VI.

History

Christopher Columbus first sighted the coast of Venezuela in 1498. In 1499 Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda followed the coast to Lake Maracaibo. He named the region Venezuela, or Little Venice, because the Native American buildings constructed on stilts along the lake’s edge reminded him of the Italian city of Venice, which was built on a series of islands in a lagoon.

A.

Spanish Colony

The Spanish began settling Venezuela in 1520. In 1528 Charles V of Spain granted to the Welsers, Bavarian bankers to whom he was in debt, the part of Venezuela lying between Cape Vela and Maracapana. As part of the arrangement, the Welsers were to develop the region and establish settlements. Instead, their representatives enslaved the Native Americans and so demoralized the European settlers that in 1546 the Spanish government revoked the grant and reassumed control.The city of Caracas was founded in 1567.

Economic activities in the colonial period centered on agriculture, particularly cacao and tobacco farming and some livestock raising. Venezuela became a center of piracy and smuggling, activities in which the English and the Dutch were the most notorious participants.

During the colonial period, Venezuela operated under a number of administrative jurisdictions. Originally, the Spanish authorities divided what is now Venezuelan territory between the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo (located in what is now the Dominican Republic). The Superintendency of Venezuela, more or less the present territory, was created in 1783.

In 1728 the Spanish government chartered the Guipuzcoana Company and gave it a monopoly of trade in Venezuela, with the additional duties of patrolling the coast to prevent smuggling. The company was very unpopular and did much to stir up political discontent in the colony. In addition, the Spanish policy of appointing peninsulares (individuals born in Spain) to the major administrative positions in their American colonies caused much resentment among Creoles (Spaniards born in the colonies), who were excluded from positions of power.

B.

Independence

The first decisive attempt by a Spanish American colony to gain independence from Spain was made by Venezuela. In 1808 the armies of French emperor Napoleon I overran Spain and Portugal. They deposed Ferdinand VII of Spain. In 1810 the Creoles in the cabildo, or town council, of Caracas overthrew the Spanish authorities and formed a junta, or governing body, to rule in the name of the king. However, the junta soon threw aside all pretense of loyalty to the Spanish crown and issued a formal declaration of independence on July 5, 1811.

This first attempt to gain independence faltered after 1812, when Spanish troops began reconquering the colony. Francisco de Miranda, the commander in chief of the revolutionary forces, tried to negotiate peace with the Spanish commander but was taken to Spain, where he died in prison. Leadership in the movement for independence passed to one of his lieutenants, Simón Bolívar, who recovered control of Caracas briefly in 1813, only to be driven out by the Spanish a year later.

Spanish rule was solidified in Venezuela after the arrival of a large force of Spanish troops in 1815. Bolívar, whose forces were too weak to oppose the Spanish army, withdrew to Haiti. In 1816, however, he returned to the mainland with a reinforced army and seized control of the lower Orinoco Valley. Over the next few years Bolívar gathered his forces. In 1819 Bolívar’s position was further strengthened when a congress, convened by him at Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar), proclaimed a union of New Granada (now Colombia and Panama), Venezuela, and Ecuador under the name of the Republic of Colombia (also known as Gran Colombia), with Bolívar as president. On June 24, 1821, the Spanish army was decisively beaten in Venezuela at the Battle of Carabobo, assuring the independence of the new nation.

Venezuela seceded from the union in 1829 and formed an independent republic with its capital at Caracas. José Antonio Páez, a hero of the revolution, served as president and remained the dominant political figure until 1846. He was tolerant toward the Roman Catholic Church and fostered a few measures for the stimulation of trade, agriculture, and education.

C.

Series of Dictatorships

The political history of Venezuela was comparatively uneventful until the year 1846 ushered in an era of civil wars between supporters of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. Conflict between these two groups characterized the early history of many Latin American countries. Liberals generally supported voting rights for all adult males, the separation of church and state, and a weak central government that gave greater power to the states and provinces within a nation. Conservatives advocated the preservation of class and church privileges, close government cooperation with the church, and a powerful central government.

