Ramon J. Velasquez

Ramón José Velásquez

"A historian, university professor, and former President of Venezuela (1993-1994), Ramón José Velásquez was jailed several times in the 1950s under the dictatorship of General Marcos Perez Jimenez. One of his arrests was due to his coauthoring the Black Book of the Dictatorship, a truthful account of the human rights violations of the government. During Venezuela’s first democratic government he served as chief of staff. In 1993, as a result of the institutional crisis produced by the impeachment of the President Carlos Andrés Pérez, the Venezuelan Congress designated him president of the Republic. During his distinguished public service career Mr. Velásquez has been a senator, congressional deputy, minister of communication, and cabinet secretary. Mr. Velásquez has also been actively involved in reporting the political and social history of Venezuela, contributing to newspapers and publishing several books. He was director of the Venezuelan national newspaper El Nacional and founder of the newspaper El Mundo. He was awarded the María Moors Cabot award in 1967 by Columbia’s School of Journalism."

A member of the international council of Human Rights Foundation.