Teodoro Petkoff
Encyclopedia
Teodoro Petkoff Malec is a Venezuela
n politician
, ex-guerrilla
, journalist
and economist
. One of the most prominent politicians on the left in Venezuela, Petkoff began as a communist but gravitated towards liberalism
in the 1990s. As Minister of Planning he oversaw President Rafael Caldera
's adoption of neoliberal
economic policies in the mid-1990s. He has been a prominent critic of President Hugo Chávez
, and was a candidate to run against him in the December 2006 presidential elections
, but dropped out of the race in August to support Manuel Rosales
. He launched the newspaper Tal Cual
in 2000, and remains its editor.
His father was a Bulgaria
n emigrant and his mother was a Pole
of Jewish origin. He received a Bachelor degree in Economics
from the Central University of Venezuela
(UCV) where he also served as a professor for 14 years. He was member of the student resistance against the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez
and was imprisoned on several occasions. He was a guerrilla fighter under the command of Douglas Bravo
against the government of Rómulo Betancourt
. Later, he joined in the Communist Party of Venezuela
(PCV).
In 1971, Petkoff left the PCV to found, along with other dissidents, the Movement Towards Socialism
(MAS). He was a member of Congress
and twice an unsuccessful candidate for president, gaining 4% in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1983
and 3% in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1988
.
(1994-1999), MAS was in coalition with the centrist National Convergence
party of Caldera, along with other left-wing parties such as the Communist Party of Venezuela
(PCV) and the MEP, and other right-wing parties as the National Movement of Integration. Petkoff served as Minister of the Central Office of Coordination and Planning (Cordiplan), directing the government's economic policies. From Cordiplan, Petkoff managed the Venezuela Agenda, a neo-liberal government program for reducing the size of the public administration, controlling inflation and stopping the currency devaluation, while administering social programs aimed at improving the population's nutritional health and providing "children-mother" services for the poorest.
's candidacy(see http://200.44.123.155/1998/07/03/pais/pais1.html) in the 1998 Presidential election
. He left the political world and became a journalist, working as a director of El Mundo
. Afterward, he founded his own newspaper, Tal Cual
. Tal Cual has been outspoken in its criticism of both Chavismo
and those who supported the coup attempt against Chávez.
Petkoff has written several political books. In 2005 he published The Two Lefts (Las dos izquierdas, Alfadil Editor, Hogueras Collection) where he analyzed the resurgence of the left-wing politics in Latin America. Petkoff argues that there is a sharp difference between the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
, Néstor Kirchner
, and Ricardo Lagos, compared to the governments of Chávez and Castro
, which he characterises as similar. The main ideas can be read in an article published in the journal New Society (Nueva Sociedad) in Spanish
(see Las dos izquierdas).
On April 21, 2006, after rumours indicating that a number of intellectuals and middle-class liberal activists had asked him to run in the 2006 Presidential election
, Teodoro Petkoff launched his campaign to be the next president of Venezuela. In a short televised message he explained his reasons and asked Venezuelans to follow his lead in the construction of what he described as a new, better Venezuela. On August 4, 2006, Petkoff dropped out of the presidential race. Five days after dropping out of the race, he endorsed Manuel Rosales
, former governor of Zulia State, for the presidency.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, ex-guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
. One of the most prominent politicians on the left in Venezuela, Petkoff began as a communist but gravitated towards liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
in the 1990s. As Minister of Planning he oversaw President Rafael Caldera
Rafael Caldera
Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party...
's adoption of neoliberal
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
economic policies in the mid-1990s. He has been a prominent critic of President Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, and was a candidate to run against him in the December 2006 presidential elections
Venezuelan presidential election, 2006
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held presidential elections on 3 December 2006, to choose a president for the six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007...
, but dropped out of the race in August to support Manuel Rosales
Manuel Rosales
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero is a Venezuelan educator and politician and was the most prominent opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election, losing to incumbent Hugo Chávez...
. He launched the newspaper Tal Cual
Tal Cual
Tal Cual is a Venezuelan newspaper. It was launched in 2000, with Teodoro Petkoff as editor....
in 2000, and remains its editor.
Early years
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n emigrant and his mother was a Pole
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
of Jewish origin. He received a Bachelor degree in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from the Central University of Venezuela
Central University of Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela is a premier public University of Venezuela located in Caracas...
(UCV) where he also served as a professor for 14 years. He was member of the student resistance against the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was a soldier and Presidents of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958.-Career:Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez was born in Michelena, Táchira State. His father, Juan Pérez Bustamante, was a farmer; his mother, Adela Jiménez, a schoolteacher...
and was imprisoned on several occasions. He was a guerrilla fighter under the command of Douglas Bravo
Douglas Bravo
Douglas Bravo is a former guerrilla fighter and Venezuelan politician.Bravo became a member of the Communist Party of Venezuela in 1946, only to be expelled from it in 1964....
against the government of Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century...
. Later, he joined in the Communist Party of Venezuela
Communist Party of Venezuela
The Communist Party of Venezuela is a Marxist-Leninist political party, and the oldest continuously existing party in Venezuela...
(PCV).
In 1971, Petkoff left the PCV to found, along with other dissidents, the Movement Towards Socialism
Movement for Socialism (Venezuela)
Movement for Socialism is a center-left political party in Venezuela.-History:The Movement for Socialism is a social-democratic political party in Venezuela. MAS was founded in 1971 by a faction of the Communist Party of Venezuela, with a view to emphasising a socialist message...
