The World - News from Oct. 12, 1987
Venezuela’s ruling Democratic Action party nominated former President Carlos Andres Perez as its presidential candidate for the 1988 general elections. Perez received 66% of the vote in a national primary, defeating Interior Minister Octavio Lepage Barretto, who polled 34%. Perez, 64, was president from 1974 to 1979, during the oil bonanza that coincided with the skyrocketing of crude prices on the world market. The bitterly fought primary threatened a lasting split between Perez’s backers and supporters of Lepage, who included associates of President Jaime Lusinchi, but Lepage said he would back Perez in the elections.
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