J. J. Rendon
Venezuelan Juan José Rendón, the chief advisor behind Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos’ re-election bid who resigned yesterday, is a divisive figure, a self-proclaimed “political strategist par excellence” who has been variously described as one of the world’s “political gurus” and “public enemy number one.”
One thing that’s not in doubt is his experience. Rendon, who says he is a “psychologist, communicator and publicist,” has reportedly worked on 28 high-level political campaigns, most of them in Latin America. He claims to have lost only two of those, with his work on the 2011 effort to win Francisco de Narváez the governorship of Buenos Aires province among them.
Reportedly known as the “king of dirty campaigns,” he has travelled all over Latin America, working on electoral strategies for Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe, current Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, among many others.
A resident of Miami due to “security reasons” and a practising Buddhist, he has been recognized by the United States Congress for his defence of democracy and support for human rights in Latin America. But he has also been accused of being arrogant and a misogynist.
But it’s in Venezuela that perhaps the strongest feelings about Rendon arise. President Nicolás Maduro has labelled him the country’s “number one public enemy” and a “media terrorist” due to his work with the opposition. Rendón has never confirmed publicly that he worked with Capriles.
Rendón became more widely known in 2013 when he conducted a series of interviews on politics in Venezuela, which were sharply critical of former president Hugo Chávez.
Maduro’s anger toward him even lead to a Twitter campaign where members of the public sarcastically began blaming all of Venezuela’s problems, as well as their own personal issues on Rendón, by using the hashtag #LaCulpaEsDeJJ (#It’s JJ’s fault) on Twitter.
It even lead to the creation of a comedy song under the same name.
Naturally for a campaign strategist, he reportedly takes great care of his image, with some sources saying he wears only black clothes that he personally designs.
On his personal website, his biography reads: “He is considered to be the consultant that is best paid, feared the most, attacked the most, and also the most demanded and most efficient.”
Whatever the truth, he’s certainly not shy of praise for himself.
Originally published in the Buenos Aires Herald, on Wednesday, May 6, 2014.
Link: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/158793/just-who-exactly-is-jj-rend%C3%B3n.
© J. GRAINGER, 2014