Word: betancourts
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...five years in office, Romulo Betancourt proved that democracy could work in Venezuela. He tamed the military, subdued the Communists, won the confidence of business, and embarked on a successful program of social and economic reform. This week, as Venezuela's first president in 134 years to complete his term, Betancourt will turn over the red, blue and yellow sash of office to a freely elected successor: Raul Leoni, 57, a member of his own Acción Democrática Party. Yet Leoni has lost his first political battle before he even begins, and Venezuela seems headed...
...overthrow the democratic government of Venezuela through terrorism, sabotage, assault and guerrilla warfare." Venezuela's documented evidence included a three-ton cache of smuggled Cuban arms and a fantastic battle plan for the capture of Caracas by Castro-directed local Communists. Later, Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt summoned the ambassadors of England, Spain and France and warned them to choose between trade with Cuba-about $100 million as presently proposed-and trade with Venezuela, worth some $400 million annually. Betancourt also threatened to expropriate Venezuela's Shell Oil Co., owned jointly by British and Dutch interests...
...Venezuela's powerful President Rómulo Betancourt, one of the U.S.'s finest friends, steps out of power this year. He will be replaced by Raúl Leoni, who was elected last fall despite vicious terrorist tactics of Castro Communists. Venezuela is one of Latin America's most progressive democratic countries, but the U.S. is worried that Leoni may prove to be not so strong as Betancourt...
Will of the Majority. Last February, 400 officers stood on the Maiquetia airport tarmac to see Betancourt off on a trip to visit President Kennedy in Washington. Ignoring protocol, Betancourt shook hands with one and all. On his return, he told 1,200 officers all about the trip. Last month, when Castroite terrorists tried to wreck the presidential election, Defense Minister General Antonio Briceño Linares went on radio and TV with an election-eve speech: "There will be no disorder, there will be no civil war. Only the will of the majority of Venezuelans will exist...
President-elect Leoni lacks Betancourt's fiery personal appeal, but he is an old and shrewd politician who should know a successful campaign when he sees one. He starts out with promises of loyalty from a younger, better educated, more politically sophisticated and more professional army. Whether he keeps the loyalty depends on his success as President. In the old golpista tradition, many officers still consider it their duty, as ultimate guardians of their country, to remove a President who fails...