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Jaime Lusinchi, former Venezuelan president, dies at 89 Jaime Lusinchi, former Venezuelan president, dies at 89
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Jaime Lusinchi, a former Venezuelan president who struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil prices in the late 1980s and then saw his reputation tarnished by allegations of corruption after leaving office, died May 21 in Caracas. He was 89. Jaime Lusinchi, a former Venezuelan president who struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil prices in the late 1980s and saw his reputation tarnished by allegations of corruption after leaving office, died May 21 in Caracas. He was 89.
Members of his Democratic Action party confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause.Members of his Democratic Action party confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause.
Mr. Lusinchi entered politics in the 1930s as an opponent to the political heir of military strongman Juan Vicente Gómez, who lorded over Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. Jaime Ramón Lusinchi was born May 27, 1924, in Clarines, Venezuela, and entered politics in the 1930s as an opponent to the political heir of military strongman Juan Vicente Gómez, who lorded over Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935.
After the 1948 overthrow of Rómulo Gallegos, the country’s first democratically elected leader, Mr. Lusinchi joined the political underground led by Democratic Action that organized marches, strikes and other actions against the 1950-1958 dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. After the 1948 overthrow of Rómulo Gallegos, the country’s first democratically elected leader, Dr. Lusinchi joined a political underground led by Democratic Action that organized marches, strikes and other actions against the 1950-1958 dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez.
For his activities, he was jailed in 1952 and tortured with beatings. “I had stripes on my back like a tiger,” he once said. “I did not go swimming for many years because I didn’t want to have to explain what happened.” In 1952, Dr. Lusinchi was thrown in jail, where he was beaten.
He later went into exile in Argentina, Chile and eventually New York. While in the Chilean capital of Santiago, he became close with prominent local politicians, including democratic Socialist Salvador Allende, who later governed his country from 1970 until his removal and death in a military coup three years later. “I had stripes on my back like a tiger,” he once said. “I did not go swimming for many years because I didn’t want to have to explain what happened.”
Mr. Lusinchi, a pediatrician by training, was a senator in the late 1970s and made an unsuccessful bid for his party’s presidential nomination in 1977. He later went into exile in Argentina, Chile and eventually New York. While in the Chilean capital of Santiago, he became close to prominent local politicians, including Salvador Allende, a socialist who later governed his country from 1970 until his removal and death in a military coup three years later.
As his country's leader from 1984 to 1989, Mr. Lusinchi struggled with an economic crisis marked by galloping inflation and a plunge in the currency that made it impossible for Venezuela to service a foreign debt that had rose sharply as a result of profligate spending during the 1970s oil boom. Dr. Lusinchi, a pediatrician by training, returned to Venezuela from New York, where he had worked at Lincoln Hospital and Bellevue Hospital Center, after democracy was restored in 1958.
Mr. Lusinchi tried to recover some of his popularity toward the end of his rule by boosting salaries, imposing price caps on basic goods and expanding state subsidies. The populist measures only exacerbated inflation, which soared to more than 80 percent, and drained the country’s foreign currency reserves to a historic low. Dr. Lusinchi served in the lower house of Congress and made an unsuccessful bid for his party’s presidential nomination in 1977. He then served in the Senate.
His reputation was tarnished after he left office by allegations of corruption. In 1991, Venezuela’s Congress, dominated by members of his party, voted to condemn Mr. Lusinchi after lawmakers discovered that he had used his position to dish out to associates dollars tightly guarded by the nation’s currency regulator. After being elected president in late 1983, Dr. Lusinchi struggled with an economic crisis marked by galloping inflation and a plunge in the currency that made it impossible for Venezuela to service a foreign debt that had risen sharply as a result of profligate spending during the 1970s oil boom.
He was also accused of stealing state funds from the National Horse Racing Institute to promote the candidacy of his party’s charismatic leader, Carlos Andrés Pérez, who succeeded Mr. Lusinchi as president for a second term. Dr. Lusinchi tried to recover some of his popularity toward the end of his term by boosting salaries, imposing price caps on basic goods and expanding state subsidies. The populist measures exacerbated inflation, which soared to more than 80 percent, and drained the country’s foreign currency reserves to a historic low.
Two years later, the Supreme Court stripped Mr. Lusinchi, then a senator for life, of his immunity from prosecution and opened a formal investigation. When his term ended in 1989, he did not seek reelection. In 1991, Venezuela’s Congress, although dominated by members of his party, voted to condemn Dr. Lusinchi after lawmakers discovered that he had used his position to dish out to associates dollars tightly guarded by the nation’s currency regulator.
Before being arrested, he fled to Miami and then Costa Rica, where he took up residency with his former private secretary and longtime lover, Blanca Ibáñez. The two were later married after his very public divorce — while president — from his wife of more than 40 years, Gladys Castillo de Lusinchi. He also was accused of stealing state funds from the National Horse Racing Institute to promote the candidacy of his party’s charismatic leader, Carlos Andrés Pérez, who succeeded Dr. Lusinchi as president.
Charges were later dropped after courts ruled that the statute of limitations had run out. Two years later, the Supreme Court stripped Dr. Lusinchi, then a senator for life, of his immunity from prosecution and opened a formal investigation.
At the urging of then-President Hugo Chávez, the high court in 1999 revived the case against Mr. Lusinchi and a separate investigation against Pérez. Mr. Lusinchi charged that the investigation was part of a politically motivated campaign by Chávez to persecute his opponents. Fearing arrest, he fled to Miami and then Costa Rica, where he took up residency with his former private secretary and longtime lover, Blanca Ibáñez. While president, he had a very public divorce from his wife of more than 40 years, Gladys Castillo de Lusinchi, and he later married Ibáñez.
Mr. Lusinchi returned to Caracas in 2009 from Miami after suffering complications from a gastric ulcer that had forced him to undergo an emergency treatment in the Florida city. A sign of how far in disrepute he had fallen after leaving office, he refused almost all contact with the press for the last two decades of his life. Charges against Dr. Lusinchi were dropped after courts ruled that the statute of limitations had run out.
Jaime Ramón Lusinchi was born May 27, 1924, in Clarines, Venezuela. He graduated from the Central University of Venezuela in 1947 with a medical degree. At the urging of then-President Hugo Chávez, the high court in 1999 revived the Lusinchi case and a separate investigation of Pérez. Dr. Lusinchi charged that the investigation was part of a politically motivated campaign by Chávez.
He had five children with his first wife. Dr. Lusinchi returned to Caracas in 2009 after suffering complications from a gastric ulcer that had forced him to undergo an emergency treatment in Miami. He refused almost all contact with the press for the last two decades of his life.
Dr. Lusinchi had five children with his first wife.