HISTORY
Independence
The history of the war of independence against Spain in Venezuela is largely the record of the careers of Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Miranda. The revolution began in 1810 and independence was formally proclaimed on July 5, 1811. In 1819 the republic of Gran Colombia was established, with its capital in Bogota. Gran Colombia included what are now Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. Independence was assured with the decisive victory of Bolívar over the Spanish royalist army in 1821. Venezuela constituted itself an independent republic in 1829.
Series of Dictatorships
The early history of independent Venezuela was characterized by revolutions and counterrevolutions, climaxed by the rigid dictatorship of Antonio Guzmán Blanco from 1870 to 1888. On two separate occasions, the foreign affairs of Venezuela closely involved the United States. The first was in 1886, when a border dispute arose between Venezuela and British Guiana (now Guyana). The United States persuaded Great Britain to submit the case to an arbitration tribunal that subsequently awarded the larger share of the territory to Great Britain. During the rule of Cipriano Castro, from 1899 to 1908, the United States again intervened in a dispute involving Venezuela. In 1902 Great Britain, France, Germany, and several other powers blockaded Venezuelan ports because of the government's failure to meet its debts. On two occasions, European warships bombarded the ports. On February 13, 1903, negotiations, which had been taking place in Washington, D.C., were concluded with a formal request to The Hague Tribunal for a decision. The tribunal decided in favor of the allies in 1904, and by July 1907 Venezuela had met the obligations to the three powers. The following year Castro was deposed by General Juan Vicente Gómez. He reversed Castro's foreign policies, which had involved Venezuela in still other difficulties with the European powers and with the United States; internally, he ruled tyrannically from 1908 until his death in 1935, with two interruptions, from 1915 to 1922, and from 1929 to 1931. Oil was discovered in Venezuela in 1917 and quickly became important to the country's economy.
World War II and Postwar Politics
Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis Powers at the end of 1941, but did not declare war on them until February 1945 in order to qualify as a charter member of the United Nations. In 1945, following the overthrow of the dictatorship of General Isaías Medina Angarita, Dr. Rómulo Betancourt, of the moderately socialist AD party, assumed control of the government as provisional president. A new constitution, promulgated in 1947, provided for popular vote by means of a secret ballot. Later in the same year, after the first democratic election in Venezuela, Rómulo Gallegos Freire, novelist and founder of the AD, was elected president. He took office in February 1948. In November the government was overthrown by an army revolt, the leaders of which immediately formed a provisional government headed by Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud.
The junta suppressed the opposition and employed other dictatorial methods, including censorship of news. On November 13, 1950, Delgado Chalbaud was assassinated. The junta appointed the diplomat Germán Suárez Flámerich as provisional president. Suárez promised that national elections for a constituent assembly would be held in the near future. In the elections, held on November 30, 1952, the junta-backed government party, the Independent Electoral Front (FEI), was declared the winner. Colonel Marcos Pérez Jiménez, the government candidate, then became president; leaders of the opposition had to leave the country.
The Pérez Jiménez Regime
On April 11, 1953, after three months of deliberation, the constituent assembly gave final approval to a new constitution, which was formally promulgated on April 15. The country, known officially since 1864 as the United States of Venezuela, was proclaimed the Republic of Venezuela.
The government maintained generally good contacts with other American countries, and the Tenth International Conference of American States was held in Caracas in March 1954. Venezuela, however, broke off diplomatic relations with Argentina in July 1957, after having rejected numerous Argentine complaints concerning the activities in Caracas of the former Argentine dictator Juan Perón. In December the government held a plebiscite, the results of which showed that 2,353,935 of a total of 2,900,543 voters approved of Pérez Jiménez and his regime. Several weeks after the plebiscite, a rebellion led by air force officers was suppressed by army troops.
On January 21, 1958, a general strike in Caracas signaled the start of a popular uprising. Pérez Jiménez fled the country on January 23, and the same day a group of military officers and civilians, known as the Patriotic Junta and led by Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal, seized control of the government.
Democratic Governments
The Larrazábal government thwarted attempted coups d'état on July 22 and September 7. The rebels were said to have been motivated by the belief that Larrazábal had allowed the Communist movement to function too freely. In the December elections, former President Betancourt of the AD was reelected. On June 24, 1959, Betancourt was injured in an assassination attempt, which the Organization of American States said had been instigated by the government of the Dominican Republic. Antigovernment rioting by Larrazábal supporters occurred in Caracas in November and December.
