Venezuelan politician and candidate for the Stat Governorship of Vargas State (on Venezuela's Caribbean coast) Mr. Roberto Smith is set to speak (among other things) about the Las Cristinas situation on tomorrow's (Thursday) edition of the VHeadline Venezuela Newshour at 10am Pacific on the American Voice Radio Network (AVRN)

Roberto Smith was born in Barquisimeto, in Lara State in 1958. He attended Instituto Escuela. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from Universidad Simon Bolivar in 1981. He went on to obtain his Master's Degree and a Ph.D in Public Policies from Harvard University in 1987. Roberto Smith is married to Marina Pocaterra; they met when they were studying at Universidad Simon Bolivar. They have three daughters: Maria Elisa, Maria Corina and Maria Sofia. He was president of the Students' Center and a student delegate to the Directive Council and Superior Council of the Universidad Simon Bolivar. He was also coordinator of the "Seminario Venezuela" at Harvard and member of the board of directors of the Fundacion Universidad Metropolitana and the Instituto de Ingenieria.

During the second presidential term of Carlos Andres Perez, Smith was appointed Minister of Transportation & Communications on July 26, 1990, a position where he would remain until January 10, 1992. During this period, he helped create the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) and the Urban Transportation Fund (FONTUR).

Roberto Smith served as ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg between the years 1992 and 1995.

In October of 2004, Smith was a candidate in Vargas' gubernatorial election. He lost to the incumbent chavista governor, Antonio Rodriguez San Juan receiving 13,598 votes, or 19.3 percent.

Smith founded Venezuela's third cellular telephone company, Digitel in 1997. He served as its president between the years 1997 and 2002. He also founded Digicel, a cellular telephone company in El Salvador and Guatemala. He served as president of IMPSAT Telecommunications and the Sistema Satelital Andino Simon Bolivar and created Microjuris.com, an Internet service for people looking for judicial information available in several countries in Latin America.

Venezuelan presidential election, 2006
Smith was the presidential candidate for his Venezuela de Primera (Venezuela First) political organization in the December 3, 2006 presidential election. He, along with Teodoro Petkoff, Benjamin Rausseo, and Jesus Caldera Infante were opposed to the presidential primaries that the civil association, Sumate had organized. The reason for this was, he claimed, that he supported neither the Venezuelan opposition nor President Hugo Chavez. In a news conference held on August 24, 2006, Smith officially withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed the candidacy of Manuel Rosales.

Author: "Venezuela, Visión o Caos" (Planeta:1995) ISBN 980-271-247-7

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