Emigdio Pavía

Emigdio Manuel Ambrosio Pavía y Nakabayashi (born 27 November 1946), better known as Emigdio Pavía, is a Valenzuelan socialist politician who served as the President of Valenzuela on 1 June 1990 to 31 December 2000. Frequently described as a benevolent dictator, he remains as a beloved and highly respected figure in Valenzuelan politics; his government is credited with the creation of the Principles of Progress, reducing economic disparity and restoring Valenzuela's macroeconomic stability.

Born into a middle-class Japanese-Valenzuelan family in Catalina, Distrito Capital Federal, Pavía attained political prominence as a leading figure in the failed coup d'etat attempt in 1985. He was one of the activists who was arrested after the failed coup in 1985, but was granted pardon in 1987 and was released afterwards. Although he never participated in the second coup d'etat attempt in 1989, he was a staunch supporter of it and was said to be dismayed after the second coup d'etat failed again. Pavía announced his presidential candidacy shortly after the 1989 coup d'etat attempt, with the election occurring amidst the country's economic recession and a period of democratic deterioration in the nation. Pavía eventually won a landslide victory, winning 55.2 percent of the vote compared to Valenzuela Primera's Federico Porras' 39.6 percent, and was inaugurated on 1 June 1990.

After taking office, Pavía played in between naming far-left and moderate left-wing cabinets. He also appointed members of center political parties as ministers of state. He was re-elected in the 1995 election with 56 percent of the vote; the highest in the country's history before it was surpassed by Alexandria Sierra's 60.74 percent in the 2020 election.

Using record-high revenues in the 1990s, Pavía nationalized key industries, paved the way of the creation of participatory democratic Communal Councils and implemented social programs known as the Pavíanist programs to expand access to food, housing, healthcare and education. By the end of Pavía's presidency in 2000, he left a legacy of Valenzuela transforming into a high-income country in one decade. In the process, he forged a highly effective, anti-corrupt government and civil service. On 31 December 2000, Pavía stepped down as president and was succeeded by Hugo Esparza, the winner of the November 2000 election.

A proponent of pragmatism, Pavía's presidency was described as being semi-authoritarian and characterised as a sort of a hybrid regime or a guided democracy. Critics have accused him of curtailing press freedoms, imposing narrow limits on public protests, and bringing defamation lawsuits against prominent political opponents. However, others argue his actions as having been necessary for the country's drastic development, and that he was a benevolent dictator.

Internationally, Pavía aligned himself with the Marxist–Leninist government of Fidel Castro in Cuba, as well as the socialist government of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. His presidency was seen as the beginning of the socialist "pink tide" sweeping Latin America. Pavía described his policies as anti-imperialist, being a prominent adversary of the United States's foreign policy as well as a vocal critic of neoliberalism and laissez-faire capitalism. He describes himself as a democratic socialist.

Early life
Emigdio Pavía y Nakabayashi was born on 27 November 1946, in Catalina, Distrito Capital Federal, Valenzuela. His father, Valentín Pavía (1909-1994), was a police officer, and her mother, Chinatsu María Dolores Nakabayashi (1911-1999), was a Japanese immigrant who worked as a manual labourer.

Pavía was raised Roman Catholic, but since 1976, he considers himself as an agnostic theist. Aside from Spanish, he also spoke Japanese, due to it being his mother's primary language.

Political rise
In 1987, Benjamín Perez (born 1937) of the centre-right Republicanos and the president of the National Assembly ascended to the presidency after Sabas Mingo resigned and soon afterward he freed Pavía and the other imprisoned anti-government protesters. On 24 November 1988, in what became his most popular speech, Pavía boldly denounced the current right-leaning government for their incompetent handling of the 1982 economic recession and their way on handling the deadly Catalinazo riots.

1990 election
At the start of the election run-up, front runner Federico Porras of the right-wing Valenzuela Primera was backed by the centre-right Republicanos. Pavía received support from different sectors: the lower class felt identified with Pavía, that he cared about their needs and would offer a solution to their problems; part of the middle class also supported, feeling frustrated with corruption and wishing for a strong-handed government; Pavía also received support from members of the old left, as well as the members of the militarist right wing. By January 1990, Pavía began dominating the opinion polls, with support going 30-35%. Voter turnout was 74%, and Pavía won the election with 55.2 percent of the vote.

