| |
| 9. Venezuela |
| |
| The wars of independence shattered the Venezuelan aristocracy. Many great estates passed into the hands of successful caudillos, who, allied with merchants, became a new oligarchy based on coffee and cacao production. Popular groups, despite extensive participation in the independence struggle, were excluded from the new political system. | 1 |
| |
| 1830, Jan. 13 |
| |
| Gen. José Páez (1790–1873) proclaimed Venezuela's separation from Gran Colombia. A constitution (Sept. 24) granted the franchise to propertied residents. Bolívar died in Santa Marta (Dec. 17, 1830). | 2 |
| |
| 1831–45 |
| |
| The Conservative Republic. Páez was proclaimed constitutional president (March 31, 1831) and governed as such until 1835. Dr. José María Vargas (1835–36), Dr. Andrés Narvarte (1836–37), and Gen. Carlos Soublette (1837–39 and 1843–47) ruled with his support. Páez controlled a network of caudillos who, in turn, controlled the rural population. A labor shortage affected planters expanding coffee production for foreign markets. The government passed antivagrancy laws and laws against rustling, causing deep resentment among llaneros (free horsemen). Landlords reenslaved black and pardo soldiers who had fought for independence. Under Gen. Páez's second administration (1839–43), an opposition led by Antonio Leocadio Guzmán coalesced in the Liberal Party (1840). | 3 |
| |
| 1846–58 |
| |
| The era of the Liberal Oligarchy was inaugurated by the election of Gen. José Tadeo Monagas (1784–1868), an eastern caudillo with liberal sympathies. Monagas's brother José Gregorio Monagas succeeded him as president (1851–55), and José Tadeo governed for a second term (1855–58). In March 1854, Monagas abolished slavery. The constitution of 1857 centralized power, which unleashed a general civil war. | 4 |
| |
| 1859–63 |
| |
| The Federal Wars. Aside from the conflict between conservatives and liberals, popular groups fought against rural repression and confiscations of their properties. Government troops defeated federalist forces at Coplé (Feb. 17, 1860), which led to the Páez dictatorship (1861–63). Conservatives lost the war and signed the Treaty of Coche (April 24, 1863); Páez went into exile. Liberal leader Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1829–99) was recognized as national caudillo. | 5 |
| |
| 1863–68 |
| |
| Liberal general Juan C. Falcón became president. The constitution of 1864 gave states substantial autonomy and granted suffrage to literate males. | 6 |
| |
| 1868–90 |
| |
| Era of Gen. Antonio Guzmán Blanco. Backed by a liberal alliance, he was able to control Venezuelan politics for 20 years as provisional and constitutional president (1870–77, 1879–84, and 1886–88), and through his allies Gen. Francisco Linares Alcántara (1877–79) and Gen. Joaquín Crespo (1884–86). Guzmán Blanco was committed to modernization of the military and communications. Venezuelan foreign debt increased tremendously. In 1870, he decreed free and compulsory primary education and reduced the influence of the Catholic Church. His dictatorial government and personality cult prompted resistance, which Guzmán Blanco suppressed. The first official census of Venezuela registered 1,784,194 inhabitants. | 7 |
| In 1879, Guzmán Blanco was proclaimed supreme director of the Republic and governed for a second term. During his third administration, resistance to his rule escalated. In 1888 he fled Venezuela. | 8 |
| |
| 1888–90 |
| |
| Administration of Dr. Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl, only the second civilian president in a 50-year period. | 9 |
| |
| 1890–92 |
| |
| Administration of Dr. Raimundo Andueza Palacios, who tried to reform the constitution to expand his presidential term. Legalist revolution forced Andueza to abandon power. | 10 |
| Landless workers migrated to the mountains in search of plots to cultivate, and the Andean region became Venezuela's leading coffee zone. Relations with Britain became strained because of its occupation of Guyana by force. | 11 |
| |
| 1892–97 |
| |
| Second administration of Gen. Joaquín Crespo. In 1895, economic crisis paralyzed the economy; workers and artisans protested unemployment. Due to U.S. opposition to British expansionism, Venezuela retained control of the Orinoco region in a boundary dispute (1896). | 12 |
| |
| 1898–99 |
| |
| Administration of Gen. Ignacio Andrade. Gen. Cipriano Castro (1858–1924) forced Andrade to relinquish the presidency. | 13 |
| |
| 1899–1908 |
| |
| Dictatorship of Gen. Cipriano Castro. | 14 |
| |
| |
