capriles

=<div><h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://fair.org/home/pathological-deceit-the-nyt-inverts-reality-on-venezuelas-cuban-doctors/" title="Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela’s Cuban Doctors" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela’s Cuban Doctors</a></h2><div class="fair_post_meta_data fair_list_author" style="text-transform: uppercase; margin: 0px 0px 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://fair.org/author/lucas-koerner/" title="Posts by Lucas Koerner" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">LUCAS KOERNER</a> AND <a href="https://fair.org/author/ricardo-vaz/" title="Posts by Ricardo Vaz" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">RICARDO VAZ</a></div>A New York Times “exposé” of Cuban doctors’ supposed interference in Venezuelan elections was riddled with inaccuracies, omissions and misrepresentations.After<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/americas/100000006385986/the-us-blamed-maduro-for-burning-aid-to-venezuela-new-video-casts-doubt.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> debunking</a> Washington’s lies about the burning of “humanitarian aid” trucks on the Venezuelan/Colombian border (more than two weeks after being <a href="https://thegrayzone.com/2019/02/24/burning-aid-colombia-venezuela-bridge/" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">scooped</a> by independent journalists), the New York Times quickly reverted to form in an<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/americas/venezuela-cuban-doctors.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> article</a> by Nicholas Casey headlined “‘It is Unspeakable’: How Maduro Used Cuban Doctors to Coerce Voters” (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/americas/venezuela-cuban-doctors.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">3/17/19</a>).As the title not-so-subtly suggests, Casey claimed to present bombshell revelations regarding the Nicolás Maduro government’s alleged weaponization of Cuban medical personnel as a means of holding on to power. On closer inspection, however, the article is riddled with factual inaccuracies, omissions and misrepresentations.<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; max-width: 750px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dubious claims of politicized healthcare</h3>Relying on the testimony of three Cuban doctors who have defected from the Venezuelan/Cuban health mission and taken up residence in other countries, as well as 16 anonymous sources within Venezuela, Casey provides the reader with shocking vignettes of how Cuban medical personnel have supposedly been used to manipulate Venezuelan politics.One central allegation is that the Barrio Adentro healthcare mission staff, most of them Cuban doctors, are denying patients care on the basis of political affiliations. One Cuban doctor currently residing in Chile told the Times that one patient was refused treatment “because she was from the opposition.” The only other evidence to substantiate this grave accusation is the account of an opposition mayor who claims he was “denied medication.”As has been widely documented (Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">10/13/15</a>), defector testimonies are often unreliable, given the political stakes involved. Similar reservations apply to a politician aligned with an opposition spearheading a foreign-backed <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14304" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">coup</a> in Venezuela.Likewise worthy of skepticism is Human Rights Watch Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco, whose quote, “it is unspeakable,” gives the piece its headline, though a reader might assume these were the words of an actual doctor. <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10682" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Human Rights Watch</a>, whose <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10732" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">revolving door</a> with the US national security state is now notorious, can always be counted on to attack the Venezuelan government, though its charges have been <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/8084" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">debunked</a> on several <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10301" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">occasions</a>.Vivanco is an especially dubious source, given his extremely <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13194" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">biased</a> track record on Venezuela. Just over a decade ago, the HRW official was publicly<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2008/12/17/more-100-latin-america-experts-question-human-rights-watchs-venezuela-report" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> rebuked</a> by over 100 Latin America experts for a report on Venezuela that did “not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy or credibility,” which included similar sweeping allegations of politicized denial of care, based on the second-hand testimony of one individual.<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; max-width: 750px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Implausible electoral interference</h3>The Times’ questionable allegations of denial of care quickly give way to even dodgier claims of Cuban doctors interfering in Venezuelan politics. “One former Cuban supervisor said that she and other foreign medical workers were given counterfeit identification cards to vote in an election,” Casey wrote, adding that Cuban doctors “were asked to vote with false identification” in 2013.Anyone who knows <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13801" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">how voting works in Venezuela</a> would dismiss these allegations immediately. The first step upon entering a polling station is presenting ID and biometrically scanning fingerprints. Computerized voting screens will literally not open unless a valid fingerprint is presented. Cuban doctors, since they are of course not Venezuelans, would not have their fingerprints in the system, and thus not get past this first step. (It’s worth noting that Cuban doctors in Venezuela number roughly 30,000, in a country with an electorate of around 20 million, making the notion of a secret program to enable them to vote illegally in hopes of affecting electoral outcomes rather far-fetched.)Another passage suggested a similar lack of familiarity with the Venezuelan electoral process:<blockquote style="border-radius: 3px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); margin: 5px 5px 20px 30px; padding: 25px 30px 5px;">On the day Mr. Maduro was elected to his first term, [a Cuban doctor] witnessed officials opening ballot boxes and tampering with votes, including destroying ballots that chose the opposition.</blockquote><div id="attachment_8931565" class="wp-caption alignright" style="float: right; margin: 0px 101.188px 10px 15px; background: rgb(236, 240, 245); border: 1px solid rgb(187, 195, 232); max-width: 100%; padding: 5px; text-align: center; width: 361px;">
