezolana de Televisión (Spanish for: ''Venezuelan Television Corporation'') or VTV is a state-run television station based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the capital and surrounding areas on channel 8. Programs ...

Political career

Arreaza Montserrat was appointed the

vice president of Venezuela The vice president of Venezuela ( es, Vicepresidente de Venezuela), officially known as the Executive Vice President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Vicepresidente Ejecutivo de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the second ...

and served from 2013 to 2016. He previously served as Minister of Science and Technology from 2011 to 2013 and also served as President of Fundación Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (FUNDAYACUCHO) from 2005 until December 2009. He became Chavez's son-in-law in 2007, after marrying Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa Virginia. Throughout the final stages of Chavez's illness, Arreaza served as unofficial spokesman of the Chavez family. Arreaza has dismissed the opposition criticisms that the government is using the army to promote an ideology, which is against the 1999 constitution, saying "the military are Chávez-militants who will guarantee the socialist model in Venezuela". On 2 August 2017, after the election of the National Constituent Assembly, President

appointed Arreaza as head of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, with the mission of retaking the leading role of Venezuela in the world. Arreaza was succeeded as Foreign Minister by Felix Plasencia in August 2021.

Sanctions

Canada

On 15 April 2019, Canada announced that sanctions on 43 individuals were applied on 12 April based on the ''Special Economic Measures Act''. The government statement said "the sanctions hit high ranking officials of the Maduro regime, regional governors, and people directly implicated in activities undermining democratic institutions". Foreign Minister

Chrystia Freeland Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician serving as the tenth and current deputy prime minister of Canada since 2019 and the Minister of Finance (Canada), minister of finance since 2020. A member of the Libe ...

stated, "The Maduro dictatorship must be held accountable for this crisis and depriving Venezuelans of their most basic rights and needs. Canada is committed to supporting the peaceful restoration of constitutional democracy in Venezuela." The newly sanctioned Venezuelans included Arreaza. In response, his ministry has accused Canada of supporting Trump's "war adventure" and said that Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

"has invalidated Canada as a reliable actor in dialogue."

United States

The United States sanctioned Arreaza along with Judge Carol Bealexis Padilla de Arretureta on 26 April 2019 as they were determined to be current or former officials of the Government of Venezuela. Both were accused of exploiting the U.S. financial system to support the “illegitimate” regime of

Nicolas Maduro Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

. The U.S. Department of State issued a statement describing Arreaza as being "at the forefront" of the Maduro administration attempts "to thwart the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people." Hours later, Arreaza responded that the sanctions "gives us more strength for the struggle." He further elaborated saying that "Yesterday, we denounced the US criminal blockade against Venezuela at the UN. Today, the Trump administration responds with desperation against us. TRUTH hurts!" According to US ambassador to the

OAS OAS or Oas may refer to: Chemistry * O-Acetylserine, amino-acid involved in cysteine synthesis Computers * Open-Architecture-System, the main user interface of Wersi musical keyboards * OpenAPI Specification (originally Swagger Specification) ...

Carlos Trujillo Carlos Trujillo (born February 25, 1983) is an American lobbyist and government affairs professional who previously served as United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States. A member of the Republican Party, he previously serv ...

, Arreaza could face financial difficulties when trying to make transactions with the Maduro government through the US financial system, as well as visa difficulties due to the sanctions.

References

Twitter

Twitter - Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza)
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Arreaza, Jorge 1973 births Living people Vice presidents of Venezuela Central University of Venezuela alumni Government ministers of Venezuela People of the Crisis in Venezuela Politicians from Caracas Venezuelan Ministers of Foreign Affairs Alumni of the University of Cambridge United Socialist Party of Venezuela politicians Venezuelan Ministers of Science Venezuelan Ministers of Technology