Meet the Candidates: Diego Arria

This week, What’s Next Venezuela presents our “Meet the Candidates” series. Over the next five days, we will share with you the backgrounds of five Venezuelans battling to become the presidential candidate for the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) in the February 12 primary. The winner will face President Hugo Chávez in the October 7 presidential elections. Today, we introduce Diego Arria.

Diego Arria, known for his work in international diplomacy, is running as an independent candidate in the 2012 Venezuelan primary elections.

For much of his political career, Arria held several positions within the United Nations (UN). He served as the Venezuelan permanent representative to the UN, rising to chair the UN Security Council, the organization’s most important committee. Later, he served as special advisor to Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the UN. During his time leading the Security Council, Arria directed several conflict resolution missions in Sarajevo, Bosnia, the Balkans and Rwanda, becoming recognized as a champion of human rights. He actively endorsed the creation of an international tribunal to try human rights violators and served as a witness during the trial against Slobodan Milosevic. He also established himself as an approachable leader through the creation of “Arria Formula,” a program that allowed individuals and organizations to engage in informal dialogue with the Security Council.

Prior to his involvement in the UN, Arria was a prominent politician in Venezuela. Arria was appointed in 1974 as the Governor of the Federal District (Caracas) during the presidency of Carlos Andrés Peréz. Later, in 1978, after a brief stint as Minister of Information and Tourism, Arria ran as an independent candidate in the Venezuelan presidential election of 1978, in which he garnered only 1.7 percent of the vote.

In the present campaign, Arria has emphasized the need for a Constitutional Assembly that would amend changes to the current Venezuelan Constitution that was adopted in 1999. Arria has also been a sharp, vocal critic of Chávez’s expropriation policies. Following Arria’s participation in the Oslo Freedom Forum, where he accused Chávez of crimes against his people, the Venezuelan government seized his ranch, known as “La Carolina,” in the State of Yaracuy.

Since announcing his candidacy, Arria has filed a complaint against President Chávez, accusing him of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague. The complaint alleges that President Chávez and several of his top advisors violated human rights through murder, forced displacement and violation of property.

Leading up to the February elections, Arria has established a platform focused on:

• Decentralizing power and distributing it among governors and mayors;
• Convening a Constitutional Assembly to limit presidential terms to 3 years with no possibility of reelection;
• Strengthening Venezuela’s relationship with the United States.

• Improving Venezuela’s education system by focusing on equal access to education, freeing the classroom of political ideologies, and providing teachers with greater influence;
• Working to improve the daily lives of ordinary citizens by protecting human rights, including the right to private property;
• Quelling violence related to drug trafficking that crosses into Venezuela;
• Reestablishing the Armed forces without corruption;

Click here to learn more about Diego Arria on his website.