Lepage was a member of the student movement of the political party
Acción Democrática (AD) at the
Central University of Venezuela (UCV), being designated in 1945 as Secretary in the executive committee of AD in
Caracas. He graduated from UCV with a degree in law in 1947, and in 1948 he was elected as the deputy for Anzoátegui to the National Congress. In November of that year, he was elected Secretary General of AD, but did not take the position due to the suppression of political parties following the overthrow of
Rómulo Gallegos. Lepage was the First Secretary of Acción Democrática while it operated clandestinely He served there until 1965, when he returned to Venezuela to assume the General Secretariat of Acción Democrática. In
the 1973 elections he was elected to the
Venezuelan Senate for
Miranda and in 1975 he was designated by President
Carlos Andrés Pérez as Minister of Interior, being appointed again during the administration of
Jaime Lusinchi. but in a
primary election the party chose
Carlos Andrés Pérez. He was the President of the
Senate of Venezuela from 1989 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1994.
Interim government In 1993, he succeeded
Carlos Andrés Pérez and assumed the Provisional Presidency of the Republic as the President of the Congress after the suspension of Pérez over corruption allegations. Octavio Lepage was
succeeded by
Ramón José Velásquez, who became president on 5 June 1993. He died on 6 January 2017 at the age of 93 of natural causes. == See also ==