In Venezuela, the vote count is electronic, verified by paper receipts.</div>First off, there are no “ballot boxes” or “ballots,” because voting is fully automated. After the voter makes their selection on the computer screen, a paper receipt is printed and placed in a box. At the end of election day, 54 percent of all voting machines, chosen at random, have their electronic totals cross-checked with the paper receipts. Destroying the receipts (not ballots) would not serve any purpose, other than raising a red flag when they did not agree with the electronic tally. (If the Times’ source had bothered to name the voting center, one could check the results and confront the National Electoral Council with any discrepancy, since the paper tallies are kept for a number of years.)Secondly, all parties or candidates have witnesses at every electoral center. At the end of the day, the witnesses and the electoral delegates all sign a certificate validating the results. In the case of the April 14, 2013 election, there was not a single electoral center where opposition candidate Henrique Capriles’ witnesses did not validate the results, nor any reports of destruction of ballots, perhaps because there are no “ballots.”For someone who covers Venezuela regularly, Casey makes a remarkable number of errors in his account of the country’s electoral system. For example, he wrote, “In mid-2017, Mr. Maduro made a bid to consolidate power: a referendum for a second legislature to replace the opposition-controlled National Assembly.” What took place on July 30, 2017, was an election, not a referendum, for a national constituent assembly, a body that is outlined in Articles 347–349 of the 1999 <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/constitution/title/5" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Bolivarian Constitution</a>, and which is much more than a “second legislature.” Furthermore, the National Assembly was declared “null and void” by the Venezuelan Supreme Court in 2016 (BBC, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35287291" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">1/11/16</a>), after defying a court order to unseat three legislators pending an investigation for electoral crimes.<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; max-width: 750px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whitewashing opposition violence</h3>Given their factual implausibility, Casey’s anonymously sourced claims of ballot-stuffing and illegal voting in the 2013 presidential election represent a thinly veiled maneuver to delegitimize Maduro’s victory, which was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/22/united-states-contempt-venezuelan-democracy" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">challenged by no country in the world</a> except the United States—a fact that is conveniently omitted.One unnamed source accused the Chavista government of “blackmail[ing]” voters that the opposition would eliminate the Barrio Adentro medical mission if Capriles won. Casey did not inform readers that the Venezuelan opposition has long vowed to <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11781" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">suspend bilateral cooperation agreements</a> with Havana should it come to power.<div id="attachment_8931560" class="wp-caption alignright" style="float: right; margin: 0px 101.188px 10px 15px; background: rgb(236, 240, 245); border: 1px solid rgb(187, 195, 232); max-width: 100%; padding: 5px; text-align: center; width: 360px;">
Cuban doctor hanged in effigy in Caracas. (The sign reads, “Out with Cuban ‘Doctors’!” (photo: News24.com, via <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10547" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">Venezuelanalysis</a>)</div>Nor did Casey mention the opposition’s repeated acts of violence against Cuban health professionals and clinics. Following Capriles’ US-sanctioned refusal to recognize the <a href="http://cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-election-audit-05-2013.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">indisputable</a> 2013 election results, and his call for his supporters to “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKl2ZwVNfPE" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">discharge that anger</a>” in the streets, seven people were killed in the ensuing<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/8652" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> street violence</a> that saw 18 Cuban-staffed neighborhood health clinics set ablaze. The violent anti-government protests of 2014 likewise featured no less than<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10651" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> 162 attacks</a> against Cuban doctors, who were prominently <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10547" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">lynched in effigy</a>. In omitting these rather important details, Casey succeeded in inverting reality: He presented Cuban medical staff as witting or unwitting gendarmes of a brutal regime, rather than frequent victims of <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10684" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">opposition violence</a>.This whitewashing of right-wing terror extended also to Casey’s framing of the 2017 anti-government mobilizations, which he said led to 100 deaths in a “government crackdown,” leaving out the <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13081" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">numerous killings</a> carried out by opposition supporters, including <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">mob lynchings</a> of Afro-Venezuelan men and <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13089" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">sniper assassinations</a> of Chavista activists.In addition to relitigating the internationally recognized 2013 election, Casey repeated the now-boilerplate allegations of fraud in the 2018 presidential elections, pointing to opposition figures barred from running, with “Leopoldo López…dragged between house arrest and a military prison,” and Capriles “banned from running, along with most opposition parties.” Casey didn’t mention that <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/11452" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">López</a> was <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/11502" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">convicted</a> of inciting violence during the 2014 street protests, while Capriles was <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13040" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">barred</a> due to  corruption <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13576" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">allegations</a> that