History of Venezuela

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the history of Venezuela. See also the history of South America and the history of present-day nations and states.

1 Spanish period
2 19th century: Independence
3 20th century
4 Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution
- 4.1 Opposition
5 See also
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Spanish period

A palafito, like the ones seen by Amerigo Vespucci

Venezuela was colonised by Spain in 1522. In what is now the city of Cumaná, Spain established their first permanent South American settlement.

At the time of the Spanish arrival, the indigenous people were mainly agriculturists and hunters living in groups along the coast, the Andean mountain range, and along the Orinoco River. Nueva Toledo, the first permanent Spanish settlement in South America, was established in Venezuela in 1522.

An abortive plan for German settlement from German Habsburg lands, to be financed through the Fugger bankers, never came to fruition. By the middle of the 16th century, there were still few more than 2,000 Europeans in what is now Venezuela. The opening of gold mines at Yaracuy led to the introduction of slavery, at first with the indigenous population, then with imported Africans. The first real success of the colony was the raising of livestock, much helped by the grassy plains known as llanos. The society that developed as a result — a handful of Spanish landowners and widely-dispersed Indian herdsmen on Spanish-introduced horses — was so primitive that it recalls feudalism, certainly a powerful concept in the 16th century Spanish imagination, and perhaps more fruitful economic comparison to the latifundia of antiquity.

During the 16th and 17th century, the provinces which constitute today's Venezuela were relatively neglected. The Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru (located on the sites formerly occupied by the capital cities of the Aztecs and Incas) were more interested in their nearby gold and silver mines than in the agricultural societies of Venezuela. Responsibility for the Venezuelan territories shifted between the two Viceroyalties.

In the 18th century, a second Venezuelan society formed along the coast when cocoa plantations were established, this time manned by much larger importations of African slaves. Quite a number of black slaves were also to be found in the haciendas of the grassy llanos.

The Province of Venezuela was under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (created in 1717). The Province was then transformed into the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777. The Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas held a close monopoly on trade with Europe.

[edit] 19th century: Independence

The 19th of April, 1810. Painting by Juan Lovera. (1835)

The Venezuelans began to grow restive under colonial control toward the end of the eighteenth century. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe weakened Spain's imperial power and the Venezuelans achieved home rule after a coup on April 19, 1810, and later declared independence from Spain on July 5, 1811. The war for independence ensued. On December 17, 1819 the Congress of Angostura established Gran Colombia's independence from Spain. After several more years of war, which killed half of Venezuela's white population, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar. Venezuela, along with what are now Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, was part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a sovereign country.

Much of Venezuela's 19th century history was characterized by periods of political instability, dictatorial rule of the caudillos, and revolutionary turbulence.

Starting in 1870, Venezuela experienced increasing economic and political centralization. Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1870-1888) took control over customs revenues through an alliance with regional caudillos and the financial sector. Cipriano Castro (1899-1908) and Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-1935) founded a professionalized army with a centralized command structure. These institutions were vital in ensuring that, in contrast to other oil abundant countries, Venezuela would experience growing political stability as a result of the influx of oil revenues that occurred after 1920. (Rodríguez and Gomolin, 2006)

[edit] 20th century

Rómulo Betancourt

For a complete list of Venezuelan leaders, see List of Presidents of Venezuela.

The first half of the 20th century was marked by periods of authoritarianism — including dictatorships by General Juan Vicente Gómez from 1908 to 1935, when Venezuela became a major oil exporter. A military junta ruled after his death. Leftist Dr. Rómulo Betancourt and the Acción Democrática (AD, "Democratic Action party") won a majority of seats in a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution in 1946. A well-known writer, Rómulo Gallegos, candidate of Betancourt's party, became Venezuela's first democratically elected president in 1947. Within eight months, Gallegos was overthrown by a military-backed coup led by Marcos Pérez Jiménez, who was himself ousted in 1958.

Since the overthrow of Pérez Jiménez and the military's withdrawal from direct involvement in national politics, Venezuela has enjoyed an unbroken tradition of civilian democratic rule, of which Rómulo Betancourt, president from 1958 to 1964, laid the foundation. In the 1960s, the AD and the Christian Democratic Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente (COPEI) parties agreed to limit Venezuela's elections to an exclusive competition between these two parties, a system known as puntofijismo.

February 27, 1989 saw a wave of protests, riots and looting known as the Caracazo, where it is estimated that thousands of Venezuelans were killed after the then-president Carlos Andrés Pérez, a member of the AD political party, decided to suspend the constitutional rights of the citizens, thus allowing the armed forces to confront the rioters by violent means. This led to the failed coup attempts of 1992. In 1998, Hugo Chávez, a leader of the February 1992 coup attempt, was elected President, ending the era of political domination by the AD and COPEI.

[edit] Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution

Main articles: Hugo Chávez and Bolivarian Revolution

Hugo Chávez, a former paratroop lieutenant-colonel who led an unsuccessful coup d'état in 1992, was elected President in December 1998 on a platform that called for the creation of a "Fifth Republic", a new constitution, a new name ("the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela"), and a new set of social relations between socioeconomic classes. In 1999, voters approved a referendum on a new constitution, and in 2000, re-elected Chávez, also placing many members of his Fifth Republic Movement political party in the National Assembly. Supporters of Chávez call the process symbolised by him the Bolivarian Revolution, and organise themselves in open, local, participatory assemblies called Bolivarian Circles.

[edit] Opposition

Main articles: Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 and Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004

Chávez has faced strong opposition to his policies. A business-labor general work stoppage was called in December 2001, followed by an attempted coup in April 2002, and another general work stoppage in December 2002, shutting down the state oil company PDVSA for two months and crippling the Venezuelan economy.

In August, 2004, Chávez faced a recall referendum, but 59% of the voters voted to allow Chávez to remain in office. During the run-up to the election, government deputy Luis Tascón published on his web page the list and identity card numbers of those who had signed the petition to hold the referendum against Chávez. A statistical study by Roberto Rigobón (MIT) and Ricardo Hausmann (Harvard University) said they had found statistical evidence that the electoral council had manipulated the electoral audit.[1] The Organization of American States and the Carter Center certified the voting results as representative of the votes cast, and Jimmy Carter stated that in his opinion it was fairer than the voting process in Florida during the 2000 US Presidential election.