Eleazar López Contreras

Eleazar López Contreras

Eleazar López Contreras (born May 5, 1883 in Queniquea, Táchira , † January 2, 1973 in Caracas ) was a politician and officer and from 1935 to 1941 President of Venezuela .

First as the provisional successor to the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, who died on December 17, 1935, and as elected president from April 19, 1936, he initiated the transformation of the country into a democracy .

Early years and career

His parents were Colonel Manuel María López Trejo and Catalina Contreras. After finishing school, he moved to Mérida at the age of 15 to study medicine at the Universidad de los Andes .

On May 25, 1899, however, he joined Cipriano Castro (and " his 60 "), who wants to overthrow Ignacio Andrade in a " Revolución Liberal Restauradora " ( Restoring, Liberal Revolution ) or " Revolución Azul " ( Blue Revolution ) . This finally succeeded and on October 22, 1899 Castro triumphantly entered Caracas.

Unlike other military men of the time, he was a career officer. In a steady rise he became head of a military delegation in Peru on October 28, 1924, major in 1930 and Minister of War and the Navy on April 22, 1931.

Presidency

After Gómez's death on December 17, 1935, López Contreras was appointed interim president until April 19, 1936. He was then appointed President by Congress for the period 1936–1943.

One of his first measures was the reduction of the presidency (including his own) from seven to five years and the ban on direct re-election of the president (in the next period).

At the beginning of his term in office, people on the street demanded the end of Gomez's "inheritance". In order to prevent an impending civil war, López Contreras implemented a series of reforms, such as the promulgation of a new constitution, a modern labor law and the February program (all in 1936).

The latter and a three-year plan enacted in 1938 promoted economic and social progress. Institutions such as the National Pedagogical Institute , the National Labor Office , an Agriculture and Communication Ministry, a Venezuelan Children's Council and finally the National Bank were established in 1940.

To settle border disputes, a treaty was signed with Colombia on April 5, 1941 , in which Venezuela loses 108,000 km² of its territory.

On May 5 of the same year he handed over his office to Isaías Medina Angarita .

Last years

After the coup against his successor on October 18, 1945, he was arrested, tried and finally expelled from the country. He settled in Colombia and later the USA , where he wrote a book, " El Triunfo de la Verdad " ( The Triumph of Truth ), in which he defended his government work.

In 1959 he returned from exile and lived, withdrawn from politics, in Caracas, where he died on January 2, 1973.

Footnotes

1. ↑ This he announced in the first radio address the President was heard across the country.
2. ↑ Especially students and the new political parties whose leaders have just been released from prison
3. ↑ There were also minor (suppressed) uprisings in 1928 and 1929.

Web links

• Biography (spanish)
• Government information (Spanish)