First presidency (1990-1995)
During his first term in office, Pavía enacted wide-ranging Keynesian reforms. During the presidencies of Sabas Mingo and Benjamín Perez, the economy had entered a period of hyperinflation, leaving Valenzuela in "economic chaos". It was Pavía's stated objective to pacify the nation and restore economic balance. Pavía's Keynesian reforms succeeded in restoring Valenzuela to the global economy and reducing economic inequality. Pavía's Keynesian reforms restored macroeconomic stability to the economy and triggered a considerable long-term economic upturn in the mid-1990s. In 1994, the Valenzuelan economy grew at a rate of 12.7%.

Anti-corruption measures
Pavía signed a decree giving the Anti-Corruption Police (PA) greater power to conduct arrests, search, call up witnesses, and investigate bank accounts and income-tax returns of suspected persons and their families. Pavía believed that ministers should be well paid in order to maintain a clean and honest government. On 22 November 1993, Pavía received a complaint of corruption against then Minister of Defense Valerio Cuéllar. Pavía authorised the PA to carry out investigations to Cuéllar, but Cuéllar committed suicide before any charges could be pressed against him. In 1994, he proposed to link the salaries of ministers, judges, and top civil servants to the salaries of top professionals in the private sector, arguing that this would help recruit and retain talent to serve in the public sector.

Second presidency (1995-2000)
The 1993 constitutional amendment allowed Pavía to run for a second term, and in November 1995, at the height of his popularity, Pavía easily won reelection with 56 percent of the vote. His major opponent, former Minister of Economy Alicia Pantoja, won only 18 percent of the vote. Pavía's party, the Liberal Democratic Party, scored their second consecutive supramajority victory in the unicameral National Assembly.

Pavíanist programs
The Pavíanist programs (Spanish: Programas pavianistas) are a set of social projects launched during Pavía's second administration and continued by his successor Hugo Esparza. The initiatives are aimed at assisting the most vulnerable social sectors and ensuring basic rights such as health, education, and food. Programs such as the Programa de Exterminación del Analfabetismo (literacy), the Programa de Cobertura Médica Ampliada (free medical care), and the Programa de Alimentos Asequibles (cheap food) were developed.

Education

 * Programa de Exterminio del Analfabetismo (launched January 1996) – uses volunteers to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to Valenzuelan adults. It also provides remedial high school level classes to Valenzuelan high school dropouts. In 1997, about 600,000 students were enrolled in this night school programme, and paid a small stipend. They were taught grammar, geography and a second language.
 * Programa de Educación Superior Gratuita (launched November 1998) – provides free and ongoing higher education courses to adult Valenzuelans.

Environmental

 * Programa Revolución Verde (launched July 1996) – a campaign launched to replace incandescent lightbulbs with more energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs. It also includes a major nationwide clean-up and the launching of televised ads to encourage Valenzuelans to recycle.

Food and nutrition

 * Programa de Alimentos Asequibles (launched March 1996) – seeks to provide access to high-quality produce, grains, dairy, and meat at discounted prices. Seeks to provide Valenzuela's poor increased access to nutritious, safe, and organic locally- and nationally grown foodstuffs. It also seeks to increase Valenzuela's food sovereignty. The program is regarded as the most successful Pavíanist program as the country is heavily more dependent on exporting foodstuffs.

Healthcare

 * Programa de Cobertura Médica Ampliada (launched June 1996) – a series of initiatives (deployed in three distinct stages) to provide comprehensive and community health care at both the primary and secondary levels, in addition to preventive medical counsel to Valenzuela's medically under-served and impoverished barrios.

Housing

 * Programa de Vivienda Popular (launched January 1998) – has as its goal the construction of new housing units for the poor. The program also seeks to develop agreeable and integrated housing zones that make available a full range of social services – from education to healthcare – which likens its vision to that of new urbanism.

Land reform

 * Programa de Reforma Agraria (launched September 1997) – an integrated land reform and land redistribution program in Valenzuela. Several large landed estates and factories have been, or are in the process of being expropriated to stimulate the agricultural sector, create more economic activity and to redistribute wealth to the poor.

Large-scale

 * Programa Valenzuela 2000 (launched January 1999) - The last program of Pavía's tenure. It was a large-scale program that aimed to maximize the prior programs' potential before the year 2000. The program was a big success and is often recognized as Pavía's most important achievement.

Final years (1999-2000)
The 1993 constitutional amendment limited a presidency to two terms. Shortly after Pavía began his second term, his supporters in the Assembly passed a law of "authentic interpretation" which effectively allowed him to run for another term in 2000. In late 1999, Pavía announced that he will not run for a third term in 2000 and instead would support Hugo Esparza.

