Léster Rodríguez

Léster Yomar Rodríguez Herrera (born 29 March 1952) is a Venezuelan politician, engineer and academic. He served as rector of the University of the Andes (ULA) from 2004 to 2008 and as mayor of Libertador Municipality in the state of Mérida from December 2008 to December 2013.

Early life and academic career

Rodríguez was born in Barinas, in the western Venezuelan state of Barinas, the second of seven siblings. In 1971 he moved to Mérida, where he enrolled at the University of the Andes and graduated as a chemical engineer in 1977. He later pursued postgraduate studies at Lehigh University in the United States.

Rodríguez was elected rector of the University of the Andes for the 2004–2008 term, succeeding Genry Vargas. He was succeeded in 2008 by Mario Bonucci.

Political career

Mayor of Libertador Municipality

Rodríguez initially put forward his candidacy for governor of Mérida in the 2008 Venezuelan regional elections on the Copei ticket. On 11 August 2008 the president of Copei, Luis Ignacio Planas, announced that Rodríguez had withdrawn his gubernatorial bid in favour of Williams Dávila, while Rodríguez himself moved to the mayoral race for Libertador Municipality.

In the November 2008 elections Rodríguez won the mayoralty of Libertador Municipality with 54,329 votes, equivalent to 51.63 percent of the ballots cast.

2012 gubernatorial candidacy

In November 2011 Rodríguez registered his pre-candidacy for the governorship of Mérida in the primary elections organised by the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), with the support of fourteen opposition parties including Copei, Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), Justice First (PJ), the Movement for Socialism (MAS), Causa R and Fatherland for All (PPT). During the primary campaign he was accused of alleged irregularities during his mayoralty—involving waste collection, park maintenance, traffic management and public lighting—by deputy Ramón Guevara.

On 12 February 2012 Rodríguez won the MUD primary in Mérida with 47,509 votes, or 51.9 percent, defeating Ramón Guevara, who recognised the result and joined the campaign. In the 2012 Venezuelan regional elections he was defeated by the Great Patriotic Pole candidate Alexis Ramírez by a margin of around 11.44 percentage points, according to the National Electoral Council. The defeat effectively brought his political career to a close.

External links

• Interview with Léster Rodríguez (in Spanish)