Presidency of Raúl Leoni

Raúl Leoni served as President of Venezuela from March 13, 1964, to March 11, 1969.

Background

In the elections of 1963 the Democratic Action (AD) candidate Raúl Leoni, a long-time ally of Rómulo Betancourt (President from 1959 to 1964) from the times of dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, won handily. Rafael Caldera of COPEI came second. The Wolfgang Larrazábal political phenomenon was eclipsed and Jóvito Villalba on his own came just behind Caldera. AD was still the pardo party by excellence, but Caracas was definitely lost.

Presidency

Leoni's government was unexceptional, but it was Leoni who had to liquidate the remnants of the communist insurrection, for which he put the army in charge of the country with carte blanche to be as ruthless as it had to. But in fact it was the communist guerrilleros themselves who brought about their own liquidation. They had no rural support whatsoever. Unlike guerrillas all over the world, they did not control villages and lived from hand to mouth.[1] They knew they were no match for the army and avoided confrontations. Castro had been hoping that Venezuela would be the second act of the Latin American revolution, and he tried to supply the Venezuelan guerrillas. This was in keeping with the theory of what could be called the "permanent agrarian revolution", which the French intellectual Régis Debray had expressed in the widely circulated book Revolution Inside the Revolution and Ernesto "Che" Guevara had been trying to carry out first in Africa and later, fatally for him, in Bolivia. Castro sent a trusted officer, Manuel Ochoa, to assess the Venezuelan guerrillas, and the report that he brought was negative, which effectively ended Cuba's intervention in Venezuelan affairs.[2] By then the Venezuelan leftists had given up on violence and were seeking legalization, but Leoni did not offer it. Ochoa was later tried and executed by Castro on an unlikely charge of drug-smuggling.

Cabinet

Ministries [3]
OFFICENAMETERM
PresidentRaúl Leoni1964–1969
Home AffairsGonzalo Barrios1964–1966
 Reinaldo Leandro Mora1966–1969
Outer RelationsIgnacio Iribarren Borges1964–1969
FinanceAndrés Germán Otero1964–1965
 Eddy Morales Crespo1965–1967
 Benito Raúl Losada1967–1968
 Francisco Mendoza1968–1969
DefenseRamón Florencio Gómez1964–1969
DevelopmentManuel Egaña1964
 Luis Hernández Solís1964–1968
 Aura Celina Casanova1968–1969
Public WorksLeopoldo Sucre Figarella1964–1969
EducationJosé Manuel Siso Martínez1964–1969
LaborEloy Lares Martínez1964
 Hens Silva Torres1964–1967
 Simón Antoni Paván1967–1968
 Raúl Valera1968–1969
CommunicationsLorenzo Azpúrua Marturet1964
 J. J. González Gorrondona1964–1966
 Héctor Santaella1966–1967
 Juan Manuel Domínguez Chacín1967–1968
 Lorenzo Azpúrua Marturet1968–1969
AgricultureAlejandro Osorio1964
 Juan José Palacios1964–1965
 Pedro Segnini La Cruz1965–1966
 Alejandro Osorio1966–1969
Health and Social AssistanceAlfredo Arreaza Guzmán1964
 Domingo Guzmán Lander1964–1967
 Alfonso Araujo Belloso1967–1968
 Armando Soto Rivera1968–1969
JusticeMiguel Ángel Burelli Rivas1964
 Ramón Escovar Salom1964–1966
 José S. Núñez Aristimuño1966–1969
Mines and HydrocarbonsManuel Pérez Guerrero1964–1967
 José Antonio Mayobre1967–1969
Secretary of PresidencyManuel Mantilla1964–1969

References

  1. Zago, Angela, Aqui no ha pasado nada, 1972
  2. Szulc, Tad, Castro: a Critical Portrait, 1986
  3. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Venezuela (1965). Oficina de Información, Prensa y Publicaciones. "El Presidente y su Gabinete."

See also

  • History of Venezuela, 1958-1998
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