Jorge Rodríguez

Who is Jorge Rodríguez?

Jorge Rodríguez Gómez is a Venezuelan politician and psychiatrist who was Vice President of Venezuela from January 2007 to January 2008. He is currently the Mayor of the Libertador Municipality in Caracas.

He was born in Barquisimeto. His father was a leader in the Socialist League and was tortured to death by police in the 1970s. Prior to his appointment as Vice-President, Rodríguez had been the chief of Venezuela's National Electoral Council.

On January 3, 2007 President Hugo Chávez announced that Rodríguez would be the next Vice President, replacing José Vicente Rangel. He was sworn in on January 8, two days before Chávez's swearing in for his next term as president.

Rodríguez studied medicine at the Central University of Venezuela; he was the president of the Federation of University Centers in 1988. After graduating, he studied psychiatry at the UCV and community clinical psychology at the Andrés Bello Catholic University.

He headed the government's campaign in favor of a group of constitutional amendments in the December 2007 referendum. Following the defeat of the referendum, Chávez announced on January 3, 2008 that he was replacing Rodríguez with Ramón Carrizales, previously the Minister of Housing. Chávez said that Rodríguez would concentrate on developing the new United Socialist Party of Venezuela.