even the opposition has moved to <a href="http://talcualdigital.com/index.php/2018/08/23/tsj-en-el-exilio-pide-investigar-a-capriles-radonski-por-caso-odebrecht/" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">investigate</a>.Casey’s highly selective picture of Capriles and López is particularly disingenuous, given that both politicians actively participated in the short-lived 2002<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2336?artno=2018" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> military coup</a>, with the former leading an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=818bu4FoIak" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">attack</a> against the Cuban embassy, and both of them involved in the mob <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdMM793V-Hk" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">kidnapping</a> of Interior Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín. That alone would have disqualified them from holding political office anywhere else in the world.It is also <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/ANALYSIS/13564" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">false</a> that opposition parties were banned, since what was required of them was to revalidate their legal status by collecting a minimum number of signatures following their boycott of the December 10,  2017, municipal elections. Whether or not this was a political hurdle, some opposition parties, such as Acción Democrática, <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/News/13621" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">fulfilled it</a>. And the fact remains that opposition candidates did run against Maduro, notably former Lara Gov. Henri Falcón, who was actively <a href="https://twitter.com/frrodriguezc/status/993305182783098880" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">undermined</a> by the hardline factions of the opposition, and was even <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/ANALYSIS/13699" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">threatened</a> with US sanctions for defying the opposition boycott.<h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; max-width: 750px; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Erasure of sanctions</h3>In an article explicitly dedicated to uncovering alleged foreign interference in Venezuelan state and society, it is ironic that Casey entirely omitted the most egregious form of external intervention: US sanctions. Since 2017, Trump’s financial sanctions have battered the healthcare system directly, with recurring cases of medicine shipments blocked or assets destined for imports frozen as a result of US financial crimes enforcement <a href="https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-warns-financial-institutions-guard-against-corrupt-venezuelan-money" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">directives</a>, according to Torino Capital chief economist<a href="https://venezuelablog.org/crude-realities-understanding-venezuelas-economic-collapse/" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> Francisco Rodriguez</a>. In one such case, the Venezuelan government <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13519" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">denounced</a> the freezing of $1.6 billion of its assets by Brussels-based financial services agency Euroclear, half of which was reportedly destined for medicine imports.US economic sanctions also debilitate healthcare indirectly by decimating the Venezuelan economy overall. According to conservative estimates, US financial sanctions cost Venezuela at least <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14073" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">$6 billion annually</a> in lost revenues, or around six percent of GDP. For comparison, healthcare spending in Latin America<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?locations=ZJ" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;"> averages</a> approximately seven percent of GDP, and, prior to the crisis, Venezuela was importing around <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14360" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">$2 billion</a> in medicine per year. Rodriguez estimates that the new US oil sanctions, amounting to an effective trade embargo, will cost Venezuela an additional 15 percent in real GDP loss, for a cumulative contraction of 26 percent in 2019.Despite his stated <a href="https://twitter.com/caseysjournal/status/1107258311374749697" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">concern</a> for the “politicization” of healthcare in Venezuela, Nicholas Casey doesn’t think it relevant to mention his own government’s deliberate effort to destroy the Venezuelan economy, further devastating the country’s fragile health sector and <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14360" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">killing thousands,</a> if not tens of thousands, of Venezuelans. Rather, the New York Times’ Andes bureau chief mobilizes anonymous sources and defectors—whose testimony ranges from dubious to preposterous—to further demonize Venezuela and <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/13194" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;">provide cover</a> for Washington’s murderous regime change policy.<div>
</div><div>=</div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles</a></div><div>
</div><div>Henrique Capriles Radonski (Spanish pronunciation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish" title="Help:IPA/Spanish" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none !important;">[enˈrike kaˈpɾiles raˈðonski]</a>; born 11 July 1972) is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Venezuelan</a> politician and lawyer, serving as 36th Governor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda(state)" title="Miranda (state)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Miranda</a> from 2008-2017.</div>Born in Caracas on 11 July 1972, he received a degree in law from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidad_Cat%C3%B3lica_Andr%C3%A9s_Bello" class="mw-redirect" title="Universidad Católica Andrés Bello" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Universidad Católica Andrés Bello</a>, and later in tax law from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_University_of_Venezuela" title="Central University of Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Central University of Venezuela</a>. 