506:. In Venezuela, this involved acting as the head of the Children's Foundation, a charitable organisation that organised summer camps and festivals for disadvantaged children. Blanca was eager to develop a program that would have a greater impact on the lives of the poor and would provide year-round assistance. One of the most important aspects of her legacy as First Lady was the development of a network of daycare centres (hogares de cuidado diario) for low income communities across the country. These centres were created to enable working, and often single, mothers to earn a wage without leaving their children in the hands of unsuitable caretakers. The emphasis of the daycare centre program was on grass-roots involvement. Community mothers were consulted in the selection and vetting of caretakers and the Foundation provided financial support to the "mother-carers", as the women in charge of the centres were identified.
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country to attend the frequent ceremonies the foundation organized to hand over wheelchairs to people who could not afford them. She also fundraised for
Bandesir and extended its remit so that it could also provide cheap or free medical attention to the needy who came to its headquarters. She was also a patron of the Leper Hospice in
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was overthrown in 1958, Blanca and Carlos Andrés Pérez returned to
Venezuela with the children. Her husband's ascendant political career resulted in Blanca's increasingly prominent role as a politician's wife, one who would be actively involved in supporting his career, campaigning and developing her
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on 4 February 1992, Blanca, her daughters and granddaughters were in residence at the
Presidential palace of La Casona whilst it was besieged by rebel forces. While her husband managed to escape and quell the coup attempt, Blanca remained at La Casona during the particularly heavy attack. She later
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In 2004, government security forces raided Blanca Rodríguez's house with the excuse of finding weapons and documents related to an anti-Chávez conspiracy, a charge that was clearly seen as baseless given that she had not seen or spoken to her estranged husband since he left the country. In keeping
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Blanca Rodríguez again became First Lady upon her husband's second election to the
Presidency in 1988. She resumed her position at the Children's Foundation. Under her leadership, the foundation supported the government's initiative to roll out the daycare centre programme all over the country as
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After Carlos Andrés Pérez left the presidency in 1979, Blanca Rodríguez devoted her energies to supporting a charitable foundation, Bandesir, focused on providing wheelchairs and crutches to the disabled poor. She became
Bandesir's chairwoman and pursued an active schedule of visits around the
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Carlos Andrés Pérez began courting his cousin Blanca in 1944. He was then working and living in
Caracas and would travel to Rubio as he could to visit her. They were wed on 8 June 1948. For the first months, they lived in the provincial city of
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party. Blanca had to endure frequent security police searches of their home as well as tend to her young children while her husband was often on the run or in prison. In 1952, she followed him into exile in
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made sure to assist in the tending of wounded soldiers, regardless of their allegiance, and was crucial in keeping morale up during the few hours when it seemed the residence was going to be taken.
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with her deep
Catholic faith, attempts by Pérez to divorce her were rebuffed by her lawyers and the couple was still legally married at the time of Perez's death in late 2010.
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and Blanca's rearing was left in the hands of her older sister, Ana Isabel. Four years later, her father would also die. The family was financially ruined by the
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In addition, Blanca Rodríguez accompanied her husband on his frequent trips abroad to meet world leaders, including memorable visits to
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The couple had six children, five daughters, Sonia, Thais, Martha, María de los Ángeles and María
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and installed a dictatorship. Carlos Andrés Pérez became the target of harassment and persecution as a member of the
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had to be sold. She was educated by nuns at the Our Lady of the Rosary
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With Carlos Andrés Pérez's election to the Presidency in December 1973, Blanca Rodríguez assumed the role of
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engaging in long political discussions with her father on topics as varied as the legacy of
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Blanca Rodríguez during the burial of Carlos Andrés Pérez in Caracas (6 October 2011)
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After leaving office, Blanca Rodríguez retired to her home in the outskirts of
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Sonia, Thais, Martha, Carlos Manuel, Maria de los Angeles, Maria Carolina
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Blanca Rodriguez died on August 5, 2020, at the age of 94.
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745:"MRS. Trudeau Replies on Radio to Critics of Tour"
382:from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993.
969:United States–Venezuela Maritime Boundary Treaty
419:. As a child, she was aware of her older cousin
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763:"Blanca Rodríguez de Pérez died in Caracas"
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374:(January 1, 1926 – August 5, 2020) was the
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641:Learn how and when to remove this message
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442:At the age of four, her mother died of
328: 1948; died 2010)
574:During the military coup organized by
232:2 February 1989 – 20 May 1993
199:12 March 1974 – 12 March 1979
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909:Petróleos de Venezuela subsidiaries
892:Fundación Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho
395:Blanca María Rodríguez was born in
16:First Lady of Venezuela (1926–2020)
986:Killing of Jorge Antonio Rodríguez
19:For the Uruguayan journalist, see
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63:needs additional citations for
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877:(1974–1979) & (1989-1993)
30:: the first or paternal
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796:First Lady of Venezuela
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177:First Lady of Venezuela
1405:, Disputed during the
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875:President of Venezuela
465:San Cristóbal, Táchira
450:and all of the family
28:Spanish naming customs
1140:1988 general election
1135:1973 general election
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1114:1958 general election
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1003:Sierra Nevada affair
615:improve this section
553:After the presidency
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481:San José, Costa Rica
72:improve this article
1443:Carlos Andrés Pérez
1345:Dominga Ortiz Orzúa
1102:Chamber of Deputies
904:Oil nationalization
866:Carlos Andrés Pérez
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187:Carlos Andrés Pérez
751:. 4 February 1976.
749:The New York Times
476:Acción Democrática
458:Marriage and exile
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348:Caracas, Venezuela
302:Caracas, Venezuela
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1035:Inauguration
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297:(2020-08-05)
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65:verification
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1201:CAP Inédito
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1079:Impeachment
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631:August 2020
576:Hugo Chávez
531:Queen Sofía
238:Preceded by
205:Preceded by
32:family name
1427:Categories
1338:Since 1830
717:References
583:Later life
504:First Lady
498:First Lady
376:First Lady
279:1926-01-01
128:April 2011
98:newspapers
660:haciendas
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560:La Guaira
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437:Venezuela
386:Biography
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354:Signature
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1288:Category
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914:Corpoven
679:See also
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336:Children
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671:Death
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397:Rubio
324:(
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