In 1870 Antonio Guzmán Blanco gained control of the country. Under his despotic rule the public debt was stabilized, the building of railroads begun, and efforts were made to improve communications facilities. His administration also introduced reforms at the University of Caracas, emphasizing technological education, and rebuilt parts of the capital. Guzmán Blanco stripped the Roman Catholic Church of much of its wealth and authority. He retired in 1888 as a result of popular demonstrations against him. Rival aspirants contended for the presidency until General Joaquín Crespo brought another interval of peace and order between 1892 and 1899.

On two separate occasions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Venezuela became embroiled in conflicts with European powers. The first incident took place in 1886 over a dispute with Britain concerning the border of British Guiana (now Guyana). The United States persuaded Britain to submit the case to an arbitration tribunal that subsequently awarded the larger share of the territory to Britain.

The second incident occurred during the rule of Cipriano Castro, from 1899 to 1908, when the government failed to pay its foreign debts. In 1902 Britain, France, Germany, and several other powers blockaded Venezuelan ports, demanding payment. On two occasions, European warships bombarded the ports. In 1904 an international tribunal asked to rule on the dispute decided in favor of the allies.

In 1908 General Juan Vicente Gómez deposed Castro. Gómez established a stable government and began to pay off the country’s vast debts. In 1917, when Gómez learned that Venezuela had large quantities of petroleum, he called foreign oil companies together and asked them to submit their suggestions for a partnership with the nation for the production of petroleum. With the aid of experts, he made an agreement with the petroleum companies that made Venezuela prosperous enough to pay off all of its public obligations; it was the only nation in the world at that time free from debt.

Internally, Gómez ruled tyrannically from 1908 until his death in 1935, with two interruptions, from 1915 to 1922 and from 1929 to 1931. On both of these occasions, handpicked candidates under the control of Gómez served as president. Gómez had many of his political opponents imprisoned, tortured, or assassinated, and he treated the national treasury as his own personal account. Gómez did little to improve education, housing, or health care, but he oversaw the modernization of Venezuela. The stable, oil-based economy supported major public works projects in the cities and ports, as well as construction of highways.

Minister of War Eleazar López Contreras succeeded Gómez as president. Contrary to precedent, López Contreras refused reelection, turning over his administration in 1941 to his duly elected successor, General Isaías Medina Angarita. However, Medina Angarita made no effort to train the people to govern themselves, and his limited program of land reform did not satisfy the liberal Democratic Action Party (AD), a political party founded in 1941 by young reformers.

D.

World War II and Postwar Politics

Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the Axis powers at the end of 1941 and ultimately declared war on them in 1945 in order to qualify as a charter member of the United Nations.

In October 1945 a revolution broke out, and violent fighting took place in Caracas. A new government was set up under the presidency of a young AD leader, Rómulo Betancourt. Although foreign powers suspected he might be sympathetic toward communism, Betancourt allayed their fears by his declarations concerning the prompt holding of elections and a program of acceptable reform. He also promised the foreign oil interests that no radical action would be taken against them.

The Betancourt government brought a new approach to government. Seven of the 11 members of the cabinet had been educated in the United States, and all were young men. For the first time an agriculture expert occupied that ministry and directed his efforts toward proper and efficient use of the land. Many difficulties confronted the new government in this field. The high wages paid by the oil companies had drawn workers from farms. Importation of food had increased the cost of living to one of the highest in the world. Small farms had been taken by Gómez to create a few immense cattle ranches. The new administration announced that these ranches would be converted into small holdings whose owners would be trained to raise a balanced crop for the benefit of the nation as a whole.

A new constitution, adopted 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. However, the AD’s extreme popularity among voters and its proposed reform program alienated important groups, including conservative elements in the church and the military.