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_of_Deputies_of_Venezuela" class="mw-redirect" title="Chamber of Deputies of Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chamber of Deputies</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_parliamentary_election,1998" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan parliamentary election, 1998" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1998 parliamentary elections</a>, under the Christian Democratic Party (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copei" title="Copei" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Copei</a>). He served as vice president of the Congress and president of the Chamber of Deputies until their dissolution by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_Constitutional_Assembly_election,1999" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly election, 1999" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Constitutional Assembly</a> in August 1999.In 2000, he co-founded the political party <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primero_Justicia" class="mw-redirect" title="Primero Justicia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Primero Justicia</a>, alongside politicians <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Borges" title="Julio Borges" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Julio Borges</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Lopez" class="mw-redirect" title="Leopoldo Lopez" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Leopoldo Lopez</a>, and ran successfully for the mayorship of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruta" class="mw-redirect" title="Baruta" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Baruta municipality</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2000" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2000" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">regional elections held in July 2000</a>, and later for the governorship of the Miranda state <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2008" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">in 2008</a>. Capriles became the opposition candidate at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,2012" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan presidential election, 2012" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2012</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,2013" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan presidential election, 2013" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2013 presidential elections</a>, and faced then-President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez" title="Hugo Chávez" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hugo Chávez</a> and Vice President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro" title="Nicolás Maduro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nicolás Maduro</a> 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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-irregularities-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a> Between both presidential campaigns, Capriles successfully secured his re-election as Governor of Miranda during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2012" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2012" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2012 regional elections</a>. He has repeatedly been the target of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smear_campaigns" class="mw-redirect" title="Smear campaigns" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">smear campaigns</a> by political opponents who seek to capitalize on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Venezuela#Living_conditions" title="LGBT rights in Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">homophobic</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Venezuela" title="Antisemitism in Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">antisemitic currents in Venezuelan society</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a>Capriles Radonski is of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews" title="Sephardi Jews" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sephardi Jewish</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jewish" class="mw-redirect" title="Ashkenazi Jewish" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ashkenazi Jewish</a> descent; his grandparents immigrated from Russia and Poland during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">World War II</a>. However, he self-describes as a Roman Catholic, revealing that his greatest hero in history was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ" class="mw-redirect" title="Jesus Christ" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jesus Christ</a>. 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Fiscal_Association" title="International Fiscal Association" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Fiscal Association</a>.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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[4]</a> He ceased to be the Governor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda(state)" title="Miranda (state)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Miranda</a> in October after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2017" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2017" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2017 regional elections</a>, and subsequently declared his intent to leave the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Unity_Roundtable" title="Democratic Unity Roundtable" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Democratic Unity Roundtable</a> in protest against what he considered its legitimizing the Maduro government.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a>
<div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Early_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Early life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Education</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Political_career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Political career</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Early_years_and_Chamber_of_Deputies(1995-1999)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.1Early years and Chamber of Deputies (1995-1999)</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Mayor_of_Baruta(2000%E2%80%932008)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2Mayor of Baruta (2000–2008)</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Governor_of_Miranda(2008%E2%80%932017)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.3Governor of Miranda (2008–2017)</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#2012_presidential_election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.42012 presidential election</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#2013_presidential_election" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.52013 presidential election</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Political_analysis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Political analysis</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Personal_life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Personal life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Notes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Notes</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#Further_reading" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7Further reading</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Early life[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henrique_Capriles&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early life" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Henrique Capriles Radonski was born in Caracas on 11 July 1972. His parents are Henrique Capriles García, a successful businessman,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-genref1-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> and Mónica Cristina Radonski-Bochenek.