List of presidents of Venezuela

Under the Venezuelan Constitution, the president of Venezuela is the head of state and head of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. As chief of the executive branch and face of the government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the country by influence and recognition. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. The president is directly elected through a popular vote to a six-year term. Since the 2009 constitutional referendum, any person can be elected to the office an indefinite number of times. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the vice president assumes the office. The president must be at least 30 years of age, and has to be a "natural born" citizen of Venezuela, and cannot possess any other citizenship.

This list includes only those persons who were sworn into office as president following the establishment of the independent State of Venezuela, which took place on January 13, 1830. There have been 46 people sworn into office, and 64 presidencies, as several politicians (most prominently between 1830 and 1953) have held the office more than once. José Antonio Páez, the first president, was inaugurated in 1830. Antonio Guzmán Blanco served during the most terms, with three. Juan Vicente Gómez has served during the longest (although interrupted by interim presidencies), with over 27 years. Rómulo Betancourt served from 1959 until 1964. Hugo Chávez served the longest uninterrupted period in office with 11 consecutive years, from his restoration to power in April 2002 until his death in March 2013.

The presidency was disputed between Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro from January 2019 to 2023 during the Venezuelan presidential crisis. Maduro was elected to his first term in 2013 but received backlash from opposing Venezuelans and some members of the international community especially the United States. Maduro was accused of authoritarian rule and fraud in the elections that were held on 20 May 2018. Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, took the oath of office as interim president on 23 January 2019, citing Article 233 of the Constitution of Venezuela to "cease the usurpation, hold a transitional government, and call for new elections". The office remained disputed until December 2022 when opposition parties voted to dissolve the Guaidó government effective as of 5 January 2023.

History

The presidential designation 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. The first president, taking office on July 5, 1811, was actually the president of a triumvirate of the first established Republic of Venezuela that rotated the presidency weekly. The person serving as president during the week of July 5 was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence: Cristóbal Mendoza. Mendoza shared the triumvirate with Juan Escalona [es] and Baltasar Padrón [es]. A second triumvirate [es] followed on April 3, 1812, whose members were Francisco Espejo, Fernando Rodríguez del Toro [es] and Francisco Javier Ustariz.

Owing to the profound confusion of the Venezuelan War of Independence and the period of Gran Colombia over what is now Venezuela, this page has gaps between 1813 and 1819. For this period in time, historians refer to the Republic of Venezuela as the Second Republic of Venezuela (1813–1814) and the Third Republic of Venezuela (1817–1819) as Simon Bolivar twice reestablished the republic. The Congress of Angostura appointed Simón Bolívar "Supreme Commander of the Republic of Venezuela" (Jefe Supremo de la República de Venezuela) from 1819 until 1830.

In 1830, José Antonio Páez declared Venezuela independent from Gran Colombia and became president, taking office on January 13, 1830. Although he was not the first president of Venezuela (having in mind Cristóbal Mendoza in 1811), he was the first head of state of independent Venezuela, after the dissolution of Gran Colombia.

Affiliation keys

	Party name (English)	Party name (Spanish)	Years
PC	Conservative Party	Partido Conservador	1830–1851, 1890–1892
PL	Liberal Party	Gran Partido Liberal de Venezuela	1851–1858, 1859–1861, 1868–1869, 1870–1887, 1888–1890, 1892, 1898–1899
Military	National Armed Forces of the Republic of Venezuela	Fuerza Armada Nacional de la República de Venezuela	1858–1859, 1861–1868, 1869–1870, 1892–1898, 1899–1913, 1922–1929, 1931–1935, 1948–1950, 1952–1958
—	Independent politician	Político independiente	1859, 1868, 1887–1888, 1913–1922, 1929–1931, 1935–1941, 1950–1952, 1958–1959
PDV	Venezuelan Democratic Party	Partido Democrático Venezolano	1941–1945
AD	Democratic Action	Acción Democrática	1945–1948, 1959–1969, 1974–1979, 1984–1994
COPEI	COPEI	Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente	1969–1974, 1979–1984
National Convergence	National Convergence	Convergencia Nacional	1994–1999
MVR-PSUV	Fifth Republic Movement–United Socialist Party	Movimiento Quinta República-Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela	1999–present

Presidents of Venezuela since independence (1830–present)

The list below 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).

