Venezuelan presidential election, 1968
Encyclopedia
General elections were held in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 on 1 December 1968. The presidential elections were won by Rafael Caldera
Rafael Caldera
Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party...

 of Copei, who received 29.1% of the vote, whilst Democratic Action
Democratic Action
Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...

 remained the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Voter turnout was 96.7% in the presidential election and 94.5% in the Congressional elections.

Background

The election was shaped by the split of the Acción Democrática (AD), with a substantial faction breaking away to form the People's Electoral Movement (MEP). The split happened after Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa , was a Venezuelan politician. A founder of Democratic Action and Minister of Education in its first government , he was a leader of Democratic Action after the restoration of democracy in 1958...

 won the 1967 AD primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

, only to see his nomination overturned by the Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century...

 faction in favour of Gonzalo Barrios
Gonzalo Barrios
Gonzalo Barrios Bustillos , was a Venezuelan politician. Founding member of party Acción Democrática , and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first AD government . Later Minister of Interior and Justice under Raúl Leoni ....

, as Prieto was considered to be too left-wing. Prieto Figueroa, at the time President of the Venezuelan Senate
Venezuelan Senate
The Venezuelan Senate was the upper house of Venezuela's legislative under its 1961 constitution. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly of Venezuela....

 as well as President of AD, split from AD over the affair along with a substantial number of his supporters.

President

Candidate Party Votes %
Rafael Caldera
Rafael Caldera
Rafael Antonio Caldera Rodríguez was president of Venezuela from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.Caldera taught sociology and law at various universities before entering politics. He was a founding member of COPEI, Venezuela's Christian Democratic party...

Copei-MDI 1,083,712 29.1
Gonzalo Barrios
Gonzalo Barrios
Gonzalo Barrios Bustillos , was a Venezuelan politician. Founding member of party Acción Democrática , and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first AD government . Later Minister of Interior and Justice under Raúl Leoni ....

AD
Democratic Action
Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...

-API-AIR-OPIR
1,050,806 28.2
Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas
Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas
Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas , was a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat and politician, presidential candidate in 1968, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, between 1994 until 1999....

URD
Democratic Republican Union
The Democratic Republican Union is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1945.When the party appeared on course to win the 1952 election for a constitutional assembly, dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez suspended the election...

-FDP-FND-MENI
551,266 18.9
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa
Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa , was a Venezuelan politician. A founder of Democratic Action and Minister of Education in its first government , he was a leader of Democratic Action after the restoration of democracy in 1958...

MEP-PRIN-OPINA 719,461 19.3
Alejandro Hernández PSO 27,336 0.7
Germán Borreglas National Action Movement 12,587 0.3
Invalid/blank votes 278,957
Total 3,999,617 100
Source: Nohlen

Congress

Party Votes % Seats
Chamber +/- Senate +/-
Democratic Action
Democratic Action
Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...

939,759 25.6 66 0 19
Copei 883,814 24.0 59
20
16
8
People's Electoral Movement 475,909 12.9 25 New 5 New
Nationalist Civic Crusade 402,351 10.9 21 New 4 New
Democratic Republican Union
Democratic Republican Union
The Democratic Republican Union is a Venezuelan political party founded in 1945.When the party appeared on course to win the 1952 election for a constitutional assembly, dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez suspended the election...

340,195 9.2 18
3
Popular Democratic Front 194,931 5.3 10
2
Union for Progress 103,591 2.8 5 New 1 New
Democratic National Front 96,027 2.6 4 New 1 New
Revolutionary Party Nationalist Integration 88,509 2.4 4 New 1 New
Socialist Party of Venezuela 29,920 0.8 1 0 0 0
Independent Democratic Movement 18,337 0.5 0 New 0 New
Independent Popular Alliance 18,332 0.5 0 New 0 New
Independent National Electoral Movement 13,847 0.4 0
0 0
National Action Movement 24,407 0.7 1
1
0 0
Revolutionary Independent Action 9,154 0.3 0 New 0 New
National Opinion 7,339 0.2 0 New 0 New
18 other parties 31,662 0.9 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 229,739
Total 3,907,823 100 214 +35 52 +5
Source: Nohlen
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