Few men in recent and contemporary Latin American political life can be said to have exerted an enduring impact upon their country. One of these few is Venezuela’s Rómulo Betancourt, whose personal career over more than a quarter-century has m a sense represented the political history of his nation writ large. From leadership of anti-Gómez student demonstrations in 1928 to his present posture as senior statesman and party leader, this man has played a role of inordinate importance in Venezuela’s transformation from a backward country of colonial mentality and praetorian politics to its present economic vigor and broadened social consciousness. Even fierce opponents must concede the exceptional breadth and magnitude of the man and his contributions. Furthermore, students and scholars are deeply indebted for his life-long effort to record and document the political life of Venezuela.
Betancourt can be regarded as a national political leader and party organizer with an avocation for writing. His monumental Venezuela, política y petróleo (1957) is required reading for an understanding of the country’s political and social life; recently it has been republished with an updating epilogue, and in 1969 an inexpensive paperback edition assured it wider popular circulation. Through the years Betancourt has meticulously preserved his private and official papers, aware of their importance to his place in history but more important, as basic sources of information for those who would study his era. During the 1959-1964 administration he supervised the collection and publication of presidential papers in Dos años de gobierno democrático (1961) and in Tres años de gobierno democrático (1962). The present four-volume compendium includes these documents as well as similar ones covering the remainder of his presidential period.
These papers represent all his public speeches, declarations, and proclamations while in office, ranging in importance from statements accompanying the delivery of land titles to campesinos and dedications of public works to major national addresses and messages to Congress. Included are dramatic speeches on such occasions as the Trujillo-inspired assassination attempt and responses to the provocations of both rightist uprisings and Castro-inspired urban terror. There are innumerable reports on such policy matters as economic diversification, the progress of agrarian reform, and the extension of education to the masses; and all of these provide a rich lode for students of this period in Venezuelan history. The fourth volume concludes with his despedida of April 9, 1964, as the ex-president departed his country for an extended period of self-imposed exile.
In recent years Betancourt has traveled widely, although living mostly in Naples or Berne. Fatigued by five years in office during a period of hypertension, he sought respite from daily political pressures to which he would have been subjected had he remained in Venezuela. Moreover, his absence gave his successor, Raúl Leoni, more freedom to formulate his own administration and policies. Not until early 1968 did Betancourt return home, in response to a crisis within his party, Acción Democrática (AD). He also returned in the fall of that year to campaign for his party’s presidential nominee, Gonzalo Barrios. On the latter occasion this reviewer spoke at length with Betancourt, who described his life and activities in Europe. Studying, reading, and writing steadily, he had reviewed and reorganized his papers, had written Hacia América Latina democrática e integrada (1967), and was preparing other works, including an analysis of Caribbean tensions and the impact of the Cuban Revolution.
As this is written, he is about to return to Venezuela permanently, a decision which has aroused wide speculation about possible future political involvement. It may well be that the story of Rómulo Betancourt has future chapters yet to unfold. Be that as it may, his place in Venezuelan history is assured, and the present collection will provide basic material of fundamental significance for all who would understand contemporary Venezuela.
