Antonio Ledezma

Antonio José Ledezma Díaz (b. 1 May 1955, San Juan de los Morros, Guárico^[1]) is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician. After involvement in politics in his home state of Guárico in the 1970s for Democratic Action, he served two terms in the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies (from 1984),^[1] and was elected to the Venezuelan Senate in 1994.^[1] He then served as mayor of the Libertador Municipality (1996–2000) of the Venezuelan Capital District, having been appointed governor of the now-defunct Federal District (1992–1993) by Carlos Andrés Pérez.^[1] After unsuccessfully challenging for the leadership of Democratic Action in 1999, he founded a new party, the Fearless People's Alliance.^[1]

In 2008, he challenged pro-Chavez PSUV/Fatherland for All candidate Aristobulo Isturiz in the 2008 Caracas mayoral election and won. Subsequent to his election, the Venezuelan National Assembly passed a Capital District Law on April 30, 2009 that transferred most functions, funding, and personnel of the Metropolitan Mayor of Caracas to a new Venezuelan Capital District (headed by Jacqueline Faría, an official directly appointed by Hugo Chavez) covering in particular the political centre of Caracas and the municipality of Libertador. A legal challenge was filed and a request was filed with the National Electoral Council to hold a referendum, but these did not stop the transfer. Opponents of Chavez described the move as a deliberate negation of the popular vote, while supporters described the political and budgetary reorganization as an "act of justice" for Libertador, the largest and poorest of the five municipalities making up Caracas.^[2]

Ledezma is a finalist for the 2010 World Mayor prize.^[3]

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