Political Career
Arria resigned as head of CONAHOTU in order to support the presidential candidacy of Carlos Andrés Pérez (CAP) in 1973. Shortly after CAP was elected in March 1974, he appointed Arria Governor of the Federal District (Caracas), at a time when this was one of the most important presidential appointments. In 1976 when he was Governor of the Federal District he went to Chile and asked President Pinochet to release his friend Orlando Letelier; which Pinochet did, but soon after this Letelier was murdered with a car bomb in Washington D.C by Pinochet's order. He subsequently moved from the governorship to become Minister of Information and Tourism in February 1977. He resigned on 17 March 1978, in order to stand as an independent candidate in the Venezuelan presidential election, 1978; he came fourth with 1.7% of the votes. As part of his campaign Arria initiated the launch of the daily newspaper El Diario de Caracas.
In 2012 Arria was a candidate for the presidential nomination of the Coalition for Democratic Unity for the Venezuelan presidential election, 2012. Primary elections were held on February 12, 2012, with Henrique Capriles Radonski winning the nomination.
Read more about this topic: Diego Arria
Famous quotes containing the words political career, political and/or career:
“No wonder that, when a political career is so precarious, men of worth and capacity hesitate to embrace it. They cannot afford to be thrown out of their life’s course by a mere accident.”
—James Bryce (1838–1922)
“The rank and file have let their servants become their masters and dictators.... Provision should be made in all union constitutions for the recall of leaders. Big salaries should not be paid. Career hunters should be driven out, as well as leaders who use labor for political ends. These types are menaces to the advancement of labor.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)