Aristóbulo Istúriz, one of the main collaborators of the regime of Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez, has died

Aristóbulo Istúriz, who was one of the most important officials in the regime of Nicolás Maduro and one of the leaders closest to the late Hugo Chávez, died on Wednesday at the age of 74, according to the vice president of the dictatorship, Delcy Rodríguez.

“With deep regret, we regret to announce the departure of our teacher, Aristóbulo Istúriz, a fighter from this country to which he has dedicated his life”. This was reported by Rodríguez, via his account on the social network of Twitter.

Istúriz was the regime’s Minister of Education. He has held various public positions in Venezuela and for different political parties. During the government of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, he served as the vice-presidency of the Republic in different ministries. In the 2012 regional elections, he was elected governor of the state of Anzoátegui.

According to the Chavista leader, Érika Orteja Sanoja, Istúriz was undergoing heart surgery. “My sources tell me he would have left after heart surgery. My solidarity for their families, colleagues and faithful ”, Ortega wrote.

Likewise, political scientist Nicmer Evans said hours earlier that, according to Chavez sources, Isturiz entered the operating room on Tuesday afternoon for open heart surgery at a clinic in Caracas.

However, spokespersons for the dictatorship have not yet formalized the causes of death.

The dictator himself, Nicolás Maduro, confirmed the news of the death of his Minister of Education through a message on Twitter in which he said he felt “great pain for the departure of a genuine revolutionary “.

Istúriz, who was also sectoral vice-president for social and territorial socialism of the regime, had previously held various positions, both under the Maduro dictatorship and under the late Hugo Chávez, with whom he had previously been Minister of Education.

From January 2016 to June 2017, he was Vice-President of the Republic and, later, Minister of People’s Power for Municipalities and Social Movements.

During his long political career, he was also governor of the State of Anzoátegui, vice-president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), deputy and mayor of the municipality of Libertador, in Caracas.

Currently, he was a prominent member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), after having been active in the opposition formations, Acción Democrática (AD) and Causa Radical (Causa R).

Istúriz was a teacher, trade unionist and founding president of the Unitary Teachers’ Union (SUMA) of the Federal District and a founding member of Fetramagisterio.

In addition, he was an active national leader of the Venezuelan Federation of Teachers (FVM) and the College of Teachers of Venezuela (CPV). His active participation in social and political struggles led him to be appointed to various popular representative positions.

(With information from EFE)

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