Portal:Latin America/Featured article/Day 17

Hurricane Dennis on July 9, 2005 at 2315 UTC

The President of Venezuela (Spanish: Presidente de Venezuela) is the English political nomenclature that designates both the head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The current presidential term is for six years with one possibility of immediate reelection, and with the constitutionally guaranteed recourse of holding a popular recall referendum anytime within the last three years of a presidential term.

The designation "President" encompasses only those persons who were sworn into office as President of Venezuela following Venezuela's declaration of independence from Spanish colonial rule, which took effect on July 5, 1811. Due to the profound turmoil of the Venezuelan War of Independence and the period in which Venezuela was part of the republic of Gran Colombia, this designation also effectively excludes heads of state or government in Gran Colombia; thus Simón Bolívar is not considered the first president of Venezuela. The list overall only focuses on heads of state governing Venezuela after Venezuela's separation and declaration of independence from Gran Colombia (in early 1830). The list includes interim caretaker as well as regular serving presidents, and democratically-installed presidents as well as those installed by other means (e.g.; Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Pedro Carmona Estanga).