Los Notables

'The Notables') were a group of Venezuelan intellectuals formed in 1990 and headed by Arturo Uslar Pietri critical of the second government of Carlos Andrés Pérez who proposed the implementation of several public reforms.

Starting with the 1980's fall of oil prices, a gradual economic slowdown began while the Venezuelan State increased its revenues and expenses, which caused a devaluation of the currency in 1983.

From then on, the economic policies of the governments of Luis Herrera Campíns and Jaime Lusinchi were not able to stop the inflationary spirals, generating distrust in investments and loss of credibility in the national currency.

Carlos Andrés Pérez, elected as Democratic Action's candidate on 4 December 1988, began a series of liberalizing economic measures in response to the crisis known as El Gran Viraje [es].

Carlos Andrés served as Minister of Internal Affairs during the government of Rómulo Betancourt, where he played an important role against the anti-guerrilla struggle, which had generated resentment in sectors of the left.

Democratic Action was also involved in the 1945 Venezuelan coup d'état against the government of Isaías Medina Angarita, where Arturo Uslar Pietri had held the position of Minister of Internal Affairs.

[4] On 10 August 1990, a group of intellectuals, including Arturo Uslar Pietri, organized as a civil association and published an open letter addressed to President Carlos Andrés Pérez, proposing electoral and judicial reforms.

And it is not that I say that the military rose up today or that they attempted the uprising that has been happily crushed (at least in its fundamental aspects), but this has served them as a basis, a motive, a foundation, or at least a pretext to carry out their actions.

A confidential report prepared by the National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) in March 1992 for President Carlos Andrés linked Arturo Uslar Pietri and Douglas Bravo to participate in the coup attempt.

[7] One of the members of Los Notables, José Vicente Rangel, denounced in his television program the alleged embezzlement in the use of a secret fund of Carlos Andrés Pérez.

[3][1] In March 1993, Attorney General Ramón Escovar Salom filed a request for a pre-trial of merit against President Andrés Pérez for the crime of "fraudulent embezzlement" and "malfeasance" of 250 million bolívares of a secret item for the management of which he was responsible.

In an article in the Diario de Caracas in 1993, it was pointed out that the investigation was flawed at the beginning, that its motivations were political, that the first decisions were dictated under pressure and that fundamental guarantees were disregarded.