Aristóbulo Istúriz

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Istúriz and the second or maternal family name is Almeida.

Aristóbulo Istúriz Almeida (20 December 1946 – 27 April 2021)^[2] was a Venezuelan politician and academic. He was vice president of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela (in August 2017) as well as vice president of Venezuela (from January 2016 to January 2017).

Aristóbulo Istúriz
Minister of Education
In office 4 September 2018 – 27 April 2021
President	Nicolás Maduro
Preceded by	Elías Jaua
Vice President of the Constituent Assembly
In office 4 August 2017 – 17 August 2017
President	Delcy Rodríguez
Succeeded by	Elvis Amoroso^[1] Tania Díaz
Vice President of Venezuela
In office 6 January 2016 – 4 January 2017
President	Nicolás Maduro
Preceded by	Jorge Arreaza
Succeeded by	Tareck El Aissami
Governor of Anzoátegui
In office 2012–2016
Preceded by	Tarek William Saab
Succeeded by	Nelson Moreno
Personal details
Born	Aristóbulo Istúriz Almeida (1946-12-20)20 December 1946 Curiepe, Miranda, Venezuela
Died	27 April 2021(2021-04-27) (aged 74) Caracas, Venezuela
Political party	United Socialist Party of Venezuela
Alma mater	Pedagogic Institute of Caracas

Life and career

Istúriz Almeida was a professor at the Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES) of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was elected to Parliament several times for Acción Democrática, representing the Federal District (now the Capital District), before joining the Radical Cause in 1986.^[3] He was elected as Mayor of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas on 6 December 1992, serving in that post until 2 January 1996. After finishing his term as mayor (having lost his re-election bid to Antonio Ledezma), he became co-presenter of the Globovisión television show Blanco y Negro.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, together with other ex-Radical Cause members, he co-founded Homeland for All (Patria Para Todos, PPT), which in the 1998 presidential election decided to support Hugo Chávez. Between 2001 and 2007 he served as Minister of Education in Chávez's government. In 2008 Istúriz was the pro-Chávez Patriotic Alliance's candidate for Mayor of Caracas; he was narrowly defeated.^[4] He was leader of the Venezuelan teachers' association SUMA for a time.^[3]

In the 2012 regional elections, he was elected Governor of Anzoátegui.^[5]

On 6 January 2016, President Nicolás Maduro appointed Istúriz as Vice President of Venezuela.^[6] He remained in office for one year, until Tareck El Aissami was appointed to succeed him on 4 January 2017.^[7] In October 2017, Istúriz ran again for governor of Anzoátegui. He lost to MUD/AD candidate Antonio Barreto Sira.^[8]

Death

Istúriz died on 27 April 2021, following complications from open-heart surgery.^[9]

Controversy

Sanctions

Canada sanctioned 40 Venezuelan officials, including Istúriz, in September 2017.^[10][11] The sanctions were for behaviors that undermined democracy after at least 125 people were killed in the 2017 Venezuelan protests and "in response to the government of Venezuela's deepening descent into dictatorship"; Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Minister said, "Canada will not stand by silently as the government of Venezuela robs its people of their fundamental democratic rights."^[10]

The Canadian regulations of the Special Economic Measures Act prohibited any "person in Canada and any Canadian outside Canada from: dealing in property, wherever situated, that is owned, held or controlled by listed persons or a person acting on behalf of a listed person; entering into or facilitating any transaction related to a dealing prohibited by these Regulations; providing any financial or related services in respect of a dealing prohibited by these Regulations; making available any goods, wherever situated, to a listed person or a person acting on behalf of a listed person; and providing any financial or other related services to or for the benefit of a listed person."^[12]

See also

• Members of the 1999 National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela
• Members of the 2017 National Constituent Assembly of Venezuela
• Sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis
• State protector

References

1. . Ultimas Noticias (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
2. "Muere a los 74 años el ministro de Educación de Venezuela, Aristóbulo Istúriz". Europa Press. 28 April 2021. from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
3. Margarita López-Maya, "The Rise of Causa R in Venezuela", in Douglas A. Chalmers, Carlos M. Vilas, Katherine Hite, Scott B. Martin, Kerianne Piester, Monique Segarra (editors), The New Politics of Inequality in Latin America: Rethinking Participation and Representation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 129
4. "Chávez vence en 17 de 22 estados, pero pierde en gobernaciones clave". 24 November 2008.
5. Rosenblatt, Emilie (20 December 2012). "Landslide victory as Chávez forces sweep Venezuela elections". Liberation. Party for Socialism and Liberation. Retrieved 28 April 2021. Aristóbulo Istúriz, a leading Afro-Venezuelan activist, educator and current Vice President of the National Assembly, became the next governor of Anzoátegui, in a hotly-contested election.
6. "Maduro appoints Aristóbulo Istúriz as new Vice-President". El Universal. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
7. "Venezuela names economy czar, oil minister in cabinet shuffle", Reuters, 4 January 2017.
8. "Divulgación Elecciones Regionales 2017" (in Spanish). Consejo Nacional Electoral. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
9. "Fallece Aristóbulo Istúriz, ministro colaborador de Maduro y Chávez". El Comercio. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
10. "Canada imposes sanctions on key Venezuelan officials". CBC Canada. Thomson Reuters. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
11. Zilio, Michelle (22 September 2017). "Canada sanctions 40 Venezuelans with links to political, economic crisis". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Also at Punto de Corte and El Nacional
12. "Canadian sanctions related to Venezuela". Government of Canada. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2019.

Political offices
Preceded by Claudio Fermín	Mayor of Libertador Municipality 1992–1995	Succeeded by Antonio Ledezma
Government offices
New office	Minister of Education 2001–2007	Succeeded by Adán Chávez
Political offices
Preceded by Tarek Saab	Governor of Anzoátegui 2012–2016	Succeeded by Nelson Moreno
Preceded by Jorge Arreaza	Vice President of Venezuela 2016–2017	Succeeded by Tareck El Aissami
New office	Vice President of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela 2017	Succeeded by Elvis Amoroso
Assembly seats
New office	Member of the Constituent Assembly of Venezuela for the municipality of Simón Bolívar, Anzoátegui 2017–2021	Vacant