In November 1948 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. In 1950 Delgado Chalbaud was assassinated. The junta appointed the diplomat Germán Suárez Flámerich as provisional president, but the main power behind the government was a military officer, Colonel Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

The junta made elaborate plans for an election to choose a constituent assembly that would in turn choose a president. Electoral boards were appointed to register and poll the voters. The public was, however, indifferent. Finally, after government threats of punishment for anyone who did not register and vote, an election was scheduled for 1952. When early returns showed that the opponents of the junta were clearly in the lead, the military government suspended the election and the junta-backed government party, the Independent Electoral Front (FEI), installed Pérez Jiménez as president. In 1953 the constituent assembly confirmed him for a five-year term. Leaders of the opposition left the country. Later that year the constituent assembly approved a new constitution. The country, known officially since 1864 as the United States of Venezuela, was proclaimed the Republic of Venezuela.

E.

The Pérez Jiménez Regime

Venezuela’s enormous oil revenues allowed the Pérez Jiménez government to undertake construction of roads, bridges, railroads, and public buildings. One of the larger projects undertaken was the rebuilding of the center of Caracas. However, the government spent a great deal of money on military installations that became obsolete upon completion, and it made no efforts to improve agriculture, education, or standards of public health. Members of the administration embezzled vast sums of money, with Pérez Jiménez himself accumulating an enormous fortune.

The government maintained generally good contacts with other American countries, and the Tenth International Conference of American States was held in Caracas in 1954. Venezuela, however, broke off diplomatic relations with Argentina in 1957, after having rejected numerous Argentine complaints concerning the activities in Caracas of former Argentine dictator Juan Perón.

Jiménez ruthlessly suppressed all criticism of his regime. The government drove opponents into hiding or exile, and the secret police carried out mass jailings and tortured political prisoners. Until late 1957, however, the administration appeared stable. As the time for the 1957 national election approached, Pérez Jiménez jailed all known opposition leaders, including Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, leader of the Social Christian Party (COPEI). 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.

The people, already resentful of the dictatorship, reacted violently to the official announcement of the referendum. On January 21, 1958, a general strike in Caracas signaled the start of a popular uprising. Rioting broke out in the streets of Caracas. The situation culminated in two days and nights of terror, during which police killed about 300 citizens. Pérez Jiménez fled the country and a group of military officers and civilians, known as the Patriotic Junta and led by Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal, seized control of the government.

F.

Democratic Governments

In 1957 the Larrazábal government released leading political prisoners. Other opposition leaders returned from exile. In elections held in 1958, former president Betancourt of the AD was reelected.

The new administration restored the country’s credit, which was severely weakened by the Pérez Jiménez regime, expanded social welfare projects, provided increased educational opportunities, and encouraged foreign investment. The government also raised income taxes, primarily in the higher income brackets, to secure funds for development projects. A land reform bill aimed at giving 700,000 farmers land of their own was passed in 1960, and the government promoted diversification of the economy.

The five years of the Betancourt administration were marked by almost continuous efforts by extremists of both the right and the left to unseat the government. Both groups of extremists received support from outside Venezuela. In 1960 the Organization of American States (OAS) voted sanctions against the Dominican Republic, then under the control of the dictator Rafael Trujillo, for supporting right-wing efforts to assassinate Betancourt. Diplomatic relations with Cuba were severed in November, following charges by the Venezuelan government that the disorders had been orchestrated in large part on orders of Cuba’s Communist leader, Fidel Castro. During 1962 and 1963 leftist groups attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow the government.

President Betancourt promulgated a new constitution in January 1961. Despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing various rights to labor and expressing opposition to large landed estates, social unrest and rioting continued throughout 1961.

Elections in 1963 brought Raúl Leoni of the ruling AD to the presidency. For the first time in Venezuela’s history, there was a peaceful transfer of power from one constitutionally elected regime to another. Lacking a congressional majority, Leoni formed a coalition government. The Leoni government also tried to increase agricultural productivity and to expand industries, and it moved ahead with the agrarian reform program. 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 (see Guerrilla Warfare) in the countryside and in the capital throughout the year.

G.

Nationalization Measures

Toward the end of the decade, the political life of the nation gained some tranquility. In 1968 Rafael Caldera Rodríguez, leader of COPEI, won a narrow election victory, largely because of a split in the AD. 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 Community, an organization of South American countries located along the Andes Mountains, whose aim is to facilitate development of member nations through economic and social cooperation.

