Venezuela

VE NEZUE LA  **__[|1945-1990]__** = POST-WAR VENEZUELA, 1945: =

After World War Two ended, the secretly-allied Venezuela stayed stable until the coup of their then-President, General Isaías Medina Angarita. To serve as a placeholder until further preparations could be made for a new government, [|Dr. Rómulo Betancourt], one founder of the [|Acción Democrática] party, took the leading spot. As leader, Betancourt gave freedom of voting to both men and women in Venezuela for the upcoming election. But first, they had a constitution to enact. = 1947, A NEW CONSTITUTION, A NEW LEADER: = A new constitution for Venezuela was enacted in 1947. This new constitution allowed for popular vote to decide upon the leader for the first time in Venezuela. Romulo Gallegos, another founder of the [|Acción Democrática] party won the election with 75% of the vote. During this time in office, Gallegos did his best to reform Venezuela the way his party intended. After imposing a tax upon countries buying their oil, the extra money went towards an attempt to make Venezuela's economy [|more than just oil sales]. This worked, helping Venezuela earn more money as a whole, allowing the government to adopt policies with education and health to improve the lives of it's citizens. But land redistribution was minimal and carefully enacted, resulting in little help to peasants. However, these policies made the strong military in Venezuela nervous. One general looked for a coup. Within nine months, Gallegos would be overthrown. = = = THE COUP OF 1948: = In November 1948, only nine months into his presidency, Gallegos was forcibly removed from power. A dictator rose up. General [|Marcos Pérez Jiménez] took power and, using the still growing Venezuelan oil business, began lending large amounts of money to expand the military forces. Aside from this, he also helped the people of Venezuela with modernization, creating a highway system and revamping the city of Caracas, but unfairly leaving the rest of Venezuela untouched, stricken with harsh poverty. But Jimenez continued to rule, until his decision to cancel a competitive vote and replace it with a [|plebiscite] caused a military outrage. =THE COUP  OF 1958, BETANCOURT RISING : = = = This sparked a military uprising, culminating in his own coup in 1958. This time, Betancourt is put back into power after an election. Betancourt did not support communism and with the United States' help, he cut off ties with Cuba and Fidel Castro's revolution. He turned to helping out the religious parts of Venezuela, the military, and the higher classes. He focused on bettering the lives of his people, raising public health tremendously and giving out land to those without. He continued the AD's dream of spreading out from oil, industrializing Venezuela and offering labor for all. = = = REVOLTS AND CHANGES: =

In 1962, some revolts had been spurred by inequality in Venezuela, with help from an opponent, Fidel Castro. A large portion of the population was unhappy with the changes and this led to two disastrous revolts in 1962. These bloody reactions continued under the next leader, Raul Leoni Otero, with many weapon stashes and terrorist activities being established by the left movement in Venezuela. After another two presidencies, the latter of which was during a large economic boom due to world oil prices rising. After this rise, almost the opposite followed.

= OIL SURPLUS: = A worldwide surplus of oil in the 80’s caused the price to plummet, severely damaging Venezuela’s main income. Many benefits were cut from the citizens and once again the nation faced money problems. The president at the time, Carlos Andres Perez, attempted to be helpful by raising minimum wages and the like in order to support citizens, but his later impeachment would cut that plight short. However, during his presidency he served as the biggest target for protesters. These turned out violent and also were followed by two attempts at a coup, one of them leading to the arrest of future president Hugo Chavez. The equality gap during these times was harsh, with water being rationed and an oppressive government taking over the citizens' lives. = =