Gustavo Tarre Briceño

Gustavo Tarre Briceño is a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, author, professor of constitutional law and politic science, and representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

Tarre was named by Venezuela's National Assembly as a Special Representative to the OAS on 22 January during the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. On 9 April 2019, the OAS voted to recognize him as the ambassador and representative from Venezuela. Since then he has also been Executive Director for Venezuela and Panama at the Inter-American Development Bank

Education and affiliations Tarre obtain his law degree in 1969 from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). In 1971, he studied economics and finance at the Institut International d’Administration Publique, and in 1972, received a graduate degree from the Université de Paris II in public law. He also has a degree from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (a business school in Venezuela) in advanced management. He was accused in 2014 by the then mayor of the Libertador Municipality, Jorge Rodríguez, of being one of the intellectual authors of an alleged plan to assassinate Maduro. Rodríguez claimed that María Corina Machado had written Tarre with instructions for carrying out "the plan"; Nicolás Maduro's administration accused him, again, of being an "intellectual author" of the Caracas drone attack against Maduro in 2018. Guaidó began to appoint individuals in late January to serve as aides or diplomats, including Vecchio as the Guaidó administration's diplomatic envoy to the US, Borges to represent Venezuela in the Lima Group, and Tarre as the special representative from Venezuela to the OAS.

Guaidó contacted Tarre by phone the night before the 22 January decision, asking him to serve as the OAS representative. Maduro's administration responded calling Tarre a "political usurper". According to The Washington Post, this acceptance undermines Maduro's presence internationally and marks a step in the official recognition of Guaidó's government. His appointment in this way encouraged similar actions in other international forums; on 10 April the International Monetary Fund cut off Venezuelan access until a majority of its members recognized a Maduro or Guaidó representative, and the United States Vice President Mike Pence requested that the United Nations replace their ambassador with a Guaidó one.

In October 2022, a bloc of leftist OAS member states led a motion to remove Tarre's representation in the organization. Out of 35 members, 19 nations voted in favor of the motion and 4 against. The motion fell short of the 24 votes required for a two-thirds majority.

Publications