Rómulo Betancourt is one of the most influential elder statesmen of the Latin American democratic left. His political career and ideas should thus be of interest to every student of modern Latin American history and politics. But these two volumes, unfortunately, add little to what we already know about Betancourt from his own works and the standard writings on him and his political movement.
Un hombre llamado Rómulo Betancourt: apreciaciones críticas sobre su vida y su obra consists primarily of a mélange of previously published articles, interviews and testimonials by Venezuelan and other hemispheric politicians and writers. It is not a serious analysis of the man or his ideas, despite the editor’s claim that his purpose was to provide an objective vision of the former president and his public thought. The “apreciaciones críticas” are not very critical. Indeed, the opinions voiced about Betancourt range from restrained admiration to fervent adoration. Omitted are both the opinions of his enemies on the political left and right and reassessments of Betancourt by Venezuelan politicians who fell out with him after having made these glowing testimonials.
Venezuela: dueña de su petróleo features Betancourt’s speech at the opening of the debate in the Venezuelan senate on the 1975 petroleum nationalization bill. In his lengthy remarks he reviews the development of the Venezuelan oil industry and oil policy, with particular praise for the policy of the two governments over which he presided. Despite occasional flourishes of nationalistic rhetoric, he avoids frontal attacks on the oil companies. He favors Carlos Andrés Pérez administration’s nationalization bill, including the article which permits the government to enter into association contracts with private oil firms—a measure that the leftist parties bitterly opposed. The book also contains a somewhat dated article on international oil developments that appeared originally in 1972, an article by two anonymous journalists which favorably summarizes the veteran politician’s contributions to the formulation of Venezuela’s nationalistic petroleum policy and the founding of OPEC, and an appendix.
