Miguel Alejandro Pizarro Rodríguez (born February 17, 1988) is a Venezuelan politician in the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
who represents the district of Petare in Caracas. He is also known for his role in the
2014 Venezuelan protests
In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict ...
.
Early life
Around the time of his birth, Pizarro's family moved to the state of
Táchira
Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal.
Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...
, where he lived until he was four years old. They then moved back to the same area as before — barrio 24 de Julio — where Miguel spent much of his young life. He was part of a punk band called Kolumpio when he was a student.
Political formation
From the age of 13 Pizarro participated in political activism, coming from a family with a political activist tradition. His father was of the political left militia from the 1970s, and was a trade union activist and at one point imprisoned in . His mother was one of the founders of the Committee in Defense of Human Rights for political prisoners, and was secretary to the fraction of left parties of the Senate.
During his youth, Pizarro subscribed to
anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
, particularly to the ideas of
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...
and
Peter Kropotkin
Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...
akin to
anarco-punk. In high school, he founded the
antimilitarist
Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especi ...
movement "Ni casco ni uniforme" (''English'': "Without helmet or uniform"), which opposed the government's implementation of military education in secondary education establishments. Due to his protests, he was expelled from the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
school he was studying at.
2007 student movement
In 2007, Pizarro started and participated in the protests of the
Movimiento Estudiantil (''English'': "The Student Movement"), with other future politicians like
Freddy Guevara
Freddy Guevara (born April 3, 1986) is a Venezuelan political leader with a major in Communication from Andrés Bello Catholic University and a graduate certificate in Public Policy. He was elected Deputy to the Venezuelan National Assembly for Ci ...
,
Juan Requesens
Juan Requesens is a Deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly, elected in 2015 and sworn in on 5 January 2016. He was a student leader at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), and a leader of student opposition protesters during the 2014 ...
,
Juan Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician, a former member of the Social democracy, social-democratic Popular Will party, and federal deputy to the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly representing ...
,
Yon Goicoechea
Yon Alexander Goicoechea Lara (born 8 November 1984) is a Venezuelan lawyer, activist and organizer. He emerged as one of the leaders behind the Venezuelan Student Movement, which formed as a result of actions by Hugo Chavez' to amass further pow ...
,
Eduardo Massieu
Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to:
Association football
* Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator
* Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...
and
Manuela Bolívar Manuela may refer to:
People
* Manuela (given name), a Spanish and Portuguese feminine given name
* Manuela (singer) (1943–2001), German singer of Schlager songs
Film and television
* ''Manuela'' (1957 film), a British film directed by Guy Hami ...
when he was a student leader at 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 ...
, protesting the closure of the television channel
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was a Venezuelan free-to-air television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, Radio Caracas Televisió ...
. He also played an active part in the campaign against the intended
Chávez-implemented
2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Venezuela on 2 December 2007 to amend 69 articles of the 1999 Constitution. Reform was needed, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, to initiate the transformation into a socialist country; detr ...
.
National Assembly
![Pizarroasamblea2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Pizarroasamblea2.JPG)
Pizarro was elected as a deputy in the
2010 Venezuelan parliamentary election
The 2010 parliamentary election in Venezuela took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election thus allowing the governing Fifth Republic ...
at age 21, supported by the
Democratic Unity Roundtable
The Democratic Unity Roundtable ( es, Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD) was a catch-all electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez's United Socialist Party of ...
(MUD), when he was a member of the
Progressive Advance
Progressive Advance ( es, Avanzada Progresista) is an anti-Chavista progressive political party in Venezuela, founded by former members of For Social Democracy (PODEMOS), Fatherland for All and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
The Un ...
party. He represented the second district of Táchira as the alternate representative for deputy
Gabino Paz.
In 2015, he worked on the enactment of the Special Law against Violence in Sports Events, approved in its first discussion. This sought to eradicate the acts of violence in the massive sporting events of the country, especially after the shooting murder of a fan during a football match between the teams
Deportivo Lara
''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to:
* Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club
* Déportivo, a French rock band
* Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico
* Deport ...
and
Portuguesa F.C.
Portuguesa Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Portuguesa, is a Venezuelan football club based in Acarigua.
History
The club was founded on April 10, 1972, in Acarigua in the northern part of the state of Portuguesa.
Rivalries
Classic A ...
in November 2014.
Pizarro has strongly criticized the inefficiency of the National Assembly in resolving the problems it acknowledges as affecting the Venezuelan population. In numerous interviews he has highlighted the need to focus on solving the problems that affect the people, instead of wasting time in political rhetoric discussion with little results:
Pizarro is a member of the Commission for Social Development, where he has promoted legislation such as the Organic Law on Sports — the first law passed by consensus in its legislative period, having the approval of the
Venezuelan Olympic Committee
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 ...
, unions, athletes, and professional leagues — and the Law for the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Equality, for people with
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
and their relatives.
Reelection as deputy
On 24 June 2015, the MUD announced its candidates for the
2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, ...
. On 6 December that year, Pizarro was reelected with 64.9% of the vote in the third district of Miranda state, the parish of Petare. Some of the members of his campaign had been attacked by
colectivos
''Colectivo'' (English: collective bus) is the name given in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay to a type of public transportation vehicle, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires. The name comes from ''vehículos de tran ...
on 22 November.
Presidency of the Commission for Social Development
During the legislative year 2016, Pizarro was the president of the National Assembly's Commission for Social Development.
Among the laws he promoted there were the Law of Bond for Food and Medicines for Pensioners and the Retired the Law of Guarantee of School Meals, and the Law of Recognition and Protection for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Similar Conditions.
Human rights activism
![Miguel Pizarro in Medics March Venezuela 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Miguel_Pizarro_in_Medics_March_Venezuela_2017.jpg)
Pizarro has worked for the cause of human rights for many years, and especially in the case of those detained in the
protests in Venezuela that started in 2014, working with their families to seek a just trial for them. Although not supporting violent protests, he gave his voice to the cause of removing the government of
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 ...
, saying he respected those who criticized Maduro.
Pizarro spoke openly to demand respect in the parliamentary debates related to the murder in 2014 of
Robert Serra
Robert Serra (16 January 1987 – 1 October 2014) was a Venezuelan politician from Maracaibo and a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Early life
According to political analyst Helly An ...
, a young lawyer and National Assembly deputy, by the
PSUV
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela ( es, Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left Socialism, socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since ...
— the party to which Pizarro is opposed. Likewise, he demanded to bring to justice the authors of the crime, also demanding repudiation of all violence and its supporters.
In November 2016, after Venezuela received
Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process.resolution 60/251of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of all ...
documentation denouncing its ignorance towards Human Rights, Pizarro was the deputy who took on the leadership role to disseminate responsibilities to appropriate commissions.
References
External links
Official websiteJustice First
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizarro, Miguel
1988 births
Living people
Members of the National Assembly (Venezuela)
Justice First politicians
People from Miranda (state)
Central University of Venezuela alumni
Movimiento Estudiantil (Venezuela)