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-genref1-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CaprilesWins-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> His maternal grandparents were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jew" class="mw-redirect" title="Ashkenazi Jew" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ashkenazi Jews</a> who immigrated from Russia and Poland following <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">World War II</a>. His great-grand parents were murdered at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treblinka_extermination_camp" title="Treblinka extermination camp" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Treblinka extermination camp</a> during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Holocaust</a>. His maternal grandmother, Lili Bochenek, lived for 20 months in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto" title="Warsaw Ghetto" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Warsaw Ghetto</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-genref1-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a> His paternal grandfather, Armando Capriles-Myerston, was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews" title="Sephardi Jews" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sephardi Jew</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-genref1-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a>In the 1950s, Henrique Capriles García helped launch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraft_Foods" title="Kraft Foods" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Kraft Foods</a>' entry into Venezuela by inviting the vice-president of its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabisco" title="Nabisco" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Nabisco</a> subsidiary and persuading him to invest in the country.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-nabisco-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a> His maternal grandparents, Andrés Radonski and Lili Bochenek, emigrated to Venezuela in 1947 from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poland" title="Poland" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Poland</a>. 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_La_Cruz" class="mw-redirect" title="Puerto La Cruz" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Puerto La Cruz</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-rival1-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a>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, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinex" title="Cinex" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cinex</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-cinex-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a> He is also the descendant of relatives who operated the media conglomerate, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadena_Capriles" title="Cadena Capriles" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cadena Capriles</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-EPcadena-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-EXCELcadena-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ELconCADENA-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Education[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henrique_Capriles&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Education" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>Capriles enrolled at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universidad_Cat%C3%B3lica_Andr%C3%A9s_Bello" class="mw-redirect" title="Universidad Católica Andrés Bello" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Andrés Bello Catholic University</a> to study commerce law. He received his degree in 1994, and then continued studies at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_University_of_Venezuela" title="Central University of Venezuela" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Central University of Venezuela</a>. He received a degree in tax law several years later.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Baruta-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a> He took additional studies at the IBFD International Tax Academy in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam" title="Amsterdam" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Amsterdam</a>, the Pan American Center of Tax Managers in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viterbo" title="Viterbo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Viterbo</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University" title="Columbia University" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Columbia University</a>. He is a sitting member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Fiscal_Association" title="International Fiscal Association" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International Fiscal Association</a> and the World Association of Young Jurors.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Baruta-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Political career[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henrique_Capriles&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Political career" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Early years and Chamber of Deputies (1995-1999)[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henrique_Capriles&action=edit&section=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early years and Chamber of Deputies (1995-1999)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>Capriles first ventured into politics between 1995 and 1998, when he aided his cousin, deputee Armando Capriles, in the writing of laws for the Bicameral Commission of Energy of the then-existing Congress of the Republic.