RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Typically useless Venezuelan leader led his country from prosperity to chaos Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:09 am | |
| CARLOS Andres Perez, the two-time 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, has died in exile in Miami. He was 88.
Perez 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, Perez nationalised Venezuela's oil industry and the holdings of US iron-ore companies. At the same time, he secured a vocal role for Venezuela in Latin American affairs, portending, in some ways, current President Hugo Chavez's more assertive foreign policy.
ANCAPS: ANARCHO-CAPITALISTS |
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