President Betancourt promulgated a new constitution on January 23, 1961. Despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing various rights to labor and expressing opposition to large landed estates, social unrest and rioting continued throughout 1961. Diplomatic relations with Cuba were severed on November 11, following charges by the Venezuelan government that Cuba had in large part fomented the disorders. During 1962 and 1963 leftist groups attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the government.
On December 1, 1963, Raúl Leoni of the ruling AD was elected president. Lacking a congressional majority, Leoni formed a coalition government. For the next few years Venezuela enjoyed a large measure of political stability. In October 1966, however, a military uprising broke out, led by the national guard garrison near Caracas. It was crushed by the government, which had also been combating guerrilla activity in the countryside and the capital throughout the year.
Nationalization Measures
Toward the end of the decade, the political life of the nation gained some tranquillity. In December 1968, Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, leader of COPEI, won a narrow election victory over Leoni. Caldera was inaugurated in March 1969; it was the first time in the 140-year history of Venezuela that the ruling party had peacefully handed over power to the opposition. Despite his narrow support, Caldera governed effectively and virtually eliminated the guerrilla and terrorist activities of the late 1960s. Economically, he pursued a policy of nationalizing foreign enterprises. In 1973 Venezuela joined the increasingly effective Andean Group.
Political activity was brisk in 1973 as the presidential elections neared. In May the congress ratified a constitutional amendment barring the candidacy of former President Pérez Jiménez. In the December elections, the winner was Carlos Andrés Pérez, the leader of the AD. He attempted to improve relations with Venezuela's neighbors but took an increasingly independent line from the United States. He expressed open hostility to the military dictatorship in Chile and resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba. Pérez nationalized the iron and steel industry in 1975 and the oil industry in 1976.
The 1978 elections were won by COPEI and its presidential candidate, Luís Herrera Campíns. During his term, Campíns sought to cool down the economy as the market for oil exports weakened. The elections of December 1983 resulted in a sweeping victory for the AD, and its candidate, Jaime Lusinchi took office as president. The AD also won the 1988 elections, resulting in a second presidency for Carlos Andrés Pérez. In February 1989, consumer-price increases imposed as part of an austerity program triggered violent protests in Caracas. Emergency loans from the United States and other countries helped ease the crisis, as did increased revenue from oil exports. However, continued popular discontent with government policies, including attempts at privatization, led to defeats in local elections. In 1991, Venezuela and the other members of the Andean Group signed a treaty that would establish the Andean Common Market.
In 1992 two military coup attempts were crushed, one in February and another in November. Pérez was suspended from office in May 1993, after the Senate voted unanimously to have him stand trial on charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds. Senator Ramón José Velásquez was elected interim president, pending elections in 1993. In December 1993, Rafael Caldera was again elected president.
In January 1994 the nation's second largest bank, Banco Latino, collapsed, precipitating an economic crisis. The crisis affected several other banks, prompting a strong response from the central government. By August, 13 banks had been nationalized, including several of the largest in Venezuela. Citing immediate necessity and coup rumors, President Caldera announced the suspension of some civil and economic rights in order to help the government arrest those responsible for the banking collapse and to prevent speculation and inflation.
Privatization Measures
In September 1994 Caldera announced a new economic plan, designed to pull the country out of its economic slump. The standard of living of the country's middle class had fallen. The percentage of the average household's income spent on food had increased from 28 percent to nearly 70 percent in 25 years. Caldera's new plan called for reducing inflation and the deficit, an increase in foreign investment and foreign currency holdings, a reduction in the dependence on oil tax revenues, improvements in tax collection, and a rise in the domestic price of oil. Public unrest over the government's handling of the crisis continued periodically throughout 1994 as demonstrators protested price increases.
In 1995 a bill was approved by Congress which allowed foreign oil companies to carry out joint exploration and production ventures with Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Although the government decided to allow private investment in the oil industry, agreements with investors stipulated that the state would take close to 90 percent of the industry's profits.
Foreign investment was also encouraged to exploit the gold deposits discovered near the country's western border. Taxes on mining companies were cut, and the central bank's monopoly on purchasing gold was ended.
Also in 1995 the government restored the civil liberties suspended the previous year and drastically reduced government subsidies for automobile fuel. In 1996 the sales tax was also raised from 12.5 percent to 16.5 percent. These measures were meant to slow inflation and foster balance and growth of the economy. However, Venezuelans saw the cost of living double in 1996, while wages remained steady. In February 1997 the government gave in to public pressure and granted a 77 percent raise to government workers.
In late 1996 the government released Carlos Andrés Pérez from house arrest. Although the constitution bars Pérez from running for the presidency, the former president organized a new political party in 1997: the Movement for Openness and National Participation.