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> Armando, who was a partisan of the Christian democratic party <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copei" title="Copei" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Copei</a>, later offered Henrique the possibility of being a candidate for a seat at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_of_Deputies_of_Venezuela" class="mw-redirect" title="Chamber of Deputies of Venezuela" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Chamber of Deputies</a> at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_parliamentary_election,1998" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan parliamentary election, 1998" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">1998 parliamentary elections</a>, affiliating with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copei" title="Copei" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Copei</a> (Social Christian Party). Capriles accepted, and successfully secured a seat at the Congress in representation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulia" title="Zulia" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Zulia</a> state.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> He became the youngest member ever elected to the Venezuelan parliament,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CNNwire-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a> and later held the positions of Vice President of the Congress and President of the Chamber of Deputies.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>In August 1999, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_Constitutional_Assembly_election,1999" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan Constitutional Assembly election, 1999" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Constitutional Assembly</a> 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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-WIN1999-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Mayor of Baruta (2000–2008)</h3>The Congress was replaced by the National Assembly, and new deputees were elected in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_general_election,2000" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan general election, 2000" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">general election held, in</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_general_election,2000" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan general election, 2000" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;"> 2000</a>. That year, Capriles founded the political party <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primero_Justicia" class="mw-redirect" title="Primero Justicia" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Primero Justicia</a>, alongside politicians <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Borges" title="Julio Borges" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Julio Borges</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Lopez" class="mw-redirect" title="Leopoldo Lopez" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Leopoldo Lopez</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> although the entity had already existed as a civil association since 1992.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-primeroj-18" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[18]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Munoz-19" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[19]</a> He did not run for a seat at the newly created Assembly; however, he and Leopoldo Lopez pursued the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor" title="Mayor" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">mayoralties</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruta" class="mw-redirect" title="Baruta" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Baruta</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chacao,Venezuela" class="mw-redirect" title="Chacao, Venezuela" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Chacao</a> municipalities, respectively, at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2000" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2000" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">regional elections held in July 2000</a>. Lopez won with 51,5% of the vote, whereas Capriles received 62,9%.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> Borges <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_parliamentary_election,2000" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2000" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">secured a seat</a> 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.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a>In 2002, President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez" title="Hugo Chávez" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hugo Chávez</a> was the target of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Venezuelan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt" title="2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">failed coup d'état</a> 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_Federation_of_Chambers_of_Commerce" title="Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce</a> (Fedecámaras), represented by its president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Carmona" title="Pedro Carmona" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Pedro Carmona</a>, who was declared the interim president. The following day, the Cuban embassy, located in Baruta, received severe damage, caused by opposition protesters who cut off the water and electricity supply, smashed windows, damaged six staff vehicles, and blocked the Cuban ambassador, German Sanchez Otero, from leaving. The same day, Interior Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Rodriguez_Chacin" class="mw-redirect" title="Ramon Rodriguez Chacin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ramon Rodriguez Chacin</a> was detained by the municipal police.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA1-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA2-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a>Chávez returned to the presidency on 13 April 2002. Capriles then faced charges as a result of the attacks on the embassy. In March 2004, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danilo_Anderson" class="mw-redirect" title="Danilo Anderson" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Danilo Anderson</a> publicly declared that Capriles would be arrested; the warrant was annulled in early April. In May 2004, Capriles was arrested on the orders of Anderson, on the grounds that Capriles might flee the country; he was released on probation in September, pending his trial.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA1-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA2-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[21]</a> In December 2006, Capriles was acquitted of the charge of fomenting violence in the siege of the Cuban embassy during the coup attempt, but five months later, his acquittal was annulled by the court of appeal, and the case was re-opened in October 2008.