Henrique Capriles

Capriles first ventured into politics between 1995 and 1998, when he aided his cousin, deputy Armando Capriles, in the writing of laws for the Bicameral Commission of Energy of the then-existing Congress of the Republic.[14] Armando, who was a partisan of the Christian democratic party Copei, later offered Henrique the possibility of being a candidate for a seat at the Chamber of Deputies at the 1998 parliamentary elections, affiliating with Copei (Social Christian Party). Capriles accepted, and successfully secured a seat at the Congress in representation of the Zulia state.[14] He became the youngest member ever elected to the Venezuelan parliament,[15] and later held the positions of Vice President of the Congress and President of the Chamber of Deputies.[14]

In August 1999, the Constituent Assembly abolished Capriles' seat, and dissolved the Congress. Capriles criticized Chávez's new constitution, stating at the time, "This is a corrupt constitution that will leave Venezuela backward and poor", while further denouncing the centralized power that it granted the president.[16]

The Congress was replaced by the National Assembly, and new deputies were elected in a general election held, in 2000. That year, Capriles founded the political party Primero Justicia, alongside politicians Julio Borges and Leopoldo Lopez,[14] although the entity had already existed as a civil association since 1992.[17][18] He did not run for a seat at the newly created Assembly; however, he and Leopoldo Lopez pursued the mayoralties of the Baruta and Chacao municipalities, respectively, at the regional elections held in July 2000. Lopez won with 51,5% of the vote, whereas Capriles received 62,9%.[14] Borges secured a seat in the National Assembly. As mayor, Capriles focused on the reduction of crime within his municipality, as well as on improving the overall infrastructure of the area.[14]

In 2002, President Hugo Chávez was the target of a failed coup d'état that removed him from office on 11 April 2002, after several days of violent protests in Caracas. The coup, triggered by major political discontent in a sector of the Venezuelan population, was initially staged by members of the military and the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras), represented by its president Pedro Carmona, who was declared the interim president. The following day, the Cuban embassy, located in Baruta, received severe damage, caused by opposition protesters who cut off the water and electricity supply, smashed windows, damaged six staff vehicles, and blocked the Cuban ambassador, German Sanchez Otero, from leaving. The same day, Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin was detained by the municipal police.[19][20]

Chávez returned to the presidency on 13 April 2002. Capriles then faced charges as a result of the attacks on the embassy. In March 2004, Danilo Anderson publicly declared that Capriles would be arrested; the warrant was annulled in early April. In May 2004, Capriles was arrested on the orders of Anderson, on the grounds that Capriles might flee the country; he was released on probation in September, pending his trial.[19][20] In December 2006, Capriles was acquitted of the charge of fomenting violence in the siege of the Cuban embassy during the coup attempt, but five months later, his acquittal was annulled by the court of appeal, and the case was re-opened in October 2008.[19][20] The U.S. Department of State mentioned Capriles' case in its 2008 Human Rights report as a denial of a fair public trial.[21]

In the 2008 Venezuelan regional elections, Capriles was elected Governor of Miranda state, defeating Diosdado Cabello. During his tenure, Capriles invested in education, opening 39 schools by 2011, compared to 7 under the previous governor.[14] Capriles passed on the governorship of the state of Miranda to the Secretary General of Miranda, Adriana D'Elia, on 6 June 2012, in compliance with Venezuelan law which states an incumbent governor cannot run for the presidency of the nation. He was elected again on 16 December 2012, beating former Vice President Elías Jaua.[22]

On 5 April 2017, the Comptroller General of Venezuela notified Capriles that for 15 years, he would be prevented from participating in public office, due to his misuse of public funds, a charge that Capriles denied.[23]

Capriles stated that he would not step down and that "I am and will continue being your governor until the people elects another governor".[24] On 8 April 2017, the campaign headquarters for Capriles was attacked with tear gas and fires ignited inside of the building, destroying it.[25]

On 11 April, Capriles used his decree powers to order a referendum to determine whether or not he should remain governor of Miranda state, challenging President Maduro to do the same with Venezuelans nationwide and promising he would resign if individuals voted for him to be removed from office.[26] The order by the Comptroller General of Venezuela, if valid, would also prevent Capriles from running in the 2018 presidential election.[23]

Capriles was selected in primaries held in February 2012 as the opposition candidate against Hugo Chávez in the presidential elections to be held in October 2012; he won the opposition primaries with 1,900,528 (64.2%) votes of the 3,059,024 votes cast (votes from abroad not included).[27]

Capriles named former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as his political inspiration.[28]

In February 2012, Capriles was subjected to what some foreign journalists characterized as attacks by state-run media sources.[29][30]

The Wall Street Journal reported that Capriles "was exposed in [sic] a campaign in Venezuela's state-run media, which insinuated he was, among other things, a homosexual and a Zionist".[31][32] An opinion article of 13 February 2012 on the website of the state-owned Radio Nacional de Venezuela, titled "The Enemy is Zionism",[33] mentioned Capriles's Jewish ancestry and a meeting he had held with local Jewish leaders,[29][32][34] saying, "This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents ... Zionism, along with capitalism, are responsible for 90% of world poverty and imperialist wars." Chávez repeatedly denied allegations of tolerating or promoting anti-Semitism.[32]

In early September 2012, David De Lima, a former governor of Anzoategui, published a document he said showed secret MUD plans to implement much more neoliberal policy, if elected, than their public statements showed. De Lima claimed the document was a form of policy pact between some of the candidates in the MUD primary, including Capriles.[35]

On 6 September 2012, opposition legislator William Ojeda denounced these plans and the "neoliberal obsessions" of his colleagues in the MUD;[36] he was suspended by his A New Era party the following day.[37] Capriles said his purported signature on the document was a forgery, while the MUD's economic advisor said that the MUD had "no hidden agenda", and that its plans included the "institutionalisation" of the government's Bolivarian Missions so that they would no longer be "subject to the whims of government".[38] One small coalition party claimed De Lima had offered them money to withdraw from the MUD;[39] De Lima denied the claim.[40]

On 7 October 2012, Capriles lost the election to then-President Hugo Chávez.[41]

Henrique Capriles in Cumaná, Venezuela, prior to the 2013 presidential elections.

Capriles faced interim president Nicolás Maduro in a presidential election on 14 April 2013. Voters gave Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—a narrow victory over Capriles. Capriles rejected the results of the election, claiming election irregularities and calling for a full audit of the election results. Maduro said he would accept an audit of the election results; the election board did not agree to opposition demands for a total recount.

The Supreme Court of Justice denied Capriles' appeal on 7 August 2013.[42]