José Vicente Rangel Vale (10 July 1929 – 18 December 2020) was a Venezuelan politician. He ran for president three times in the 1970s and 1980s and later supported

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

. He served under Chávez as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1999 to 2001, as

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2001 to 2002, and as the

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

from 2002 to 2007.

Political activism

Born in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...

, he returned to Venezuela following the downfall of the dictatorship of

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military officer and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 1950 to 1952 and as president from 1952 t ...

in 1958 and was elected to the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

that same year, representing the

Democratic Republican Union The Democratic Republican Union (, URD) is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1945. History When the party appeared on course to win the 1952 election for a constituent assembly, then-dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez suspended the elect ...

(''Unión Republicana Democrática,'' URD). In addition to his political activities, he worked as a lawyer and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He also made presidential bids on three occasions: in the 1973 presidential election and 1978 presidential election as candidate of ''MAS – Movimiento al Socialismo'' (

Movement for Socialism Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...

), and in the 1983 presidential election as candidate of ''MEP –

Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo The People's Electoral Movement (''Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo'', MEP) is a left-wing political party in Venezuela, founded in 1967 by Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa. The MEP was founded after Prieto Figueroa won the 1967 Acción Democráti ...

''.

Journalist

In 1990, Rangel re-entered journalism, contributing to a range of newspapers as a columnist (including '' El Universal'', ''Panorama'', ''El Informador'', ''La Tarde'', ''El Regional'', ''2001''). In the 1960s he was editor of the weekly ''Qué Pasa en Venezuela'' (1960–67) and of the dailies '' La Razón'' and '' Clarín''. Rangel played a role in the 1993 impeachment of President

Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as ''Venezuelan Spanish#Some examples of Spanish words common in Venezuela.2C including some native Venezuelanisms .28slang.29, El ...

, being the first to publish (in November 1992) the corruption allegations which would ultimately be endorsed by the Supreme Court. On 20 May 1993, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

considered the accusation valid, and the National Congress removed Pérez from office. He was imprisoned and sentenced to two years of prison in May 1994 for malversation of funds of the so-called secret fund.Pérez second period review at venezuelavirtual.com
For many years he has held a political opinion show on

Televen Televen (a contraction of and legally known as Corporación Televen C.A.) is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it is also called 'Canal de Horizonte'. Televen ...

called "José Vicente Hoy".

Political career

Hugo Chávez chose Rangel to serve as his Minister of Foreign Affairs when he took office as president in February 1999. Rangel served in that position until early February 2001, when Chávez instead appointed him as Minister of Defence, replacing General Ismael Hurtado. Rangel was the first civilian to serve as Defense Minister in decades. After a little more than a year as Minister of Defense, Rangel became vice-president in May 2002, replacing

Diosdado Cabello Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de VenezuelaDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician who currently serves as Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace s ...

. On 3 January 2007, Chávez announced that Rangel would be replaced as vice president by Jorge Rodríguez. Chávez said that the decision was "not easy", and that he regarded Rangel "with the same respect and affection as a son would a father", but did not explain the reasoning behind the decision. At the swearing in ceremony for the new cabinet on 8 January, Rangel said that he was leaving the government, but not the revolution. He and Rodríguez exchanged praise, with the latter saying that Rangel was the first person he had ever voted for, in the 1983 election.

Personal life and death

Rangel was the author of ''

Expediente Negro ''Expediente Negro'' (Spanish for "Black Dossier") is a non-fiction 1972 book written by José Vicente Rangel José Vicente Rangel Vale (10 July 1929 – 18 December 2020) was a Venezuelan politician. He ran for president three times in the 1 ...

'', an investigation of

human rights violation Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

s in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. His son,

José Vicente Rangel Ávalos José Vicente Rangel Ávalos (born 2 February 1956) is a Venezuelan politician and mayor of Sucre Municipality in Caracas. He is the son of Venezuelan former vice president José Vicente Rangel Vale and Chilean sculptor Ana Avalos. In 2017, ...

, has also been involved in Venezuelan politics, having been mayor of the Sucre District in Caracas. Rangel died of cardiac arrest on 18 December 2020. He was 91 years old.

Books

* ''

'', Caracas: Editorial Fuentes, 1972 * ''Tiempo de Verdades'', Caracas: Ediciones Centauro, 1973 – a selection of Rangel's press contributions * Rangel ''et al.'', ''Militares y política (una polėmica inconclusa)'', Caracas: Ediciones Centauro, 1976 * ''Seguridad, defensa, democracia: Un tema para cíviles y militares'', Caracas: Ediciones Centauro, 1980 * ''Socialismo y Democracia'' * ''La Administración de Justicia en Venezuela''

References