Claudio Eloy Fermín Maldonado (born in Barinas, Barinas

Barinas, Barinas

Barinas is a city in west central Venezuela. According to an estimate in 2009, its population is 251,535. It is the capital of the Barinas Municipality and the State of Barinas...

, 1950) is a Venezuelan politician. He was deputy minister of youth under Jaime Lusinchi

Jaime Lusinchi

Jaime Ramón Lusinchi is a Venezuelan politician who was the President of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the External debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption that exacerbated the crisis of the political...

, and subsequently Mayor of Libertador municipality

Libertador Municipality (Venezuelan Capital District)

The Libertador Bolivarian Municipality is the only administrative division of the Venezuelan Capital District and along with the municipalities of Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo and Sucre forms the Metropolitan District of Caracas. It is located in the western portion of Caracas. It is landlocked by...

, Caracas (1989–1993) for Acción Democrática, narrowly missing out on re-election to La Causa Radical's Aristóbulo Istúriz

Aristóbulo Istúriz

Aristóbulo Istúriz is a Venezuelan politician and academic. He was a professor at the Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was elected to Parliament several times for Acción Democrática, representing the Federal District , before joining the Radical Cause...

. He was the AD candidate in the 1993 presidential election

Venezuelan presidential election, 1993

General elections were held in Venezuela on 5 December 1993. The presidential elections were won by Rafael Caldera of National Convergence, who received 30.5% of the vote. Democratic Action remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, which were elected on separate ballots for...

.

He ran as an independent in the 1998 presidential election

Venezuelan presidential election, 1998

In the Venezuelan presidential election of 1998, Hugo Chávez was elected to his first term as President of Venezuela with the largest percentage of the popular vote in four decades...

, but withdrew before election day. In 1999 he was elected to the Constituent Assembly

1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela

The 1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela was a constitutional convention held in Venezuela in 1999 to draft a new Constitution of Venezuela. The Assembly was endorsed by a referendum in April 1999 which enabled Constituent Assembly elections in July 1999...

 which drafted the new Constitution of Venezuela

Constitution of Venezuela

||The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current and twenty-sixth constitution of Venezuela. It was drafted in mid-1999 by a constitutional assembly that had been created by popular referendum. Adopted in December 1999, it replaced the 1961 Constitution - the longest...

. He ran in the 2000 presidential election

Venezuelan presidential election, 2000

A presidential election was held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on July 30, 2000. This was the first election held under Venezuela's newly adopted 1999 constitution.-Results:...

under the banner of Encuentro Nacional, a party he founded, gaining less than 3% of the vote. He participated in the 2004 and 2008 regional elections, running for Mayor of Caracas.