List of presidents of Venezuela

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|} The President of Venezuela (Spanish: Presidente de Venezuela) is the English political nomenclature that designates both the head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The powers allowed the Venezuelan presidency under the Constitution of Venezuela are currently unusually sweeping and broad, with the power to dismiss judges, legislate, and issue emergency declarations and decrees. The current presidential term is for six years with one possibility of immediate reelection, and with the constitutionally guaranteed recourse of holding a popular recall referendum anytime within the last three years of a presidential term.

The designation "President" encompasses only those persons who were sworn into office as President of Venezuela following Venezuela's declaration of independence from Spanish colonial rule, which took effect on July 5, 1811. Due to the profound turmoil of the South American Wars of Independence and the reign of the republic of Gran Colombia over what is now Venezuela, this designation also effectively excludes heads of state or government in Gran Colombia; thus Simón Bolívar is not considered the first president of Venezuela. The list overall only focuses on heads of state governing Venezuela after Venezuela's separation and declaration of independence from Gran Colombia (in early 1830). The list includes interim caretaker as well as regular serving presidents, and democratically-installed presidents as well as those installed by other means (e.g.; Marcos Pérez Jiménez).

Comments on presidential ordering

The first numbering column reflects the uninterrupted time in office served by a single person. For example, Juan Crisóstomo Falcón served two consecutive terms and is counted in the first column as only fourteenth president (and not the fourteenth and fifteenth). Because of this numbering, the list below contains 61 distinct presidencies, but a fewer number of distinct individual presidents. Many of the men listed below became President on a provisional basis as they waited for the arrival of the elected or regular president, such as commonly occurs in the aftermath of a civil war, rebellion, or coup d'état. As a consequence, other Venezuelan presidential rosters may not choose to include the 61 terms below, citing the extreme brevity of certain terms, unusual circumstances that may have surrounded a president's ascendancy into office, and other factors. The most common listing criteria create a traditionally recognized list of 53 distinct presidential terms. This alternate listing system is displayed in the third column of the table below. The colors shaded about each president indicate the political party affiliation of each President (see key, below).

List of Presidents of Venezuela

Key:	Movement for the Fifth Republic (Movimiento V República)	Independent	Military government	Democratic Action (Acción Democrática)	COPEI (COPEI — Partido Social Cristiano de Venezuela)

