Renny Ottolina was a quite famous and influential Venezuelan broadcaster even today, considered a pioneer in many aspects of Venezuelan advertising, social communication and television production. Renny would leave Venezuelan television in 1973 as a result of an agreement between the three major television production companies to end the figure of the independent producer, making Ottolina return to his origins on the radio. Renny was a harsh critic of the policies of then President Carlos Andrés Pérez and the reprisals did not take long, both by the government and by various journalistic groups (there is an interview where a journalist tries to compare him to Hitler). Despite this, Renny would continue his work and his criticism, presenting himself as a candidate for the 1978 presidential elections by the National Integrity Movement. For reasons of destiny, on March 16, 1979, while he was making a trip to Polamar, the plane they were in had an accident, being a shock within the general population, who had grown up watching the different Renny programs. in the 60's. However, I would like to pose what would have happened if for some reason, that fateful trip did not happen and Renny Ottolina and his campaign team were still alive for the 1978 elections.
What if Renny Ottolina prevents her plane crash in 1978?
- Thread starter Sturm1820
- Start date
I think the most important effect of Renny staying alive and competing in the 1978 election would have been allowing Luis Piñerua Ordaz (AD) to win. As Arturo Uslar Pietri and Irene Saez discovered, running for president without a major party backing you was impossible in Venezuela, and I have no reasons to believe Renny would have been able to buck that trend.
If I had to guess, I would say he gets 20% of the vote but not anything else — and most of that would probably coming out of Campins voters, meaning that Renny would deliver the election to Democratic Action. Since I would have voted for Piñerúa, that sounds like a pretty good scenario to me 😜. After being elected, Piñerúa leads a more responsible government by tackling to the center, devaluates the Bolívar early to keep the confidence of foreign investors, midly raises gasoline prices, and reacts early to signs of an incoming recession when oil prices collapse.
Rafael Caldera is a shoo-in to stage a comeback in 1983, but at least there's no Black Friday, exchange controls are not needed, nobody knows who Blanca Ibáñez is, and foreign investors have more confidence in the economy.