(MAS). He was a member of Congress
National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based...
and twice an unsuccessful candidate for president, gaining 4% in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1983
Venezuelan presidential election, 1983
General elections were held in Venezuela on 4 December 1983. The presidential elections were won by Jaime Lusinchi of Democratic Action, who received 58.4% of the vote, whilst his party won a majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Voter turnout was 87.3%.-President:-Congress:...
and 3% in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1988
Venezuelan presidential election, 1988
General elections were held in Venezuela on 4 December 1988. The presidential elections were won by Carlos Andrés Pérez of Democratic Action, who received 52.9% of the vote, whilst his party won the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate...
.
Minister of Rafael Caldera
In the second government of Rafael CalderaRafael Caldera
Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party...
(1994-1999), MAS was in coalition with the centrist National Convergence
National Convergence
The National Convergence is a conservative/Christian democratic political party in Venezuela. It was founded in 1993 by former President of Venezuela Rafael Caldera, successfully gaining a second term in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1993. From 1995 to 2004 Eduardo Lapi held the...
party of Caldera, along with other left-wing parties such as the Communist Party of Venezuela
Communist Party of Venezuela
The Communist Party of Venezuela is a Marxist-Leninist political party, and the oldest continuously existing party in Venezuela...
(PCV) and the MEP, and other right-wing parties as the National Movement of Integration. Petkoff served as Minister of the Central Office of Coordination and Planning (Cordiplan), directing the government's economic policies. From Cordiplan, Petkoff managed the Venezuela Agenda, a neo-liberal government program for reducing the size of the public administration, controlling inflation and stopping the currency devaluation, while administering social programs aimed at improving the population's nutritional health and providing "children-mother" services for the poorest.
Opponent of Hugo Chávez
In 1998 Petkoff left the MAS because he was against its support of Hugo ChávezHugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
's candidacy(see http://200.44.123.155/1998/07/03/pais/pais1.html) 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...
. He left the political world and became a journalist, working as a director of El Mundo
El Mundo (Venezuela)
El Mundo is a Venezuelan evening newspaper.It was launched on 3 February 1958 in Caracas, shortly after the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez on 23 January 1958. It was founded by Miguel Ángel Capriles Ayala, who had launched Ultimas Noticias in 1941...
. Afterward, he founded his own newspaper, Tal Cual
Tal Cual
Tal Cual is a Venezuelan newspaper. It was launched in 2000, with Teodoro Petkoff as editor....
. Tal Cual has been outspoken in its criticism of both Chavismo
Chavismo
Chavismo is the name given to the left-wing political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the present president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Chavista is a term to describe strong supporters of Chavez, which is closely associated with support for...
and those who supported the coup attempt against Chávez.
Petkoff has written several political books. In 2005 he published The Two Lefts (Las dos izquierdas, Alfadil Editor, Hogueras Collection) where he analyzed the resurgence of the left-wing politics in Latin America. Petkoff argues that there is a sharp difference between the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
, Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
, and Ricardo Lagos, compared to the governments of Chávez and Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, which he characterises as similar. The main ideas can be read in an article published in the journal New Society (Nueva Sociedad) in Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(see Las dos izquierdas).
On April 21, 2006, after rumours indicating that a number of intellectuals and middle-class liberal activists had asked him to run in the 2006 Presidential election
Venezuelan presidential election, 2006
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held presidential elections on 3 December 2006, to choose a president for the six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007...
, Teodoro Petkoff launched his campaign to be the next president of Venezuela. In a short televised message he explained his reasons and asked Venezuelans to follow his lead in the construction of what he described as a new, better Venezuela. On August 4, 2006, Petkoff dropped out of the presidential race. Five days after dropping out of the race, he endorsed Manuel Rosales
Manuel Rosales
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero is a Venezuelan educator and politician and was the most prominent opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election, losing to incumbent Hugo Chávez...
, former governor of Zulia State, for the presidency.
Works
- "Checoslovaquia: El Socialismo como problema". (MonteÁvila:1969,1990) ISBN 980-01-0295-7
- "¿Socialismo para Venezuela?" (Editorial Domingo Fuentes:1970).
- "Razón y pasión del socialismo: el tema socialista en Venezuela" (Editorial Domingo Fuentes:1973)
- "Proceso a la izquierda: O de la falsa conducta revolucionaria." (Planeta:1976) ISBN 84-320-2509-7
- "Del optimismo de la voluntad: Escritos políticos" (Centauro:1987) ISBN 980-263-073-X
- "Por qué hago lo que hago" (Alfadil:1997) ISBN 980-354-050-5
- (with Raúl Huizzi) "Venezuela en la encrucijada" (Universidad de los Andes:1998) ISBN 980-11-0280-2
- "Una segunda opinión: La Venezuela de Chávez: un libro hablado con Ibsen Martínez y Elías Pino Iturrieta." (Grijalbo:2000) ISBN 980-293-211-6
- "Hugo Chávez, tal cual" (Catarata:2000) ISBN 84-8319-142-3
- "Las Dos Izquierdas" (Alfadil:2005) ISBN 980-354-170-6
- "The two lefts: A new South-American revolution" Published by Matthew Clark and Daniel Petkoff 2006
- "El chavismo como problema" (Libros Marcados: 2010) ISBN 980-693-371-0
- "El chavismo al banquillo: Pasado, presente y futuro de un proyecto político" (Editorial Planeta: 2011) ISBN 978958422581-8