State of Venezuela (1830–1864)

President of the State of Venezuela
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
1		José Antonio Páez (1790–1873)	13 January 1830	20 January 1835	5 years, 7 days		Conservative Party	—	Interim
1		José Antonio Páez (1790–1873)	13 January 1830	20 January 1835	5 years, 7 days		Conservative Party	1831 [es]	Páez I
—		Andrés Narvarte (1781–1853) acting	20 January 1835	9 February 1835	20 days		Conservative Party	—	Páez I
2		José María Vargas (1786–1854)	9 February 1835	9 July 1835	150 days		Conservative Party	1835 [es]	Vargas
—		José María Carreño (1792–1849) acting	27 July 1835	20 August 1835	55 days		Conservative Party	—
(3)		José María Vargas (1786–1854)	20 August 1835	24 April 1836	248 days		Conservative Party	—
—		Andrés Narvarte (1781–1853) acting	24 April 1836	20 January 1837	271 days		Conservative Party	—	Interim
—		José María Carreño (1792–1849) acting	27 January 1837	11 March 1837	43 days		Conservative Party	—	Interim
—		Carlos Soublette (1789–1870) acting	11 March 1837	1 February 1839	1 year, 327 days		Conservative Party	—	Interim [es]
(1)		José Antonio Páez (1790–1873)	1 February 1839	28 January 1843	3 years, 361 days		Conservative Party	1839	Páez II
(5)		Carlos Soublette (1789–1870)	28 January 1843	20 January 1847	3 years, 357 days		Conservative Party	1843	Soublette II [es]
6		José Tadeo Monagas (1784–1868)	20 January 1847	5 February 1851	4 years, 16 days		Conservative Party	1847	T. Monagas I [es]
7		José Gregorio Monagas (1795–1858)	5 February 1851	20 January 1855	3 years, 349 days		Liberal Party	1851	G. Monagas [es]
(6)		José Tadeo Monagas (1784–1868)	20 January 1855	15 March 1858	3 years, 54 days		Liberal Party	1855	T. Monagas II [es]
—		Pedro Gual (1783–1862) acting	15 March 1858	18 March 1858	2 days		Liberal Party	—
—		Julián Castro (1810–1875) acting	18 March 1858	2 August 1859	1 year, 137 days		Military	—	Interim [es]
—		Pedro Gual (1783–1862) acting	2 August 1859	29 September 1859	58 days		Independent	—	Interim I
10		Manuel Felipe de Tovar (1803–1866)	29 September 1859	20 May 1861	1 year, 233 days		Liberal Party	1860	de Tovar
—		Pedro Gual (1783–1862) acting	20 May 1861	29 August 1861	101 days		Liberal Party	—	Interim II [es]
(1)		José Antonio Páez (1790–1873)	29 August 1861	15 June 1863	1 year, 290 days		Military	—	Páez III
11		Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (1820–1870)	15 June 1863	25 April 1868	4 years, 315 days		Military	1864	Falcón [es]

United States of Venezuela (1864–1953)

