The Crisis of L L Yellow liberalism in Venezuela , Political period between the years 1870 and 1899, was characterized mainly by a total presidential hegemony of leaders of liberal ideology in contrast with the traditional conservative branch.
As in previous years and since 1830, the presidents were mostly military heroes of independence, associated with this or their children who sought to secure themselves as a new political elite in the midst of the crisis of the construction of a new nation .
Although they proclaimed the best of intentions and commitments to encourage the progress and development of the country, their actions did not follow precisely the guidelines of the law; Rather the will of the president, so they were mostly dictators.
The body of politicians, conservatives or liberals, was based on favoritism and oligarchic cronyism and convenient clientele relations, where the mechanism of suffrage-when it was exercised-had no representative sincerity in the common mass of the population.
It was also understood within the post-independence caudillismo era of Venezuela, where it was not possible to unify all the vast territory of the country under the leadership of a single central government, given the power and local influence that many self-proclaimed generals On their regions within the country.
The national crisis of yellow liberalism: instability of government and civil wars
The inability to sow the roots of a complete and integrated nation and the lack of identification with the new laws and institutions led to the final conflict between conservatives and liberals in 1858.
After many changes of power, failed elections, family hegemonies and local revolts, the two parties fail to restore government order. The conservatives wanted to continue their centralist government of oligarchs and the liberals opposed favoring a federal administration.
This war, called the federal war, lasted about 5 years and was the longest, most costly and bloody armed conflict in Venezuela's history only after its war of independence. Liberals had the support of several factions of peasants and mixed race people, aligned for the ideals of social equality.
The economic deterioration caused by the war and the civil deterioration forced both parties to sign a negotiated declaration of the victory"in paper"of the federalists, deciding to put Juan Crisóstomo Falcón in the presidency in 1863 in the Treaty of Coche.
But the country was still plunged into chaos and social discontent. The federalist government was confronted by the blue revolution in the 67 of a conservative nature that managed to get Falcón out of power and put José Ruperto Monagas.
The Guzmanato of the"Illustrious American"
In 1870, liberals invaded from Curacao with the aim of overthrowing the government of the Blues, securing much of the popular support by declaring themselves officially defenders of the federalist government of the Treaty of Coche.
Antonio Guzman Blanco, leader of the Liberal Party, was elected president and officially ruled 3 times in the next 20 years, but he always indirectly ensured that he was in power indirectly because of his influence.
Antonio Guzmán Blanco
During its administrations the city of Caracas was modernized, many buildings and monuments were built with European styles Parisian; Style to which Guzmán Blanco had a particular obsession to him. Many transport infrastructures were improved like roads, ports and the railway system is constructed.
Free and compulsory education is established, Bolivar is established as the nation's currency and the national anthem"Gloria al Bravo Pueblo"is born. It is possible to control or to minimize the dominion of the local caudillos thanks to the centralization of the power in the capital. This is why he is also called"The Great Caudillo".
In fact, Guzman Blanco had at his disposal the support of the leaders and the economic resources to maintain to his allies, due to the progress of the agriculture production as main economic activity, the export of products and successful foreign loans.
At the end of his 3rd term, Venezuela had public employment, modern laws, national symbols, a sense of belonging and an administration capable of expanding its control throughout the territory.
With Guzmán Blanco, Venezuela had its best attempt to establish a state at the national level after independence and where government affairs were followed by a promising peace course.
Causes of imminent decline
Despite the development and modernization of the country, under the surface the liberal government became dependent on Guzmán Blanco to control the system he had created: elitist, sectarian, intolerant and absolute; Excluding any other political trends.
He was a very learned man who knew the world on many trips, and ruled over an ignorant and uneducated people who knew how to intelligently keep in place. As a result, his administration's aspiration to establish a federation in Venezuela remained mere ideas.
The basic foundations of the Venezuelan oligarchy did not really change, everything was a promise in political propaganda. The spirit of the federal war as a racial conflict or social equality never counted beyond mere rhetorical debate among the country's political elites.
For the mass, considered inert, tired of the crisis, the so-called federalist liberal revolution was nothing more than a new change of officers in power in a violent way. After defeating the blue revolution, the liberal leaders shared power with their neighbors, and thus simply replaced one form of corruption with another.
After the 3 periods of Blanco, came a succession of leaders who could not maintain over time the strategies and achievements of his predecessor or the progression of reforms. They were previous caudillos allied to the federation that governed with the same sectarianism of always but without the same political intelligence.
The consolidation of the government at the civil level was a failure and there were again important uprisings that did not occur significantly with Blanco to power. Attempts at new constitutional reforms sparked riots throughout Venezuela.
A new revolution, the legalist, took power in 1892 under the presidency of Joaquín Crespo who managed to maintain a certain political and civil balance following Blanco's example. But for the next election in '98, there was a final conflict over allegations of fraud and electoral favoritism that divided the leadership into factions.
This period ends with the seizure of power by Cipriano Castro and Juan Vicente Gómez with his army and allies traveling from the area of Los Andes.
References
- Dixon Jeffrey, Starkees Meredith (2015). A guide to Intra-state Wars. SQ Press. Powered by Sage. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve/books.
- Evell Judith (1996). Venezuela and the United States: From Monroe's Hemisphere to Petroleum's Empire. University of Georgia Press. Retrieved from books.google.co.ve/books.
- Tarver D. Hollis M., Frederick Julia C. (2005). The History of Venezuela. Greenwood Publishing Group. Recuperated books.google.co.ve/books.
- Espinoza Pedro (2013). Summary of History of Venezuela Liberalismo Amarillo. Subjects of Prof. Pedro J Espinoza L. asignaturasdepedro.blogspot.com.
- Burton guy, Goertzel Ted (2016). Presidential Leadership in the Americas since Independence. Lexington Books. Retrieved books.google.co.ve.
- Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. (2007). Antonio Guzmán Blanco. The British Editors of Encyclopedia.
- Brainly (2013). Crisis of Yellow Liberalism.