Henrique Capriles Radonski
Henrique Capriles Radonski (Spanish pronunciation: [enˈrike kaˈpɾiles raˈðonski], born 11 July 1972) is a Venezuelan politician and lawyer, serving as Governor of Miranda since 2008. He was the opposition's presidential candidate in 2012 and 2013. Capriles is the grandson of Jewish Holocaust survivors and a self-professed devout Catholic. He first ventured into politics at age 26, when he became the youngest member ever elected of the Venezuelan parliament. He secured a seat into the Chamber of Deputies in the 1998 parliamentary elections, under the Christian democratic party Copei. He served as Vice President of the Congress and President of the Chamber of Deputies until their dissolution by the Constitutional Assembly in August 1999. In 2000, he co-founded the political party Justice First (Primero Justicia). He served as mayor of Baruta municipality in Caracas from 2000 to 2008. In November 2008, Capriles was elected Governor of Miranda. After winning the election primaries in February 2012, Capriles became the opposition candidate for the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election. He lost the election to incumbent Hugo Chávez, who was re-elected for a third term with 55.1% of the vote. Instead, Capriles won a second term as governor of Miranda in the 2012 regional elections. After Hugo Chávez' sudden death in March 2013, Capriles ran again at the extraordinary 2013 presidential elections against pro-Chávez candidate and vice president Nicolás Maduro. Maduro narrowly defeated Capriles by a margin of less than 1.5%, in a victory that the opposition considered as electoral fraud. Capriles refused to accept the results, claiming election irregularities.