Oswaldo Álvarez Paz (born 10 February 1943) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n politician. He was born in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

and graduated in law from the

University of Zulia The University of Zulia (, also known as LUZ literally meaning "light" in Spanish), is a public university whose main campus is located in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela. LUZ is one of the largest and most important universities of Venezuela. ...

. He was a Member of the Republic's Congress for over 20 years (periods from 1966 to 1993), president of the

Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies () was the lower house of Venezuela's legislative under its 1961 constitution; the Venezuelan Senate was the upper house. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly ...

(1975 to 1979) and participated/directed the most important commissions of the Venezuelan Parliament.

Career

He was

Rafael Caldera Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez ( ; 24 January 1916 – 24 December 2009) was a Venezuelan politician and academician who was the 46th and 51st president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999, thus becoming the longest se ...

's campaign manager for the

1983 Venezuelan presidential election General elections for the presidency, Congress and state legislatures were held in Venezuela on 4 December 1983.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p555 The presidential elections were won by Jaime Lus ...

. In December 1989, he became the first governor of the State of Zulia to be elected by the people, being re-elected for a second period in December 1992. On April 25, 1993, his party, COPEI, held

open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

elections to choose a presidential candidate for the

1993 Venezuelan presidential election General elections were held in Venezuela on 5 December 1993.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p555 The presidential elections were won by former president Rafael Caldera of National Convergence, who ...

; almost 20% of Venezuela's 9.8m voters participated in the primary. Álvarez Paz defeated COPEI party leader Eduardo Fernández, resigning his position as governor in order to run. In the campaign Paz supported privatization and foreign investment, and said he aimed for Venezuela to join the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...

; he identified the contemporary political figure he admired most as

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

Andres Oppenheimer Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

, ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'', 2 May 1993, "Venezuelan candidate a free-market fan" Oswaldo Alvarez Paz obtained 22.7% of the votes, in an election where the winner,

, won with 30.5%. In May 2005 Alvarez Paz created a new party called " Alianza Popular" (Popular Alliance), organization that, as it states in its by-laws, defends and promotes freedom, democracy State of Law and human rights, as well as the promotion and protection of private property, the contribution to poverty eradication and the disappearing of corruption. On 22 March 2010, Oswaldo Alvarez Paz was arrested for remarks made during a broadcast of the

Globovisión Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite (Globovisión has an alliance with Dir ...

talkshow '' Aló Ciudadano'' ("Hello Citizen"). Álvarez Paz had said "Venezuela has turned into a center of operations that facilitates the business of drug trafficking." He also accused "Chavez of being a subversive element and having direct links with FARC and ETA." He was charged with conspiracy, and with spreading false information and publicly inciting violation of the law, and was sentenced to serve two years in prison. He was released on bail in mid May 2010. '' El Universal'', 13 May 2010
Dejan en libertad a Oswaldo Álvarez Paz
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References

External links

* '' El Universal'
Álvarez Paz columns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Paz, Oswaldo 1943 births Living people Governors of Zulia People from Maracaibo Presidents of the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies Copei politicians Political prisoners during the Bolivarian Revolution Candidates for President of Venezuela University of Zulia alumni Venezuelan prisoners and detainees