Marcos Pérez Jiménez

Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1952

Marcos Pérez Jiménez (born April 25, 1914 in Michelena, Táchira , Venezuela , † September 20, 2001 in Madrid , Spain ) was division general , politician and the 42nd President of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958 .

During his tenure, many investments were made, especially in the infrastructure and oil industry. But Pérez Jiménez was also a cruel dictator who ran many torture centers . In 1958 he went into exile in the USA, but was extradited to Venezuela in August 1963. After serving a five-year prison sentence, he settled in Madrid in 1968.

Life

Born in Michelena, Táchira, the son of a farmer and a teacher, Pérez Jiménez went to school in his hometown and in Colombia . He then attended the Venezuelan Military Academy , which he graduated top of the class in 1934, before attending various military schools in Peru .

In 1945 he took part in a coup in which the "democratic" government Rómulo Gallegos ( Acción Democrática ) was able to take power, and became Minister of Defense. In 1948 he led a second coup to drive Gallegos out of office. From 1948 to 1952 the country was ruled by a military junta (including Pérez Jiménez and Germán Suárez Flamerich ) under Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Delgado Chalbaud . When Delgado Chalbaud was assassinated on November 13, 1950, Suárez Flamerich became interim president, while Pérez Jiménez remained the real strong man.

In 1952 the junta held elections. However, when the opposition began to win, the election was declared invalid and Pérez Jiménez was proclaimed president.

Pérez Jiménez changed the country name from the United States of Venezuela (since 1864) to the Republic of Venezuela . In 1999 the Constituent Assembly changed the name again. It is now the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , original: República Bolivariana de Venezuela .

During his tenure, many public investments were carried out, such as the construction of the motorway from Caracas to La Guaira , the Simón Bolívar center and the iron and steel works on the Orinoco .

Like most dictators, Pérez Jiménez let the opposition and critical voices in the population ruthlessly suppress and persecute. Parties and unions were dissolved. Jiménez was so effective in persecuting communists that he was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal by Eisenhower . The Seguridad Nacional (SN) secret police murdered several politicians, including the social democrat Leonardo Ruiz Pineda .

Pérez Jiménez won a popular election in December 1957 with a large majority, although the result can be questioned. In January 1958 riots broke out in Venezuela, which finally persuaded Pérez Jiménez to flee to the USA . In 1963 he was extradited by the United States to the Venezuelan judiciary, which charged him with corruption and theft of $ 200 million during his reign. He was released after five years in prison. In 1968 he went into exile in Spain .

In exile, Pérez Jiménez had a relationship with Marita Lorenz , a former lover of Fidel Castro . Pérez Jiménez was in contact with Carlos Marcello and Meyer Lansky . Marita Lorenz has a daughter with him, Monica. After his death, Pérez Marita bequeathed US $ 5 million, which the CIA is said to have withheld.

When Hugo Chávez was elected in 1998, he invited Marcos Pérez Jiménez to the festivities for his inauguration, but Pérez Jiménez did not accept the invitation because of numerous protests in Venezuela. He died in Madrid at the age of 87 .

Its supporters, organized in the Cruzada Cívica Nacionalista (CCN), clung to the nationalist ideas of perezjimenismo for a long time .

Awards (selection)

• 1953: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
• 1954: Special level of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1956: Collane of the Order de Isabel la Católica

Web links

Commons : Marcos Pérez Jiménez  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• biography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Marcos Pérez Jiménez, ex dictador venezolano exiliado en España , in: El País , September 21, 2001.