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 that had gained control of Chile in 1973 and resumed diplomatic relations with the Communist government of 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. Under the Herrera government the economy entered a long recession, despite a near doubling of the country’s income from oil exports. Venezuela’s foreign indebtedness tripled, to more than $34 billion, and the cost of living nearly doubled. The 1983 elections resulted in a sweeping victory for the AD, and its candidate, Jaime Lusinchi, took office as president. Confronted by falling world oil prices and heavy obligations to pay interest and principal on the foreign debt, Lusinchi initially followed austerity policies that prolonged the recession. However, these policies enabled Venezuela, alone among Latin American countries, to pay its foreign creditors in full and on time. Nevertheless, the country was unable to get new loans from foreign bankers. When economic growth resumed in 1986, it was accompanied by domestic inflation, which doubled the cost of living within two years.

The AD also won the 1988 elections, resulting in a second presidency for Carlos Andrés Pérez, who faced a serious economic crisis. Venezuela’s national income per person was less than 75 percent of its 1977 level, and the international value of its currency had fallen by almost 90 percent in five years. In 1989 consumer price increases imposed as part of an austerity program triggered violent protests in Caracas that were suppressed by the authorities, causing at least several hundred deaths. 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 selling government-owned industries to private companies, led to defeats of the AD in local elections. In 1991 Venezuela and the other members of the Andean Community 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.

H.

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 the National Congress approved a bill that 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 1997 the government gave in to public pressure and granted a 77 percent raise to government workers.

I.

Chávez’s Rule

A crisis in Asian financial markets in 1997 and a slump in world oil prices in 1998 caused a downturn in the Venezuelan economy. In the 1998 presidential election, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, a former military officer who had participated in two failed coup attempts in 1992, won the presidency. Chávez ran without support from Venezuela’s two major political parties. During the campaign he promised to end government corruption and to provide better economic conditions for the large number of Venezuelans living in poverty.

In April 1999 voters approved a referendum calling for the election of a constituent assembly to write a new constitution. The constituent assembly was elected in July, with candidates from Chávez’s Patriotic Pole coalition winning most of the 131 seats. When the constituent assembly convened in August, it assumed most of the National Congress’s duties, in addition to drafting a constitution.

In a referendum in December 1999 more than 70 percent of those casting ballots voted in favor of the new constitution, which renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and gave the president more power. The presidential term was increased from five to six years, and presidents were no longer barred from serving consecutive terms in office. A unicameral National Assembly replaced the bicameral National Congress. The constitution gave the executive branch of the federal government many powers previously held by state and local governments and reduced civilian control of the military. Provisions promoted as anticorruption measures allowed voters to revoke legislation or recall elected officials, including the president, through referenda.

Also in December 1999, torrential rains caused devastating floods in the northern coastal states. Mudslides destroyed whole villages. It was estimated that more than 400,000 Venezuelans lost their homes and as many as 30,000 died.

While the nation dug out from the disastrous mudslides, the new constitution took effect. The constituent assembly resigned in January 2000, its work completed. Presidential and congressional elections were held in July 2000. Chávez easily won reelection, and his coalition won a simple majority in the new unicameral assembly.

In a development that further enhanced Chávez’s power, the National Assembly voted in November 2000 to grant the president authority for one year to rule by decree on topics ranging from public finance to land reform. The law passed despite complaints from opposition parties that the measure granted too much authority to Chávez.

I.1.

Opposition to Chávez

As his presidency progressed, Chávez became increasingly unpopular among the upper and middle classes due to his economic reforms and disputes with business leaders. In April 2002 at least 17 people were killed in a march in Caracas to protest Chávez’s policies, and some people claimed that his supporters had killed the protestors. Military leaders then forced Chávez from power in a coup d'état. The next day tens of thousands of people, mainly the urban and rural poor, marched throughout the country to protest Chávez’s ouster. In response to the protests, the military returned Chávez to power less than three days after it had removed him.

