World
Institutional
links
Welcome back on
26 -29 August,
ONS 2008
Bridging
the energy gap
is ONS 2006 theme,
from 22-25 August,
in Stavanger, Norway
Petroleumworld
Business
Partners:
Centre for
Global Energy
Studies
  |
|
Editorial Commentary
VenEconomy:
Lessons in democracy
There were two outstanding figures in Venezuela during the 20th century who molded, for good or ill, what was to happen to Venezuelans. Two men who, traveling different routes, left future generations the legacy of the value of freedom and democracy.
The first, paradoxically, was Juan Vicente Gómez, a cruel ruler who dominated Venezuela’s destiny for 27 years in the country’s longest dictatorship. Historians acknowledge that this dictator promoted the development of the national oil industry, unified the country, created a national army, and founded the MilitaryAcademy as the basis for building up the national armed forces, so putting an end to the system of personal armies control by regional caudillos.
But his most valuable legacy is that he taught several generations of Venezuelans, through the stories handed down by their forebears, what should not be done in the country: persecution of ideas, castration of liberties, and the indefinite rule of a single man.
The second outstanding figure of the 20th century was Don Rómulo Betancourt, a converted communist who achieved his first term in office as a result of a coup d’état and subsequently became one of the most renowned democrats not only of Venezuela but of the entire continent. This February is the centenary of Betancourt’s birth and is the fiftieth anniversary of his second term in office, when he reestablished democracy in the country.
After the student rising of 1928, Betancourt became an avant-guard defender of people’s and social rights, a seeker of social justice, a defender of citizen freedoms, and a promoter of democratic values.
During his first term in office, despite having achieved this position of power as a result of a coup d’état against Isaías Medina Angarita, Betancourt established direct, universal suffrage for the first time in the country, which gave women, young people, and the illiterate the right to vote.
Yet it was years later, in 1959, when he assumed the presidency for the second time, this time as a result of free elections. After the long dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Don Rómulo had learned the lessons of past mistakes.
It was during this period of his life that his most important legacies to future generations were consolidated. Among them, the establishment of a party coalition that made it possible to govern the country, outlining the bases of a plural democracy, and organizing the resistance to ward off the phantom of Fidel Castro’s communism from the frontiers of Venezuela and Latin America. On the social front, he raised the quality of education and made it available to the masses and modernized the health system.
During his mandate, he promulgated the 1961 Constitution, one of the most modern in the continent. He generated a climate that favored the emergence of political parties and, with them, the acknowledgement and acceptance of democratic dissent; he also made way for alternation in power. He intelligently he allowed the emergence of new political leaders.
While his party, Acción Democrática, was extending its presence throughout the country, taking root in the common man was the spirit of freedom and democracy that today still exists in every Venezuelan, even though they do not know the man who was Rómulo Betancourt and his work.
VenEconomy is a Venezuela's leading specialized publisher in the economic and financial area. VenEconomy's Points of View on the issues of the day, as seen by VenEconomy during the last week. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.
Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by VenEconomy, on 02/22/2007. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers.
Editor's Note: All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld. All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld.
Fair use Notice: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of environmental and humanitarian significance. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
All works published by Petroleumworld are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Petroleumworld has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Petroleumworld endorsed or sponsored by the originator.
Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast Petroleumworld articles provided that any such reproduction identify the original source, http://www.petroleumworld.com or else and it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated
Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments: editor@petroleumworld.com. By using this link, you agree to allow E&P to publish your comments on our letters page.
Petroleumworld News 02/2408
Copyright© 2008 VenEconomy . All rights reserved.
Send this story to a friend
Your feedback is important to us!
Readers' comments: share your thoughts on this article.
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.comBest Viewed with IE 5.01+
Windows NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels