• Published by Scholarly Resources, Inc.

When Rómulo Betancourt died in 1981, it marked the end of a tumultuous and highly controversial career in Latin American politics. He was one of Venezuela's most important political figures of all time-arguably more important than Simon Bolivar. Periods of exile brought Betancourt into contact with various Latin American countries as well as the United States, securing his legacy as one of the few truly international leaders to emerge in twentieth-century Latin America.

Rómulo Betancourt, "the father of Venezuelan democracy," was twice president of Venezuela-from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964. His turbulent career began when, as a young man, he founded and led a number of radical student groups. He evolved considerably from his early years of leftist leanings and in the early 1930s while in Costa Rica he helped organize the country's communist party. In 1935, he founded the Organización Venezolana, which later became the party Acción Democrática (AD).

Placed in his first term as president by a military coup, Betancourt accomplished an impressive agenda, including the declaration of universal suffrage and the institution of social reforms. In addition, he secured for Venezuela half of the profits generated by oil companies.

In 1948, Marcos Pérez Jiménez overthrew the constitutionally elected president Rómulo Gallegos, and Betancourt was forced into exile. He spent this time in New York where he worked tirelessly, determined to expose to the entire world the political crises and dictatorships plaguing Venezuela. He returned a decade later, after Pérez Jiménez was ousted, and was elected president for the second time. Betancourt faced determined opposition from extremists and rebellious army units, yet he continued to push for economic and educational reform. In 1973, Betancourt was awarded a lifetime seat in Venezuela's senate. This new microfilm collection is comprised of Rómulo Betancourt's personal papers. The material included dates from 1917 to 1981, and contains correspondence, official documents, and news clippings.

The Papers of Rómulo Betancourt are essential to understanding Venezuela's political history. The material in this collection presents the depth and range of documentation essential for understanding the basis of Venezuela's democratic heritage, their struggle to move from dictatorships to institutionalized political parties, and the democratic reforms advocated and enacted by them. This archive contains substantial documentation concerning the radicalization of student movements in the early 1960s, a tendency opposed by Betancourt although in his youth he engaged in such activities. Nationalization of the petroleum industry in 1975, a measure supported by Betancourt, is one of several topics reflective of the Venezuelan policy of economic nationalism as a development strategy. This activist economic agenda included the construction of Ciudad Guayana.

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• Product number: D3727
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