Democratic Action
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| Acción Democrática | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Henry Ramos Allup |
| Founded | September 13, 1941 |
| Headquarters | Caracas |
| Political ideology | Social Democracy |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Website | Official site |
Democratic Action (Spanish: Acción Democrática, abbreviated as AD) is a Venezuelan social democratic political party. It was established on September 13, 1941 by Rómulo Gallegos, Andrés Eloy Blanco, Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa, Juan Oropeza, Luis Lander, Raúl Ramos Jiménez, Medardo Medina Febres, Enrique H. Marín, Rafael Padrón, Fernando Peñalver, Luis Augusto Dubuc, César Hernández, and Ricardo Montilla. Gallegos was the author of the best-selling Latin American novel, Doña Bárbara and Andrés Blanco was a Venezuelan poet.
The party played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy. Many of its founders and early members helped to bring down the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez in the late 1950s. Four presidents came from Acción Democrática between the 1960s and 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, however, the party's credibility was almost nonexistent, mostly because of the corruption and poverty that Venezuelans experienced during the party's time in power.
At the legislative elections, of 30 July 2000, the party won 29 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly; four additional seats were won by an AD-Copei alliance.
Currently the party is deeply fragmented but is trying to regain the trust of society and fight the government of Hugo Chávez Frías.
In the most recent legislative elections, 4 December 2005, Democratic Action staged an electoral boycott and consequently did not win any seats in the National Assembly.
The trade union confederation CTV is closely linked to AD.
Acción Democrática's current Secretary General is Henry Ramos Allup.
[edit] Venezuelan Presidents from AD
| President | Dates in office | Form of entry | Occupation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello | 1945-1948 | Coup d'état | Politician |
 |
Rómulo Gallegos Freire | 1948-1948 | Direct elections | Writer / Novelist |
|
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello | 1959-1964 | Direct elections | Politician |
 |
Raúl Leoni Otero | 1964-1969 | Direct elections | Lawyer |
 |
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez | 1974-1979 | Direct elections | Politician |
 |
Jaime Lusinchi | 1984-1989 | Direct elections | Physician |
|
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez | 1989-1993 | Direct elections | Politician |
 |
Ramón José Velásquez | 1993-1994 | Interim president | Historian |
