Ramón José Velásquez

Ramón José Velásquez Mújica ( born November 28, 1916 in San Juan de Colon ) is a Venezuelan politician ( Acción Democrática ), lawyer and historian. He was on June 5, 1993 to February 2, 1994 President of Venezuela.

Velasquez studied at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, where he earned a degree in 1942 in Political and Social Sciences, and in 1943 a degree in law. In addition to his work as a lawyer, he worked for the newspaper Últimas Noticias. After spending several years in political prisoner during the Marcos Pérez Jiménez dictatorship, he was elected in 1958 on the list of party Acción Democrática in the Venezuelan parliament. Under the government of Rómulo Betancourt, he was appointed Secretary General. After Carlos Andrés Pérez resigned from the office of the President, the Congress Velazquez voted on 5 June 1993, against the will of the Congress Chairman Octavio Lepage as interim president. His brief tenure was marked by the bankruptcy of Banco Latino and massive capital flight abroad. Both are, however, largely attributed to the failed policies of his predecessors. His most important action as president was the introduction of VAT.