Henrique Capriles

Henrique Capriles Radonski (; born 11 July 1972) is a Venezuelan politician and lawyer, who served as the 36th Governor of Miranda from 2008 to 2017.

Born in Caracas, he received a degree in law from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and later in tax law from the Central University of Venezuela. He first ventured into politics at age 26, when he became the youngest member ever elected to the Venezuelan parliament. He secured a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the 1998 parliamentary elections, under the Christian Democratic Party ( Copei). He served as vice president of the Congress and president of the Chamber of Deputies until their dissolution by the Constituent Assembly in August 1999.

In 2000, he co-founded the political party Primero Justicia, alongside politicians Julio Borges and Leopoldo Lopez, and ran successfully for the mayorship of the Baruta municipality in the regional elections held in July 2000, and later for the governorship of the Miranda state in 2008. Capriles became the opposition candidate at the 2012 and 2013 presidential elections, and faced then-President Hugo Chávez and Vice President Nicolás Maduro respectively.

His defeat in 2012 marked the first loss of his political career. Maduro narrowly defeated Capriles in the 2013 elections, a result that sparked controversy and debate amid the opposition's claims of electoral fraud. Between both presidential campaigns, Capriles successfully secured his re-election as Governor of Miranda during the 2012 regional elections. He has repeatedly been the target of smear campaigns by political opponents who seek to capitalize on homophobic and antisemitic currents in Venezuelan society.

Capriles Radonski is of Sephardi Jewish and Ashkenazi Jewish descent; his grandparents immigrated from Russia and Poland during World War II. However, he self-describes as Catholic, revealing that his greatest hero in history was Jesus Christ. He dated Venezuelan actress Erika de la Vega between his first and second tenure as Mayor. Prior to his political career, he worked in the public and private sectors at several tax and law firms of Venezuela. Capriles is a member of the International Fiscal Association.

On 5 April 2017, Capriles was formally banned for 15 years from political activity accused by the Venezuelan government of alleged "administrative irregularities" which had occurred under his governorship. He ceased to be the Governor of Miranda in October after the 2017 regional elections, and subsequently declared his intent to leave the Democratic Unity Roundtable in protest against what he considered its legitimizing the Maduro government.

Early life

Henrique Capriles Radonski was born in Caracas on 11 July 1972. His parents are Henrique Capriles García, a successful businessman, and Mónica Cristina Radonski-Bochenek. His maternal grandparents were Ashkenazi Jews who immigrated from Russia and Poland following World War II. His great-grand parents were murdered at the Treblinka extermination camp during the Holocaust. His maternal grandmother, Lili Bochenek, lived for 20 months in the Warsaw Ghetto. His paternal grandfather, Armando Capriles-Myerston, was a Sephardi Jew.

In the 1950s, Henrique Capriles García helped launch Kraft Foods' entry into Venezuela by inviting the vice-president of its Nabisco subsidiary and persuading him to invest in the country. His maternal grandparents, Andrés Radonski and Lili Bochenek, emigrated to Venezuela in 1947 from Poland. Andrés Radonski was an engineer active in the cinema business in Poland; he opened his first cinema several years later, in the eastern city of Puerto La Cruz.

The company operated under the name Circuito Radonski. It was merged in 1998 alongside Venefilms and Grupo Blanco to create the country's largest cinema chain, Cinex. He is also the descendant of relatives who operated the media conglomerate, Cadena Capriles.

Education

Capriles enrolled at the Andrés Bello Catholic University to study commerce law. He received his degree in 1994, and then continued studies at the Central University of Venezuela. He received a degree in tax law several years later. He took additional studies at the IBFD International Tax Academy in Amsterdam, the Pan American Center of Tax Managers in Viterbo, and Columbia University. He is a sitting member of the International Fiscal Association and the World Association of Young Jurors.

Political career

Early years and Chamber of Deputies (1995–1999)

Capriles first ventured into politics between 1995 and 1998, when he aided his cousin, deputy Armando Capriles, in the writing of laws for the Bicameral Commission of Energy of the then-existing Congress of the Republic. Armando, who was a partisan of the Christian democratic party Copei, later offered Henrique the possibility of being a candidate for a seat at the Chamber of Deputies at the 1998 parliamentary elections, affiliating with Copei (Social Christian Party). Capriles accepted, and successfully secured a seat at the Congress in representation of the Zulia state. He became the youngest member ever elected to the Venezuelan parliament, and later held the positions of Vice President of the Congress and President of the Chamber of Deputies.

In August 1999, the Constituent Assembly abolished Capriles' seat, and dissolved the Congress. Capriles criticized Chávez's new constitution, stating at the time, "This is a corrupt constitution that will leave Venezuela backward and poor", while further denouncing the centralized power that it granted the president.

Mayor of Baruta (2000–2008)

The Congress was replaced by the National Assembly, and new deputies were elected in a general election held, in 2000. That year, Capriles founded the political party Primero Justicia, alongside politicians Julio Borges and Leopoldo Lopez, although the entity had already existed as a civil association since 1992. He did not run for a seat at the newly created Assembly; however, he and Leopoldo Lopez pursued the mayoralties of the Baruta and Chacao municipalities, respectively, at the regional elections held in July 2000. Lopez won with 51,5% of the vote, whereas Capriles received 62,9%. Borges secured a seat in the National Assembly. As mayor, Capriles focused on the reduction of crime within his municipality, as well as on improving the overall infrastructure of the area.

In 2002, President Hugo Chávez was the target of a failed coup d'état that removed him from office on 11 April 2002, after several days of violent protests in Caracas. The coup, triggered by major political discontent in a sector of the Venezuelan population, was initially staged by members of the military and the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (''Fedecámaras''), represented by its president Pedro Carmona

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