Although Chávez regained the presidency, many people continued to oppose his policies. In December 2002 a loose coalition that included labor unions, business leaders, and the Democratic Action Party organized a general strike to protest Chávez’s leadership. During the nearly three-month strike, many businesses, banks, and schools closed, and employees of the state-owned oil company slowed oil production. The strike devastated Venezuela’s already weak economy, and the country faced severe economic problems including high unemployment and inflation.

I.2.

Recall Vote and After

High oil prices in 2004, however, helped the economy recover, and Chávez funneled millions in government revenues to aid literacy and health programs for Venezuela’s slum dwellers. That aid helped Chávez solidify his base among the poor while his opposition mounted a petition drive to recall him from office. The Democratic Coordinator, an umbrella group of organizations opposing the president, succeeded in gathering enough signatures for a referendum in August 2004 to recall Chávez two years before his term was to expire.

Chávez easily defeated the recall attempt, however, winning 59 percent of the vote. The opposition charged the voting was fraudulent, but international monitors from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center of Atlanta, Georgia, led by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, said the election was free and fair. Carter said the charges of fraud were “completely unwarranted.”

In legislative elections held in December 2005, politicians allied with Chávez captured all 167 seats in Venezuela’s National Assembly. A number of the major opposition parties boycotted the election, claiming the electoral system was biased, and only about 25 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

Opposition parties returned to the electoral process in the 2006 presidential elections, but they made little headway among voters. Chávez was reelected by a wide margin as most Venezuelans appeared to support his policies of redistributing the country’s oil revenues, especially to benefit the poor and working class. Chávez won 63 percent of the vote in an election that saw a relatively high turnout.

Following the presidential election, Chávez asked the National Assembly for the power to rule by decree for a period of 18 months. Critics charged that Chávez was trying to create an authoritarian regime with all powers concentrated in his hands. They said the move was unnecessary in view of the fact that Chávez’s supporters control the legislature, the Supreme Court, and all but two states. Supporters of the president said the ability to rule by decree would give Chávez the power to implement his program to move Venezuela toward socialism without delay. They noted that the National Assembly had passed a similar Enabling Law in 2000, under which Chávez issued more than 40 decrees. In late January 2007 the National Assembly unanimously approved four measures that gave Chávez the power to rule by decree in 11 broadly defined areas, such as the economy, energy, and defense, for a period of 18 months.

Following passage of the legislation, Chávez nationalized the telecommunications, electrical power, and oil industries. By July 2007 he had successfully negotiated agreements with most of the foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela to take control of at least 60 percent of their oil drilling and refining operations in the Orinoco region. Only ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corporation refused the terms of the takeover, though they continued to negotiate. More controversially, however, Chávez also moved to close down or take control of media outlets. His refusal in May to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) met with mass protests and denunciations by human rights groups. Chávez’s defenders pointed out that RCTV played a prominent role in supporting the 2002 coup attempt against Chávez. They said a number of influential media outlets, including two leading newspapers in Caracas, remained privately owned and were allowed to publish while being openly critical of Chávez. However, Chávez’s critics countered that the government was opening new state-run television and radio stations and that government advertising in pro-Chávez newspapers had increased 12 times.

I.3.

Referendum on Term Limits

Chávez suffered the first major electoral defeat of his political career in December 2007 when voters narrowly rejected, by 51 to 49 percent, a referendum on 69 proposed amendments to the Venezuelan constitution. The amendment that drew the most attention and opposition was one that would have removed term limits on the president, allowing Chávez to seek another term in 2012 and beyond. Chávez argued that the measures were necessary to speed Venezuela’s transformation to a socialist society.

However, the term limit amendment, along with one that would have given Chávez the power to declare a state of emergency for an unlimited period, alienated some of his more moderate supporters, including the leader of a leftist political party and a prominent retired general who had supported Chávez against the 2002 coup attempt. The proposed amendments also cost him some support in poor neighborhoods, where voter turnout was not as high as during the 2006 presidential election. Chávez indicated that he would respect the will of the voters.