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA1-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[20]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-CUBA2-21" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[21]</a> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.Department_of_State" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Department of State" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Department of State</a> mentioned Capriles' case in its 2008 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States%27_Country_Reports_on_Human_Rights_Practices" class="mw-redirect" title="United States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Human Rights report</a> as a denial of a fair public trial.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-US2008HR-22" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[22]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Governor of Miranda (2008–2017)</h3>In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_regional_elections,2008" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan regional elections, 2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuelan regional elections, 2008</a>, Capriles was elected Governor of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda(state)" title="Miranda (state)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Miranda state</a>, defeating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diosdado_Cabello" title="Diosdado Cabello" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Diosdado Cabello</a>. During his tenure, Capriles invested in education, opening 39 schools by 2011, compared to 7 under the previous governor.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-talcual-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a> Capriles passed on the governorship of the state of Miranda to the Secretary General of Miranda, Adriana D'Elia, on 6 June 2012, in compliance with Venezuelan law which states an incumbent governor cannot run for the presidency of the nation. He was elected again on 16 December 2012, beating former Vice President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El%C3%ADas_Jaua" title="Elías Jaua" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Elías Jaua</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-20-23-23" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[23]</a>On 5 April 2017, the Comptroller General of Venezuela notified Capriles that for 15 years, he would be prevented from participating in public office, due to his misuse of public funds, a charge that Capriles denied.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Kraul-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[24]</a>Capriles stated that he would not step down and that "I am and will continue being your governor until the people elects another governor".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[25]</a> On 8 April 2017, the campaign headquarters for Capriles was attacked with tear gas and fires ignited inside of the building, destroying it.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[26]</a>On 11 April, Capriles used his decree powers to order a referendum to determine whether or not he should remain governor of Miranda state, challenging President Maduro to do the same with Venezuelans nationwide and promising he would resign if individuals voted for him to be removed from office.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-27" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[27]</a> The order by the Comptroller General of Venezuela, if valid, would also prevent Capriles from running in the 2018 presidential election.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Kraul-24" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[24]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2012 presidential election</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,2012" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan presidential election, 2012" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuelan presidential election, 2012</a></div>Capriles was selected in primaries held in February 2012 as the opposition candidate against Hugo Chávez in the presidential elections to be held in October 2012; he won the opposition primaries with 1,900,528 (64.2%) votes of the 3,059,024 votes cast (votes from abroad not included).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-28" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[28]</a>Capriles named former Brazilian president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva" title="Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva</a> as his political inspiration.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-VenPoll-29" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[29]</a> However, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_In%C3%A1cio_Lula_da_Silva" title="Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva</a> endorsed Chávez in the 2012 election.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[30]</a>In February 2012, Capriles was subjected to what some foreign journalists characterized as attacks by state-run media sources.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezMedia-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-TheMan-32" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[32]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_Street_Journal" title="The Wall Street Journal" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">The </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall_Street_Journal" title="The Wall Street Journal" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wall Street Journal</a> reported that Capriles "was exposed in [sic] a campaign in Venezuela's state-run media, which insinuated he was, among other things, a homosexual and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism" title="Zionism" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Zionist</a>".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezRivalWSJ-33" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[33]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezRival-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a> An opinion article of 13 February 2012 on the website of the state-owned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Nacional_de_Venezuela" title="Radio Nacional de Venezuela" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Radio Nacional de Venezuela</a>, titled "The Enemy is Zionism",<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ADL17022012-35" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[35]</a> mentioned Capriles's Jewish ancestry and a meeting he had held with local Jewish leaders,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezMedia-31" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[31]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezRival-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-JewishGay-36" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[36]</a>saying, "This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents ... Zionism, along with capitalism, are responsible for 90% of world poverty and imperialist wars." Chávez repeatedly denied allegations of tolerating or promoting anti-Semitism.