# (unique)	# (all)	# (selected all)		President	Dates in office	Form of entry	Occupation
1	1	1		José Antonio Páez	1830-1835	Indirect elections	Military general
2	2	2	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	José María Vargas	1835-1836	Indirect elections	Physician
3	3	3	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Andrés Navarte	1836-1837	Interim caretaker	—
4	4	4	File:PresidenteJoseMariaCarreno.jpg	José María Carreño	1837-1837	Interim caretaker	Military general
5	5	5	File:PresidenteCarlosSoublette.jpg	Carlos Soublette	1837-1839	Interim caretaker	Military general
6	6	6		José Antonio Páez	1839-1843	Indirect elections	Military general
7	7	7	File:PresidenteCarlosSoublette.jpg	Carlos Soublette	1843-1847	Indirect elections	Military general
8	8	8		José Tadeo Monagas	1847-1851	Indirect elections	Military general
9	9	9	File:PresidenteJoseGregorioMonagas.jpg	José Gregorio Monagas	1851-1855	Indirect elections	Military general
10	10	10		José Tadeo Monagas	1855-1858	Indirect elections	Military general
11	11	—	File:Pedrogual.jpg	Pedro Gual	1858-1858	—	—
12	12	11		Julián Castro	1858-1859	Coup d'état	Military general
13	13	—	File:Pedrogual.jpg	Pedro Gual	1859-1859	—	—
14	14	12	File:PresidenteManuelFelipeTovar.jpg	Manuel Felipe Tovar	1859-1861	Coup d'état (first term); direct elections (second term)	Politician
15	15	—	File:Pedrogual.jpg	Pedro Gual	1861-1861	—	—
16	16	13		José Antonio Páez	1861-1863	—	—
17	17	14	File:PresidenteJuanCrisostomoFalcon.gif	Juan Crisóstomo Falcón	1863 - 1865	Victory in the Federal War (first term)	—
17	18	15	File:PresidenteJuanCrisostomoFalcon.gif	Juan Crisóstomo Falcón	1865 - April 1868	Indirect elections (second term)	Military general
18	19	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Manuel Ezequiel Bruzual	1868-1868	—	—
19	20	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Guillermo Tell Villegas	1868-1868	—	—
20	21	16	File:PresidenteJoseRupertoMonagas.jpg	José Ruperto Monagas	1868-1870	Revolution	Military general
21	22	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Guillermo Tell Villegas	1870-1870	—	—
22	23	17		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1870-1877	Revolution (first term)	Lawyer / Military general
22	24	18		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1870-1877	Indirect elections (second term)	Lawyer / Military general
23	25	19	File:PresidenteLinaresAlcantara.jpg	Francisco Linares Alcántara	1877-1878	Indirect elections	Military general
24	26	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	José Gregorio Varela	1878-1878	—	—
25	27	20		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1879-1880	Election by the Federal States	Lawyer / Military general
25	28	21		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1880-1882	Election by the Federal States	Lawyer / Military general
25	29	22		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1882-1884	Election by the Federal States	Lawyer / Military general
26	30	23		Joaquín Crespo	1884-1886	Elections by the Federal States	Military general
27	31	24		Antonio Guzmán Blanco	1886-1887	Elections by the Federal States	Lawyer / Military general
28	32	25	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Hermógenes López	1887 - 1888	Intermin caretaker	Military general
29	33	26	File:Rojapaul.jpg	Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl	1888 - 1890	Elections by the Federal States	Lawyer
30	34	27	File:PresidenteRaimundoAndueza.jpg	Raimundo Andueza Palacios	1890-1892	Elections by the Federal States	Lawyer
31	35	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Guillermo Tell Villegas	1892-1892	—	—
32	36	28		Joaquín Crespo	1892-1894	Revolution	Military general
32	37	29		Joaquín Crespo	1894-1898	Revolution	Military general
33	38	30	File:PresidenteIgnacioAndrade.jpg	Ignacio Andrade	1898-1899	Direct elections	Politician
34	39	31	File:PresidenteCiprianoCastro.jpg	Cipriano Castro	1899-1908	Revolution	Military general
35	40	32	File:JuanVicenteGómez.jpg	Juan Vicente Gómez	1908-1914	Coup d'état	Military general
36	41	—	File:PresidenteVictorinoMarquezBustillos.jpg	Victorino Márquez Bustillos	1914-1915	Appointed provisional president^[1]	Lawyer / politician
37	42	32	File:JuanVicenteGómez.jpg	Juan Vicente Gómez	1915-1929	—	—
38	43	—	File:Venezuela coat of arms.png	Juan Bautista Pérez	30 May 1929 - 13 June 1931	Indirect election by the National Assembly	Lawyer / magistrate
39	44	32	File:JuanVicenteGómez.jpg	Juan Vicente Gómez	1931-1935	Indirect election by the National Assembly	Military general
40	45	33	File:PresidenteEleazarLopez.jpg	Eleazar López Contreras	1935-1936	Interim caretaker (first term)	—
40	46	34	File:PresidenteEleazarLopez.jpg	Eleazar López Contreras	1936-1941	Indirect elections (second term)	Military general
41	47	35	File:PresidenteIsaiasMedinaAngarita1.jpg	Isaías Medina Angarita	1941-1945	Indirect elections	Military general
42	48	36	File:Betancourt (Venezuelan president).jpg	Rómulo Betancourt	1945-1948	Coup d'état	Politician
43	49	37	File:PresidenteRomuloGallegos1.jpg	Rómulo Gallegos	1948-1948	Direct elections	Writer / Novelist
44	50	38	File:PresidenteDelgadoChalbaud.jpg	Carlos Delgado Chalbaud	1948-1950	Coup d'état	Military officer
45	51	39	File:Germansuarezflam.jpg	Germán Suárez Flamerich	1950-1952	Interim caretaker	Lawyer
46	52	40		Marcos Pérez Jiménez	1952-1958	Indirect elections	Military officer
47	53	41	File:PresidenteWolfgangLarrazabal.jpg	Wolfgang Larrazábal	1958-1959	Coup d'état	Rear admiral
48	54	42	File:PresidenteEdgarSanabria.jpg	Edgar Sanabria	1959-1959	Interim caretaker	Lawyer
49	55	43	File:Betancourt (Venezuelan president).jpg	Rómulo Betancourt	1959-1964	Direct elections	Politician
50	56	44	File:PresidenteRaulLeoni.jpg	Raúl Leoni	1964-1969	Direct elections	Lawyer
51	57	45	File:PresidenteRafaelCaldera.jpg	Rafael Caldera	1969-1974	Direct elections	Lawyer
52	58	46	File:PresidenteCarlosAndresPerez.jpg	Carlos Andrés Pérez	1974-1979	Direct elections	Politician
53	59	47	File:PresidenteLuisHerreraCampins.jpg	Luis Herrera Campins	1979-1984	Direct elections	Lawyer
54	60	48	File:PresidenteJaimeLusinchi.jpg	Jaime Lusinchi	1984-1989	Direct elections	Physician
55	61	49	File:PresidenteCarlosAndresPerez.jpg	Carlos Andrés Pérez^[2]	1989-1993	Direct elections	Politician
56	62	50	File:PresidenteRamonVelasquez.jpg	Ramón José Velásquez	1993-1994	Interim president	Writer
57	63	51	File:PresidenteRafaelCaldera.jpg	Rafael Caldera	1994 - 2 February 1999	Direct elections	Lawyer
58	64	52	File:PresidenteHugoChavez.jpg	Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías^[3]	2 February 1999 - 11 April 2002	Direct elections	Military officer (Lt. colonel)
59	65	—	File:Carmonaestanga.jpg	Pedro Carmona Estanga	11 April 2002- 13 April 2002 (2 days)	Coup d'état/Power vacuum (unclear)	Businessman
60	66	—	File:PresidenteDiosdadoCabello.jpg	Diosdado Cabello	13 April 2002 - 13 April 2002 (several hours)	Interim caretaker	Engineer
61	67	53	File:PresidenteHugoChavez.jpg	Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías	13 April 2002 - present	Direct elections	Military officer (Lt. colonel)

