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Presidency of Raúl Leoni

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

Background

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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

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Raúl Leoni's presidency saw the construction of the Guri Dam, a power station with a combined installed capacity of 1750 megawatts (MW)[1] that created a reservoir which is the largest fresh water body of water in Venezuela and one of the largest man-made blackwater lakes ever created.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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

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Ministries [5]
OFFICE NAME TERM
President Raúl Leoni 1964–1969
Home Affairs Gonzalo Barrios 1964–1966
  Reinaldo Leandro Mora 1966–1969
Outer Relations Ignacio Iribarren Borges 1964–1969
Finance Andrés Germán Otero 1964–1965
  Eddy Morales Crespo 1965–1967
  Benito Raúl Losada 1967–1968
  Francisco Mendoza 1968–1969
Defense Ramón Florencio Gómez 1964–1969
Development Manuel Egaña 1964
  Luis Hernández Solís 1964–1968
  Aura Celina Casanova 1968–1969
Public Works Leopoldo Sucre Figarella 1964–1969
Education José Manuel Siso Martínez 1964–1969
Labor Eloy Lares Martínez 1964
  Hens Silva Torres 1964–1967
  Simón Antoni Paván 1967–1968
  Raúl Valera 1968–1969
Communications Lorenzo Azpúrua Marturet 1964
  J. J. González Gorrondona 1964–1966
  Héctor Santaella 1966–1967
  Juan Manuel Domínguez Chacín 1967–1968
  Lorenzo Azpúrua Marturet 1968–1969
Agriculture Alejandro Osorio 1964
  Juan José Palacios 1964–1965
  Pedro Segnini La Cruz 1965–1966
  Alejandro Osorio 1966–1969
Health and Social Assistance Alfredo Arreaza Guzmán 1964
  Domingo Guzmán Lander 1964–1967
  Alfonso Araujo Belloso 1967–1968
  Armando Soto Rivera 1968–1969
Justice Miguel Ángel Burelli Rivas 1964
  Ramón Escovar Salom 1964–1966
  José S. Núñez Aristimuño 1966–1969
Mines and Hydrocarbons Manuel Pérez Guerrero 1964–1967
  José Antonio Mayobre 1967–1969
Secretary of Presidency Manuel Mantilla 1964–1969

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Guri Dam". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2011. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  2. ^ Archiv Für Hydrobiologie. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (Nägele u. Obermiller). 1994.
  3. ^ Zago, Angela, Aqui no ha pasado nada, 1972
  4. ^ Szulc, Tad, Castro: a Critical Portrait, 1986
  5. ^ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Venezuela (1965). Oficina de Información, Prensa y Publicaciones. "El Presidente y su Gabinete."