Chavez nominates Parra Luzardo as President of the Central Bank

January 19, 2005


Hugo Chavez has nominated Marxist Economist Gaston Parra Luzardo as the next President of the Venezuelan Central Bank. Parra Luzardo is currently Vice-President of the Central Bank and is best known for his brief stay as President of PDVSA March 2002 to April 10th. 2002, which caused the protests that led to Chavez brief departure on April 11th., after more than twenty people died and over one hundred were injured. He is best remembered by his speech in the National Assembly in March 2002, a passionate attack on PDVSA, given in the best old style of the fourth Republic. He is retired from the University of Zulia and has been a Vice-President of the Central Bank since 2000.


Parra Luzardo is not the most modern economist in the world, to say the least, and you can be sure there will be interest rate controls soon after his nomination is confirmed and the Central bank starts handing over foreign exchange profits. Curiously, after Chavez criticized the current President as being too old, he is 74; the new President is 71 so it is not clear exactly what Chavez meant by that. This is likely to be the beginning of the demise of the only semi independent institutions left in the country.

This entry was posted on January 19, 2005 at 1:34 am and is filed under Venezuela.

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