Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-01-09

sues. The most striking, although
not the latest example of this po-
litico-military struggle for power
was the recent overthrow Of the
government Of President Romulo
Gallegos in Venezuela.
The Gallegos regime itself had
been made possible by q military
coup which ousted the government
of President Isaias Medina Anga-
rita In 1945. That revolt had been
organized by q group Of younger
officers, cooperating with, If not
directly influenced by, the Demo-
cratic Action Party headed by Rom
ulo Betancourt and others, includ-
ing Novelist and School Teacher
Gallegos.
For two-and-a-half years, Betan-
court, as Provisional President,
headed a junta composed of civilians
and army officers. During that time
his party expanded and was disci-
pinned until it became the dominant
political movement in every section
of the country. Finally, q consti-
tutional convention was called and q
new constitution written in 1947.
General elections were called for
December, 1947, with Gallegos as the
partys candidate for President. AL
though three other political organ
izations participated, including the
small Communist Party, Democratic
Action swept the country, receiving
approximately 80 per cent Of all
votes cast.
First Direct Vote
1t must be noted that this was the
first time in the history Of Venezuela
that the people had been able to
vote directly for President. Prior
to the 1947 elections, the President
of Venezuela had been selected by
the legislative body. Those elections
were probably unique in any Latin
American country. Under the new
constitution, the franchise was
granted to every Venezuelan, male
or female, literate or illiterate, over
the age of 10. The entire procedure
was an innovation in Latin Ameri-
can political history.
President Gallegos appointed a
cabinet from the Democratic Action
Party and one military man, 1t.
Col. Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, Min
lister of Defense. Col. Delgado, now
President of the three-man military
junta which supplanted the Gallegos
government, had been one Of the
group OF army officers who had
helped overthrow President Medina
in 1945.
Although Romulo Betancourt had
declared his intention to retire to
private life after Gallego's election
and return to his old profession OF
newspaper correspondent, he re-
NAMED the real boss of the Demo-
cratic Action Party and the power
behind the throne.
Party Members Armed
Army officers with whom I have
talked in Caracas say Betancourt
and his henchmen had been busy
arming party members. They
showed me hundreds Of rifles ano
several truckloads Of homemade
bombs and other military equip.
ment which they said had beer
discovered in party headquarters ir
the capital and nearby towns and
villages.
They added that the army had
been aware OF all this and saw ir
such action the plan Of the govern.
ment to destroy the army's power
Not only were the politicians armine
party members, the officers asserted
but they had tried to split the
military organization by setting
faction against faction within it
The dispute between the military
and the party came to a head when
President Gallegos climaxed a week
of mounting political tension by
abruptly suspending constitutional
guarantees and slapping an iron
censorship on the country. The
army leaders, suspecting that they
were nearing q Waterloo, demanded
an immediate showdown. The party
countered by q call for q general
strike which apparently had been
.aiua,&alxx x,lanxad In aduaxca Or.