Exit polls showed Esparza fell short of the 50% required to avoid an electoral runoff, but the first official results showed him with 49.7% of the vote, just short of outright victory. Eventually, Esparza was credited with 49.91%—a few thousand votes short of avoiding a runoff.

In the runoff, Esparza won with 55.8 percent of the total votes, compared to Juan Manuel Del Olmo's 44.2 percent. Hugo Esparza was inaugurated on 31 December 2000, with Pavía present in his inauguration.

Post-presidency (2000-present)
Pavía remained in politics but chose not to run for any political position to give way for the aspiring politicians, a move praised by many. He lectures at University of the Philippines Diliman about Valenzuelan economic policy, urban development, and deforestation.

Since leaving the Valenzuelan presidency, Pavía has been involved in a number of international organisations and initiatives. Pavía is also a member of The Elders, a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and human rights issues.

Legacy
Pavía presided over many of Valenzuela's developments as president from 1990 to 2000. The gross national product (GNP) per capita in Valenzuela increased from $575 in 1990 to $9,217 in 2000. Valenzuela's unemployment rate fell significantly from 64.2% in 1990 to 2.3% in 2000. From $11.3 billion in 1990 to $205 billion in 2000, external trade rose. In other areas, Valenzuelans' life expectancy at birth grew from 62 years in 1990 to 76 years in 2000. Valenzuela's population grew from 19.4 million in 1990 to 31.2 million in 2000. Valenzuela's public housing stock increased from 2,975 in 1990 to 427,575 in 2000. The literacy rate of Valenzuela grew from 72% in 1990 to 100% in 2000.

Notably, these economic achievements were achieved in large part as a result of Pavía's stewardship of public administration through relevant and targeted public policy; Pavía introduced measures to jumpstart manufacturing of finished goods for export (export-oriented industrialization) and sought to create a conducive business environment in the trading nation in order to attract foreign direct investment (via the establishment of the Economic Development Board, JDE).

Critics accuse him of restricting press freedoms, often placing limitations on public protests in order to avoid future occurrences, encouraging an elitist attitude, and initiating defamation cases against famous political opponents. In retrospect, supporters stated that Pavía's measures were required for the country's needed recovery and growth, and different foreign political observers observed that Pavía's government was typically pragmatic and compassionate. During Pavía's tenure, Valenzuela progressed from a least-developed country to a high-income developing country on its route to become a developed country by 2035.

Political positions
A prominent member of the left-leaning Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), he is often credited for transforming Valenzuela from a least-developed country into a high-income developing country. He is known for practising political pragmatism in his governance of Valenzuela, but has been criticised for using authoritarian and heavy-handed policies. However, others argue his actions as having been necessary for the country's development, and that he was a benevolent dictator.

Many international leaders have praised Pavía's political acumen as perceptive. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who said Pavía was "never wrong," and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger are among his followers. Former US President Bill Clinton remarked that he "personally appreciated Pavía's wisdom." Hugo Chávez, the former President of Venezuela, described Pavía as "one of the greatest leaders of modern times that Latin America has ever produced."

A self-described "democratic socialist", Pavía is a progressive who admires the Nordic model of social democracy and has been a proponent of workplace democracy. Based on his positions and votes throughout his career, many commentators consider his political platform based on tax-funded social benefits and not on social ownership of the means of production. Some have described Pavía's political philosophy as "social democracy" or "left-wing populism" but not democratic socialism defined as "an attempt to create a property-free, socialist society."

Climate change
Pavía views global warming as a serious problem, and advocates bold action to reverse its effects. He calls for substantial investment in infrastructure, with energy efficiency, sustainability, and job creation as prominent goals. He considers climate change the greatest threat to national security. He said that family planning can help fight climate change.

LGBT+ rights
During a EVT interview in 1998, Pavía was asked about LGBT rights in Valenzuela. The question was posed by an unnamed homosexual man in Valenzuela who asked about the future of LGBT people there. Pavía replied that it was not for the government to decide whether or not homosexuality was acceptable but for the Valenzuelan society to decide. He also said he did not think an "aggressive gay rights movement" would change people's minds on the issue.

Saying he took a "purely practical view" on the issue, Pavía said, "Look, homosexuality will eventually be accepted. It's only a matter of time before it is accepted here."