Omar Prieto

Omar José Prieto Fernández (born 25 May 1969), is a Venezuelan economist and politician who was governor of Zulia from 2017 to 2021. He was mayor of San Francisco, Zulia, for two consecutive periods.^[1][2][3]

Omar Prieto
Governor of Zulia
In office 10 December 2017 (2017-12-10) – 10 December 2021
Preceded by	Juan Pablo Guanipa Magdely Valbuena (interim)
Personal details
Born	Omar José Prieto Fernández (1969-05-25) 25 May 1969 (age 54) San Francisco, Zulia, Venezuela
Political party	United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)
Occupation	Economist, politician

Political career

In 2008, he was elected mayor of the San Francisco municipality of Zulia, and reelected again in 2013.

In 2015, he ran as a candidate for deputy to the National Assembly where he was the winner, later Prieto resigned his seat before starting the period in 2016 to remain in his initial position as mayor of San Francisco.^[4]

Governor of Zulia

On 10 December 2017, he accedes to the position of governor of the Zulia state in dubious circumstances. The elected governor in regional elections on 15 October 2017, Juan Pablo Guanipa was dismissed by the Legislative Council of Zulia. After the repetition of the elections, Omar Prieto is elected as Governor by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) with 57.35% of the votes, before the opposition candidate Manuel Rosales.

On 10 July 2020, Prieto tested positive for COVID-19, during the pandemic in Venezuela.^[5]

Controversies

Threats to opponents

On 11 February 2019, Prieto at a rally in the Rosario de Perijá municipality, launched a threat against opponents who are pushing for humanitarian aid to enter the country, which is led by several countries in the region.^[6] Prieto affirmed that the opponents of Chavismo were no longer called "emaciated", but "traitors to the homeland," for supporting what, in his opinion, is an American military intervention. He stated that if "the gringos put a boot here we have to look for the traitors," referring to the opponents of such armed intervention.^[7][8]

Sanctions

Main article: International sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis

On 25 February 2019, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury placed sanctions in effect against Prieto and governors of 3 other Venezuelan states for alleged involvement in corruption and in blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid.^[9]

Prieto was sanctioned by the Canadian government on 15 April 2019 under the Special Economic Measures Act.^[10] The government statement said "the sanctions hit high ranking officials of the Maduro regime, regional governors, and people directly implicated in activities undermining democratic institutions." Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland stated, "The Maduro dictatorship must be held accountable for this crisis and depriving Venezuelans of their most basic rights and needs. Canada is committed to supporting the peaceful restoration of constitutional democracy in Venezuela."^[11]

In 2021, Omar Prieto was put on the EU's sanctions list due to his active involvement in undermining and threatening Venezuela's democracy and rule of law in Zulia State as its governor and his support for the Maduro regime.^[12]

References

1. (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
2. El Nacional (1 December 2017). "Maduro juramentó a Omar Prieto como Gobernador del Zulia" (in Spanish).
3. Venevisión (1 December 2017). "Candidato Omar Prieto gana gobernación del estado Zulia" (in Spanish).
4. . Efecto Cocuyo (in Spanish). 10 December 2015. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
5. "Venezuela oil minister El Aissami tests positive for COVID-19". Reuters. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
6. "Omar Prieto: "Si los gringos vienen a poner una bota aquí, tenemos que buscar a los traidores"" (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 April 2019.
7. NACIONAL, EL (11 February 2019). "Prieto: Si los gringos entran aquí tenemos que buscar a los traidores". El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 April 2019.
8. "Omar Prieto "si los gringos ponen una bota aquí tenemos que buscar a los traidores" | Diario El Tiempo". www.diarioeltiempo.com.ve. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
9. "Treasury Sanctions Governors of Venezuelan States Aligned with Maduro". Office of Foreign Assets Control. United States Department of the Treasury. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
10. "Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Venezuela) Regulations". Government of Canada. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.^{[permanent dead link]}
11. "Canada expands Venezuela sanctions, adds 43 people close to Maduro". CBC Canada. Thomson Reuters. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
12. "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/2500 of 10 November 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2063 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Venezuela". EUR-Lex.