Omar José Prieto Fernández (born 25 May 1969), is a Venezuelan economist, musician and politician who was

governor of Zulia This is a list of presidents and governors of the Venezuelan Zulia State. In some years the head of Zulia state was known as ''President'' or ''Civil and Military Chief'', in others ''Governor''. In 1881 Zulia was joined in a union with Falcón. ...

from 2017 to 2021. He was mayor of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Zulia, for two consecutive periods.

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.

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 Juan Pablo Isidoro Guanipa Villalobos (born 20 December 1964) is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician who served as deputy and First Vice President of the National Assembly, leader of the Justice First political party and former governor of Zulia ...

was dismissed by the Legislative Council of Zulia. After the repetition of the elections, Omar Prieto is

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

as Governor by the

United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (, PSUV, ) is a Socialism, socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivar ...

(PSUV) with 57.35% of the votes, before the opposition candidate

Manuel Rosales Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero (born 12 December 1952, in Santa Bárbara del Zulia) is a Venezuelan educator and politician, current governor of Zulia. He was the most prominent Venezuelan opposition candidate in the 2006 Venezuelan presiden ...

. On 10 July 2020, Prieto tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, during the pandemic in Venezuela.

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 Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

to enter the country, which is led by several countries in the region. 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.

Sanctions

On 25 February 2019, the

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

(OFAC) of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

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. Prieto was sanctioned by the Canadian government on 15 April 2019 under the ''Special Economic Measures Act.'' 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 Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for University—Rosedale (federal electoral district), University—Rose ...

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 Democracy in Venezuela refers to the system of governance that has prevailed in Venezuela since direct election at the presidential level and later in the 1990s at the regional level. Democracy as a system of government in the country has had a hist ...

." 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prieto, Omar 1969 births Living people Venezuelan politicians 20th-century Venezuelan economists Governors of Zulia United Socialist Party of Venezuela politicians People from Zulia People of the Crisis in Venezuela University of Zulia alumni