Raúl Leoni
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (January 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Raúl Leoni | |
---|---|
President of Venezuela | |
In office 13 March 1964 – 11 March 1969 | |
Preceded by | Rómulo Betancourt |
Succeeded by | Rafael Caldera |
Senator for life | |
In office 11 March 1969 – 5 July 1972 | |
President of the Senate of Venezuela[1] | |
In office 1959–1962 | |
Preceded by | Carlos R. Travieso |
Succeeded by | Luis Beltrán Prieto Figueroa |
Minister of Labor of Venezuela | |
In office 1945–1948 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Raúl Leoni Otero 26 April 1905 El Manteco, Bolívar State, Venezuela |
Died | 5 July 1972 New York City, New York, U.S. | (aged 67)
Political party | Acción Democrática |
Spouse | Carmen América Fernández Alcalá (Menca de Leoni) |
Children | 1 |
Signature | |
Raúl Leoni Otero (26 April 1905 – 5 July 1972) was the
Background
Leoni was born in El Manteco,
Presidency
Leoni took control of the presidency on 13 March 1964, succeeding
One of the pillars of a political consolidation in Venezuela, the
During his government, Leoni carried out important structural projects in Venezuela, specifically the development of heavy industry in Guayana (hydroelectric, iron and steel), inauguration of the Bank of the Workers, and construction of road infrastructure (highways, freeways, and bridges – the most important of which crossed the Orinoco). Important changes to labor and social programs also occurred; unions gained force and the Social Security law was modified. Leoni made an attempt at reforming tax structure, but was restrained by a coalition of left and right that openly served the interests of oil companies.
During Leoni's presidency the conflict with the leftist guerrilla movement
However, unlike guerrillas all over the world, the communist guerrilleros themselves had no rural support to speak of and as such did not control any villages. [3] They knew that 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. That 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. In 1966, Castro selected a trusted officer, Arnaldo Ochoa, to assess the Venezuelan guerrillas. Ochoa with the Venezuelan guerrilla commander Luben Petkoff, took a boat to the shores of Falcon, Venezuela, one of his most secretive expedition. Along with 15 other members of the Cuban military went to Coro Sierra mountains to strengthen Douglas Bravo guerrillas who were fighting the government troops that ended in a major strategic loss at large human cost.
In 1967, the
Meanwhile, Leoni signed the Cartagena Agreement. The precursor to the Andean Community, it was a trade bloc in Bogotá between Venezuela, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.
On 11 March 1969, Leoni transferred power to
Personal life and death
His father was descendant from a "massone" escaped to Murato, a village in Corsica that then was under the Republic of Genova[5]
Raúl Leoni was married to Carmen América Fernández,[
Leoni died on 5 July 1972 when he was 67 years old, at the
See also
- Presidents of Venezuela
- Political prisoners in Venezuela
References
- Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language Wikipedia article. The following references are cited by that Spanish-language article:
- Polar Foundation
- Biography of Leoni at Venezuela Tuya
- Interview to Raúl Leoni by Miguel Otero Silva PDF format.
- ISBN 9789800302446.
- ^ Leoni family
- ^ Zago, Angela, Aqui no ha pasado nada, 1972
- ^ Szulc, Tad, Castro: a Critical Portrait, 1986
- ^ some historians -like Della Volpe and D'Ambrosio- claim that Raul Leoni has italian roots because descendant from a refugee born italian, under the Republic of Genoa (that owned Corsica until 1770)