Notes

^ Bustillos was appointed to the presidency in a provisional fashion after Juan Vicente Gómez, after himself being elected (by the National Assembly) as president. Gómez opted not to assume the presidency, instead choosing to continue in the role of directing the Venezuelan army.
^ On May 21 1993 Pérez resigned after being accused of corruption by the Attorney General. President of Congress Octavio Lepage was in charge of the government until Ramón J. Velásquez was elected by Congress on June 4, 1993.
^ On April 11 2002 senior military officers refused Chávez's orders to carry out Plan Avila. They instead arrested Chávez and forced him to resign. Pedro Carmona Estanga assumed the presidency. Following an uprising, aided by sectors of the military loyal to Chávez, the new government collapsed and Chávez was restored to power early on April 15 2002. Between the deposing of Carmona and the return of Chávez, Vice President Diosdado Cabello assumed the presidency.

References

Template:Es icon Nuestros Presidentes — Official government portal for presidential biographies.
Template:Es icon Jefes de Estado de Venezuela
Template:Es icon Cuadro de Presidentes Venezolanos
Template:Es icon Presidentes y jefes de Gobierno
Template:Es icon Comentarios sobre la Lista de Presidentes

[1] Bustillos was appointed to the presidency in a provisional fashion after Juan Vicente Gómez, after himself being elected (by the National Assembly) as president. Gómez opted not to assume the presidency, instead choosing to continue in the role of directing the Venezuelan army.

[2] On May 21 1993 Pérez resigned after being accused of corruption by the Attorney General. President of Congress Octavio Lepage was in charge of the government until Ramón J. Velásquez was elected by Congress on June 4, 1993.

[3] On April 11 2002 senior military officers refused Chávez's orders to carry out Plan Avila. They instead arrested Chávez and forced him to resign. Pedro Carmona Estanga assumed the presidency. Following an uprising, aided by sectors of the military loyal to Chávez, the new government collapsed and Chávez was restored to power early on April 15 2002. Between the deposing of Carmona and the return of Chávez, Vice President Diosdado Cabello assumed the presidency.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e President of Venezuela (list)
Since 1830	Páez Narvarte Vargas Carreño Vargas Narvarte Carreño Soublette Páez Soublette J. T. Monagas J. G. Monagas J. T. Monagas Gual J. Castro Gual Tovar Gual Páez Falcón Bruzual Villegas J. R. Monagas Villegas Guzmán Linares Valera Guzmán Crespo Guzmán H. López Rojas Andueza Villegas Villegas Pulido Crespo Andrade C. Castro Gómez Gil Fortoul Márquez Gómez J. Pérez Gómez López Contreras Medina Betancourt Gallegos Delgado Chalbaud Suárez Flamerich Pérez Jiménez Larrazábal Sanabria Betancourt Leoni Caldera C. Pérez Herrera Lusinchi C. Pérez Lepage Velásquez Caldera Chávez Cabello Chávez Maduro Guaidó¹
Acting / interim / caretaker presidents shown in italics ¹ Recognized by the National Assembly as "interim president" during the Venezuelan presidential crisis until 2023

Comments on presidential ordering

List of Presidents of Venezuela

Notes

See also

References