Rómulo Betancourt

Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello ( born February 22, 1908 in Guatire, Venezuela; † 28 September 1981 New York, NY) was from 1945 to 1948 and from 1959 to 1964 President of Venezuela. He co-founded and for decades Chairman of the then largest party Acción Democrática of Venezuela (AD).

First term of office ( Trienio )

Betancourt's first presidency is defined as the Trienio: means ( German period of three years ), as they took three years. After a supported by the Communists, the AD and liberal military coup Venezuela was ruled for three years democratically until in 1948 a dictatorship was established. During this time the AD was the only base and mass party and dominated the political landscape; so she won as the congressional elections of 1947, 71 % of the vote.

Second Term

After the fall of dictator Jiménez and two transitional President Betancourt was re-elected in 1958 and sworn in the following year. Even before taking office, but shaped by it is considerably influenced the Venezuelan history from 1958 to 1998 made ​​a pact democracy: In April 1958, the Avenimiento Obrero - Patronal, on 31 October, the Punto Fijo - Agreement, in December, the Programa de Gobierno Mínimo. 1960 survived Betancourt just under a dictator from the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, angestiftetes assassination.