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ChavezRival-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a>In early September 2012, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_De_Lima" title="David De Lima" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David De Lima</a>, a former governor of Anzoategui, published a document he said showed secret MUD plans to implement much more <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberal" class="mw-redirect" title="Neoliberal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">neoliberal</a> policy, if elected, than their public statements showed. De Lima claimed the document was a form of policy pact between some of the candidates in the MUD primary, including Capriles.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[37]</a>On 6 September 2012, opposition legislator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Ojeda&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="William Ojeda (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Ojeda</a> denounced these plans and the "neoliberal obsessions" of his colleagues in the MUD;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-38" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a> he was suspended by his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_New_Era" title="A New Era" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">A New Era</a> party the following day.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a>Capriles said his purported signature on the document was a forgery,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[40]</a> while the MUD's economic advisor said that the MUD had "no hidden agenda", and that its plans included the "institutionalisation" of the government's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivarian_Missions" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolivarian Missions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bolivarian Missions</a> so that they would no longer be "subject to the whims of government".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[41]</a> Nonetheless, several days later four small parties withdrew from the MUD coalition.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[42]</a> One small coalition party claimed De Lima had offered them money to withdraw from the MUD;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[43]</a> De Lima denied the claim.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-44" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[44]</a>On 30 September, another opposition politician, Aldo Carmeno, from the Christian-democratic party COPEI, withdrew support for Capriles, and accused Capriles of "double speak" and "tricking the Venezuelan people". Carmeno announced his support for Chávez.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-45" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[45]</a>On 7 October 2012, Capriles lost the election to then-President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez" title="Hugo Chávez" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hugo Chávez</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-46" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[46]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2013 presidential election</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,2013" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan presidential election, 2013" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Venezuelan presidential election, 2013</a></div>
Political analysisCapriles faced interim president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_Maduro" title="Nicolás Maduro" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nicolás Maduro</a> in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_presidential_election,2013" class="mw-redirect" title="Venezuelan presidential election, 2013" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">presidential election</a> on 14 April, 2013. Voters gave Maduro—who had assumed the role of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_president" title="Acting president" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">acting president</a> since Chávez's death—a narrow victory over Capriles. Capriles rejected the results of the election, claiming election irregularities and calling for a full audit of the election results. Maduro said he would accept an audit of the election results; the election board did not agree to opposition demands for a total recount.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Russiatoday-47" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[47]</a>According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press" title="Associated Press" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Associated Press</a> in 2017:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-48" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[48]</a><table class="cquote pullquote" role="presentation" style="margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="width: 20px; vertical-align: top; border: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 0.6em; padding: 10px;">“</td><td style="vertical-align: top; border: none; padding: 4px 10px;">Capriles is a scion of one of Venezuela's wealthiest families, but his sometimes vulgar talk and mannerisms echo the late Chavez's populist style and he has tried to reach out to Chavez supporters. He prides himself on staying close to home when others in the opposition have been quick to fly off to Washington and other capitals to seek help.</td><td style="width: 20px; vertical-align: bottom; border: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 0.6em; text-align: right; padding: 10px;">”</td></tr></tbody></table><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Personal life</h2>Capriles was raised a Catholic. His parents agreed to educate their children in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_faith" class="mw-redirect" title="Catholic faith" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Catholic faith</a> "until they were old enough to decide for themselves" as a "compromise".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-Giusti-49" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[49]</a> Capriles has continued as a "fervent Catholic" through his adulthood, commenting that his greatest hero in history was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ" class="mw-redirect" title="Jesus Christ" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jesus Christ</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-25preg-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a> He is a cousin of Miguel Ángel Capriles López, son of the founder of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadena_Capriles" title="Cadena Capriles" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cadena Capriles</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-EPcadena-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-EXCELcadena-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrique_Capriles#cite_note-ELconCADENA-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a><div>
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