President of the United States of Venezuela
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
(11)		Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (1820–1870)	15 June 1863	25 April 1868	4 years, 315 days		Military	—	Falcón [es]
—		Manuel Ezequiel Bruzual (1832–1868) acting	25 April 1868	28 June 1868	64 days		Independent	—	Interim
—		Guillermo Tell Villegas (1823–1907) acting	28 June 1868	20 February 1869	237 days		Liberal Party	—	the Blue
14		José Ruperto Monagas (1831–1880)	20 February 1869	16 April 1870	1 year, 55 days		Military	—	Monagas
—		Guillermo Tell Villegas (1823–1907) acting	16 April 1870	27 April 1870	11 days		Liberal Party	—	Villegas II
15		Antonio Guzmán (1829–1899)	27 April 1870	27 February 1877	6 years, 306 days		Liberal Party	1873	Guzmán I
16		Francisco Linares (1825–1878)	27 February 1877	30 November 1878	1 year, 276 days		Liberal Party	1877	Linares [es]
—		José Gregorio Valera (1826–1896) acting	30 November 1878	26 February 1879	88 days		Liberal Party	—	Valera
(15)		Antonio Guzmán (1829–1899)	26 February 1879	26 April 1884	5 years, 60 days		Liberal Party	1882	Guzmán II
18		Joaquín Crespo (1830–1898)	26 April 1884	15 September 1886	2 years, 142 days		Liberal Party	—	Crespo I
(15)		Antonio Guzmán (1829–1899)	15 September 1886	8 August 1887	327 days		Liberal Party	—	Guzmán III
—		Hermógenes López (1830–1898) acting	8 August 1887	2 July 1888	329 days		Independent	—	Interim
20		Juan Pablo Rojas (1826–1905)	2 July 1888	19 March 1890	1 year, 260 days		Liberal Party	1888	Rojas [es]
21		Raimundo Andueza (1846–1900)	19 March 1890	17 June 1892	2 years, 90 days		Liberal Party	1890	Andueza
—		Guillermo Tell Villegas (1823–1907) acting	17 June 1892	31 August 1892	75 days		Liberal Party	—	Villegas III
—		Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido (1854–1949) acting	31 August 1892	7 October 1892	37 days		Liberal Party	—	Villegas Pulido
(18)		Joaquín Crespo (1841–1898)	7 October 1892	28 February 1898	5 years, 144 days		Military	1894	Crespo II [es]
23		Ignacio Andrade (1839–1925)	28 February 1898	20 October 1899	1 year, 234 days		Liberal Party	1898	Andrade
24		Cipriano Castro (1858–1924)	20 October 1899	19 December 1908	9 years, 60 days		Military	—	Castro
25		Juan Vicente Gómez (1857–1935)	19 December 1908	5 August 1913	4 years, 229 days		Military	1908	Gómez
—		José Gil (1861–1943) acting	5 August 1913	19 April 1914	257 days		Independent	—
27		Victorino Márquez (1858–1941)	19 April 1914	24 June 1922	8 years, 66 days		Independent	1914
(25)		Juan Vicente Gómez (1857–1935)	24 June 1922	30 May 1929	6 years, 340 days		Military	1922
28		Juan Bautista Pérez (1869–1952)	30 May 1929	13 June 1931	2 years, 14 days		Independent	1929
(25)		Juan Vicente Gómez (1857–1935)	13 June 1931	17 December 1935	4 years, 187 days		Military	1931 [es]
29		Eleazar López (1883–1973)	18 December 1935	5 May 1941	5 years, 138 days		Independent	1936	López [es]
30		Isaías Medina (1897–1953)	5 May 1941	18 October 1945	4 years, 166 days		Democratic Party	1941	Medina [es]
31		Rómulo Betancourt (1908–1981)	18 October 1945	15 February 1948	2 years, 120 days		Democratic Action	—	Betancourt I [es]
32		Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969)	15 February 1948	24 November 1948	283 days		Democratic Action	1947	Gallegos
33		Carlos Delgado (1909–1950)	24 November 1948	13 November 1950	1 year, 354 days		Military	—	Delgado
34		Germán Suárez (1907–1990)	27 November 1950	2 December 1952	2 years, 5 days		Independent	—	Suárez

Republic of Venezuela (1953–1999)

Venezuela took the name of Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República de Venezuela) with the adoption of the 1953 constitution, written by the Constituent Assembly elected in November 1952. The Presidents of Venezuela under this constitution (as well as the 1961 Constitution, which kept the name) were officially styled as President of the Republic of Venezuela.

This period of the history of Venezuela began with the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. After a short period of political instability following Pérez Jiménez's exile in 1958, democracy was restored in the country with the election of Democratic Action leader Rómulo Betancourt as president in 1959. This marked the beginning of the democratic period, started with the Puntofijo Pact and which was characterized by the prevalence of the bipartidism of the two main political parties in the country at the time, Democratic Action and Copei.

