Betancourt, Romulo

Born in the city of Guatira .

As a student, Betancourt took part in a demonstration against the dictatorship of Vicente Gomez, and for this he was imprisoned in February 1928 . In 1930, Betancourt joined the Communist Party in Costa Rica for a short period of time, subsequently he quit it and became an anti-communist .

In 1936 , after the death of Vicente Gomez and with the advent of General Eleasar Lopez Contreras, Betancourt returned to Venezuela and in 1941 founded the opposition reformist party " Democratic Action ", becoming one of its leaders.

In October 1945, Betancourt participated in the overthrow of General Isayas Medina of the Angara , who had been in power since 1941 . After the coup, his party became ruling, and Betancourt was appointed president and was until February 1948 . In November 1948, as a result of a military coup, General Marcos Pérez Jimenez came to power in Venezuela, overthrowing Venezuelan President R. Gallegos , who took office in February 1948. Betancourt emigrated.

In 1958, after the overthrow of General M. Perez Jimenez as a result of an armed uprising, R. Betancourt returned to his homeland and again became president of Venezuela in February 1959 . He began transformations in the country: he began to give land to landless peasants, improved the system of education and social protection, and tried to diversify the economy. In Venezuela, new steps were taken to strengthen state control over the country's hydrocarbon reserves, in April 1960 the state company Corporación Venezolana del Petróleo was established, and in September 1960 the government of R. Betancourt became a co-founder of OPEC.

R. Betancourt reacted negatively to the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic , but at the same time, Betancourt stood in anti-communist positions and held a hostile position towards Cuba and the countries of the socialist bloc. He put forward the “Betancourt Doctrine,” which called for Latin American states not to maintain diplomatic relations with governments that came to power in an undemocratic way, including Cuba .

In 1962, after attempts by the left to organize uprisings in the navy, Betancourt suspended civil liberties in the country and arrested the Communists from Congress (parliament). Betancourt did not run for office in the next election. Raul Leoni came to power in March 1964 .

He died in New York on September 28, 1981 .

• Fabricio Ojeda

• Information taken from the Chronos website.