Irene Lailin Sáez Conde (born 13 December 1961) is a Venezuelan politician and

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

who was crowned Miss Universe 1981. She has been a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

, was the mayor of Chacao (a municipality of

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

), governor of the state of Nueva Esparta and a presidential candidate in 1998.

Early life and education

Irene Sáez was born to father Carlos Sáez and mother, Ligia Conde. She spent her childhood in Chacao, Miranda, Venezuela. Her mother died of cancer when Sáez was three and her father died when she was ten. She was brought up by her eldest sister. She has two sisters and three brothers. She started a masters in political science at the

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, but did not complete it as a result of the February 1992 Venezuelan coup attempt.

Career

1981–1989: Pageant wins and early political roles

Early in her career, Sáez was named the Queen of Club Campestre Los Cortijos for three years in a row. Sáez was crowned Miss Venezuela 1981 and later, crowned Miss Universe 1981 at the 30th annual pageant in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the age of 19. After spending a year traveling the world as Miss Universe, Sáez studied for a masters in political science then served a year as Venezuela's cultural attache to the United States. Early jobs included modelling for Sasson Jeans and working as a PR consultant to a bank. She also ran the banks non-profit foundation.

1990–1997: Mayor of Chacao

In the early 1990s, Sáez turned to electoral politics and a week after the November 1992 coup attempt, led by

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

, she was elected mayor of

Chacao Municipality Chacao is one of the five political and administrative subdivisions of the city of Caracas, Venezuela. The other four are Baruta, El Hatillo, Libertador and Sucre. This legal entity is known as the Caracas Metropolitan District. Chacao is also ...

, in

. In office as mayor of Chacao Municipality, Sáez tackled its high crime rate by professionalising the municipal police force, with university graduates as officers, higher pay, new police vehicles, and a variety of mobility devices (including roller skates and mountain bikes) allowing the police to move around more quickly. Crime fell dramatically as a result of her innovative ideas. Without political experience or an established party machine, Sáez was content to delegate to experts, and "hired top-notch administrators and listened to their advice about everything from setting the budget to running public services". In 1995 a Barbie-style doll was modelled on Sáez, about which she says "This shows that dreams can come true." In December 1995, Sáez was reelected as mayor of Chacao with 96% of the vote, the highest share of the vote in Venezuela's democratic history. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of London ranked her 83rd in its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. In 1997, she was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Miss Universe Pageant, a recently created prize of the Miss Universe Organization. She made her acceptance speech in both English and Spanish. Sáez was received at Simón Bolívar International Airport by former president of Venezuela Luis Herrera Campins, who gave her a gold chain for her victory in Miss Universe.

1998: Presidential campaign

In 1997 Sáez formed the Integrated Representation of New Hope (IRENE) party as a launch pad for her run in the December 1998 presidential elections. In the final poll of the year in December 1997, one year prior to the presidential elections, she reached almost 70% support. Sáez won the internal COPEI (Social Christian Party) primary election with 62.7% of the vote, against Eduardo Fernández's 35.7%, at a convention with 1,555 COPEI delegates, an endorsement earned after COPEI realized their Fernández was unable to win. COPEI's leaders ascertained their best bet to remain competitive nationally was to replace Fernández with Sáez, transforming her into the first independent and female candidate supported by a major political party for the presidency of Venezuela. Despite spending millions of dollars on publicity, Sáez fell below 15% within six months, as the public became increasingly skeptical of her readiness for the presidency and, after accepting the endorsement of COPEI, she lost credibility as an anti-establishment candidate. Ultimately she finished a distant third behind Chávez and Römer, with 2.82% of the vote.

1999 onwards: Governor of Nueva Esparta and boards

Soon after the 1998 presidential election, Sáez was elected governor of the state of

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the States of Venezuela, Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the north west coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the ...

Nueva Esparta The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, Venezuela, Coche, and the lightly inhabited Cubagua. The state is located off the ...

, in an election made necessary by the January 1999 death in office of Rafael Tovar. She won with more than 70% of the votes, defeating the Democratic Action candidate. She served as governor of the state until 2000, stepping down when she became pregnant. Since 2003, Sáez has lived in Miami, where she was named to the board of directors of the Colonial BancGroup, south Florida region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saez, Irene 1961 births Central University of Venezuela alumni Governors of Nueva Esparta Living people Mayors of places in Venezuela Miss Universe 1981 contestants Miss Universe winners Miss Venezuela winners Politicians from Caracas Models from Caracas Venezuelan beauty pageant winners Women mayors of places in Venezuela 20th-century Venezuelan women politicians 20th-century Venezuelan politicians Universidad Metropolitana alumni Women state governors of Venezuela Beauty queen-politicians Candidates for President of Venezuela