The second presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez (1989–93) saw a deep economic crisis, a series of major riots known as the Caracazo in 1989, in which hundreds were killed by security forces, two coup attempts in 1992, and the 1993 impeachment of Pérez. That same year, Rafael Caldera became the first President of Venezuela not to belong to either Democratic Action or Copei in over forty years, having been elected under the banner of National Convergence. The bipartidism ended in 2000 when a new constitution entered in force.

President of the Republic of Venezuela
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
35		Marcos Pérez (1914–2001)	2 December 1952	23 January 1958	5 years, 52 days		Military	1952	M. Pérez
36		Wolfgang Larrazábal (1911–2003)	23 January 1958	14 November 1958	295 days		Independent	—	Interim [es]
—		Edgar Sanabria (1911–1989) acting	14 November 1958	13 February 1959	91 days		Independent	—	Interim [es]
(31)		Rómulo Betancourt (1908–1981)	13 February 1959	11 March 1964	5 years, 27 days		Democratic Action	1958	Betancourt II
38		Raúl Leoni (1905–1972)	11 March 1964	11 March 1969	5 years		Democratic Action	1963	Leoni
39		Rafael Caldera (1916–2009)	11 March 1969	12 March 1974	5 years, 1 day		Copei	1968	Caldera I
40		Carlos Andrés Pérez (1922–2010)	12 March 1974	12 March 1979	5 years		Democratic Action	1973	C. Pérez I
41		Luis Herrera Campins (1925–2007)	12 March 1979	2 February 1984	4 years, 327 days		Copei	1978	Campins
42		Jaime Lusinchi (1924–2014)	2 February 1984	2 February 1989	5 years		Democratic Action	1983	Lusinchi
(40)		Carlos Andrés Pérez (1922–2010)	2 February 1989	21 May 1993	4 years, 108 days		Democratic Action	1988	C. Pérez II
—		Octavio Lepage (1923–2017) acting	21 May 1993	5 June 1993	15 days		Democratic Action	—	Interim
—		Ramón J. Velásquez (1916–2014) acting	5 June 1993	2 February 1994	242 days		Democratic Action	—	Interim
(39)		Rafael Caldera (1916–2009)	2 February 1994	2 February 1999	5 years		National Convergence	1993	Caldera II

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999–present)

Venezuela became the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela) with the adoption of the 1999 constitution, which renamed the country in honor of Simón Bolívar. The new constitution was promulgated by President Hugo Chávez, who served de jure from 1999 until his death in 2013. The new constitution augmented the presidential term from five years to six years.

Chávez's presidency was interrupted shortly in 2002 following a failed coup attempt that put Pedro Carmona in office for a day. After government-loyal forces ousted Carmona from Miraflores, Vice President Diosdado Cabello assumed [es] executive control for a couple of hours until Chávez could be restored. In 2009, a constitutional referendum approved the elimination of term limits, which allowed Chávez to be re-elected again in 2012. However, Chávez died in March 2013, only three months into his fourth term, and was succeeded by his Vice President Nicolás Maduro, who was elected the following month to finish Chávez's term, enforcing the majority of Chávez's economic policies.

Under Maduro, Venezuela has seen a rise in unemployment, shortages of goods, closures of several corporations, and the deterioration of productivity. Maduro – who has seen a sharp decline in his approval ratings in correlation to the economic collapse, and was the subject of a 2016 recall referendum to remove him from office that was later suspended – has been criticized for what opponents consider to be him backsliding the country towards a full-fledged authoritarian regime; this led to an ongoing constitutional crisis stemming from a March 2017 ruling by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (whose members largely consist of Maduro supporters) that removed immunity for National Assembly members (including those opposing Maduro), which subsequently made a brief assumption of legislative powers from the Assembly, and the Constituent Assembly election, which resulted in the formation of a Constituent Assembly intended to rewrite the 1999 constitution. These actions have worsened tensions and sparked violence during protests against the Maduro administration over concerns that Maduro would eliminate or significantly erode the independence of Venezuela's democratic institutions and shift the country towards one-man rule.

