Luis Herrera CampínsArticle Free Pass Luis Herrera Campíns,
(born May 4, 1925, Acarigua, Venez.—died Nov. 9, 2007, Caracas),
politician who served as president of Venezuela from 1979 to
1984. Born into a middle-class family, Herrera Campíns was
educated at a university in Caracas. With Rafael Caldera
Rodríguez, he founded the Social Christian Party in 1946. This
moderate party, also known as the Christian Democrats, became
the second largest political party in Venezuela (after the
Democratic Action party) in the decades after World War II. In
1952 Herrera Campíns was arrested and sent into exile as a
result of his activities against the dictatorial regime of
President Marcos Pérez Jiménez. He returned to Venezuela after
the overthrow of Pérez in 1958 and was elected a member of the
Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of parliament) in 1959.
Successively reelected, he served as chairman of the Social
Christian faction in parliament until his election to the Senate
in 1973. He was also secretary-general of the