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
45		Hugo Chávez (1954–2013)	2 February 1999	12 April 2002	3 years, 69 days		Fifth Republic Movement	1998	Chávez I [es]
45		Hugo Chávez (1954–2013)	2 February 1999	12 April 2002	3 years, 69 days		Fifth Republic Movement	2000	Chávez II [es]
—		Pedro Carmona (born 1941) acting	12 April 2002	13 April 2002	1 day		Independent	—	Carmona
—		Diosdado Cabello (born 1963) acting	13 April 2002	14 April 2002	1 day		Fifth Republic Movement	—	Interim [es]
(45)		Hugo Chávez (1954–2013)	14 April 2002	5 March 2013	10 years, 325 days		Fifth Republic Movement (until October 2007)	—	Chávez II [es]
							Fifth Republic Movement (until October 2007)	2006	Chávez III [es]
							United Socialist Party (from October 2007)	2012	Chávez III [es]
—		Nicolás Maduro (born 1962)	5 March 2013	19 April 2013	45 days		United Socialist Party	—	Interim [es]
46			19 April 2013	Incumbent	12 years, 304 days			2013	Maduro I [es]
								2018	Maduro II
								2024 (Disputed)	Maduro III [es]
—		Delcy Rodríguez (born 1969) acting	5 January 2026	Incumbent	43 days		United Socialist Party	—	Rodríguez [es]

Disputed

The process and results of the May 2018 Venezuelan presidential election were widely disputed. The opposition-majority National Assembly declared Maduro a "usurper" of the presidency on the day of his second inauguration and disclosed a plan to set forth its president, Juan Guaidó as the succeeding acting President of the country under article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution. A week later, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice declared that the presidency of the National Assembly was the "usurper" of authority and declared the body to be unconstitutional.

Minutes after Maduro took the oath as President of Venezuela, the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution in a special session of its Permanent Council declaring Maduro's presidency illegitimate and urging new elections. Special meetings of the OAS on 24 January and in the United Nations Security Council on 26 January were held but no consensus was reached. Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres called for dialogue. During the 49th General Assembly of the Organization of American States, on 27 June, Guaidó's presidency was recognized by the organization.

Guaidó was declared acting president and swore himself in on 23 January. Maduro's government has accused the United States of organizing a coup d'état to remove him and take control of the country's oil reserves. Guaidó rejects the characterization of his actions as a coup, saying that his movement is backed by peaceful volunteers. As of June 2019, Guaidó was recognized as the acting President of Venezuela by 54 countries. Internationally, support has followed traditional geopolitical lines, with allies China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Syria, and Turkey supporting Maduro; and the US, Canada, and most of Western Europe supporting Guaidó as acting president. The United Nations continued to recognize the Maduro presidency as the legal representative of Venezuela as of December 2019.

On 22 December 2022, the Venezuelan opposition held an initial vote to remove Guaidó's interim government from its leadership and on 30 December 2022, three of the four main opposition political parties (Justice First, Democratic Action and A New Era) approved a reform to dissolve the interim government and instead create a commission of five members to manage foreign assets, stating the failure of the interim government to achieve the goals it had set. The amendment was voted by the opposition as deputies sought a united strategy ahead of the presidential elections in 2024 with the reform approved with 72 votes in favor, 29 against and 8 abstentions, thus dissolving the Guaidó government effective 5 January 2023.

President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Political party		Elected	Government	Ref.
	Juan Guaidó (born 1983)	23 January 2019	5 January 2023	3 years, 347 days		Popular Will (until 2020)	—	Guaidó
	Juan Guaidó (born 1983)	23 January 2019	5 January 2023	3 years, 347 days		Independent (from 2020)	—	Guaidó
	Edmundo González (born 1949)	10 January 2025	Incumbent	1 year, 38 days		Independent	2024 (Disputed)