Ranchitos IV — Early 20th Century

We have seen, necessarily at 20,000 feet, the encomienda and hacienda systems, the latter of which continued through the decades of revolutionary wars and the chaotic period leading up to the end of the 19th century.

If a land can experience déjà vu, then vast swathes of Venezuela certainly must have, as periods of turmoil and unrest were not unknown to her pre-Columbian history.

Scholars suggest that a major reason that advanced Indian civilizations such as the Aztec in Mexico, the Inca in Peru, and the Maya in Central America, did not materialize in Venezuela was the acute instability caused by the ferocious Caribs. They were a terror to extended areas of Venezuela, from the eastern foothills of the Andes, across the interminable llanos and hills, all the way to the Atlantic. 

When the Spanish began their civilizing work there, they encountered a “backward” region unlike their experiences in other colonial regions. 

There had been no opportunity for the Indians to settle anywhere and to develop into any semblance of a stable living arrangement. The Caribs themselves were totally anarchistic except when, for larger enterprises, they’d submit themselves to a chief; but that was always a temporary arrangement. As soon as the battle, expedition, or raid was over, off they’d go again on their own and with their own groups. They themselves left no permanent civilization, nor would they permit anyone else to do so.

It is no wonder that, in Venezuela, the Piranha (or Piraña) is known as Caribe, from Carib, who also gave the sea its name: Caribbean Sea (Mar Caribe, in Spanish). Their depredations in the pre-Columbian Caribbean are legendary. For more on the Caribe, see here.

Fast forward several centuries and, in the 19th century a terrible period of bloodletting and turmoil again wracked the country. Only this time it was not the Caribs, either in their human or fish incarnations. It was rather men inflamed by the siren call of egalitarian ideology, the same ideology that had left the land of France soaked in blood and its revolutionaries devouring one another.

It is a wonder that, throughout all the savage turmoil of the 19th century, the concept of land ownership still held sway. There had been confiscations of land from landowners who were deemed too pro-Spain, but overall, it was recognized that a confiscation, in effect, transferred legal title from one private party to another, whose right would be respected.

The Andinos — 1899-1958

Andinos are men who were cradled by the Andes Mountains in western Venezuela.

At the threshold of the 20th century, Cipriano Castro and his army occupied Caracas and took over the reins of government. He was the first of the Andinos and ruled from 1899 to 1909.

The beginning of the Andinos’ 59-year incumbency was inauspicious. Castro was as tyrannical and arbitrary as the man he deposed, Joaquín Crespo, who had managed to provoke England, resulting in a deeply resented arbitration decision by United States President Grover Cleveland. However, Castro managed to surpass his predecessor’s chutzpah by telling foreign businessmen who had suffered great losses due to domestic bedlam, in effect, to go pound sand.

This cavalier attitude was an open invitation for intervention by foreign powers who readily obliged by imposing a British-German-Italian naval blockade. And, for good measure, the Dutch attacked what little Venezuelan navy floated on the pond. This, in addition to internal revolts may have had a deleterious effect on Castro’s health and he travelled to Europe for treatment, from where he heard that his war minister, Juan Vicente Gómez, had taken power.

Juan Vicente Gómez — 1908-1935

And now we come to the second Andino, Juan Vicente Gómez, one of the most successful presidencies in Venezuelan history. We have touched on Gómez here and here.

He immediately removed the impasse with foreign governments through arbitration or, simply, contract fulfillment. By the end of 1909, Venezuela’s relations with the United States, France, Holland, and Colombia had been reestablished and her other external relations had been substantially normalized.

This is a series on ranchitos, however, we must pause briefly to look at the Gómez years and offer a perspective that is not usually found in the standard histories and Wikipedia entries.

The problem with Gómez was that he was not “democratically elected”, nor was he a communist or socialist. For more recent history, compare the opprobrium hurled at, say, Augusto Pinochet, to the press treatment of Fidel Castro during each respective rule. To further intensify the contrast, compare the reporting of the Chile miracle recovery under Pinochet to the reporting of the Cuban disaster under Castro, where “everybody had free healthcare and education.” If Pinochet had declared himself to be a Marxist Communist, he would have received better press.

In the case of Gómez, here is an extract from the Encyclopedia Brittanica entry:

“Political order attracted foreign petroleum investors….By 1928, Venezuela had become the world’s leading exporter of oil, and was second only to the United States in oil production. The oil industry brought the nation such benefits as high-paying jobs, subsidies to agriculture, expanded government revenues, and increased trade. The government oversaw construction of road networks, railroads, and port facilities. It also paid off the entire foreign debt and drastically reduced the large domestic debt. Yet the oil prosperity was unevenly distributed; most Venezuelans continued to live in poverty, and their health, housing, and education needs were ignored by the state. Meanwhile, Gómez and the top bureaucrats and army officers enriched themselves. The dictator became the nation’s wealthiest citizen, retaining power until his death, from natural causes, in 1935.”

John Guenther, the author of the “Inside” series published in the first half of the 20th century, based on his personal sources, said that Gómez tortured and killed his adversaries and treated Venezuela as his personal hacienda.

But, as usual, there is more to the story.

Gómez’s logo was Unión, Paz, y Trabajo (Unity, Peace, and Jobs). What he shrewdly captured in that logo was the longing of a people tired of senseless upheavals and desirous of the opportunity to raise their homes and businesses and rear their families unmolested by a tyrannical and arbitrary state. General Gómez determined to give them that. 

A massive road network was planned and built, permitting, for the first time in her history, the communication, development, and sense of unity amongst the various extended regions of the country, which, until then, were totally isolated. The network included over 8,000 kilometers of paved highways, multiple bridges of engineering marvel, the expansion of ports and the construction of airports.

His cabinet and ministers included eminent men of that era, such as Dr. Santos Dominici, a brilliant medical pioneer who represented Venezuela in Germany, England, and the United States. Eleazar López Contreras, a military scholar and future president, and Rubén González Cárdenas, a educador whose reforms greatly improved the curricula in the Venezuelan school system, especially in the areas of history, geography, and civic duty. Countless elementary, high schools, and academies were founded and student participation increased from 25,000 in 1909 to 150,000 by 1934. 

The confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church was eased, allowing numerous previously expelled congregations to return. Great personal security, such as was not seen in Venezuela since before the revolutionary wars, returned along with a widespread respect for private property (propiedad ajena). 

Recognizing that Venezuela was rich in minerals but poor in technical expertise, the president negotiated concessions with foreign enterprises, bringing massive investments into the country. By the end of 1928, Venezuela had become the world’s second producer and the first exporter of petroleum. 

Health was aggressively addressed, especially the high incidence of malaria in Venezuela (for more on malaria in Venezuela, see here). The National Health Office and Institute of Hygiene and Chemistry, Bacteriology, and Parasitology Laboratories opened in 1911 and a National Health Act was promulgated in 1912. During the 1920’s quinine was freely distributed in some regions.

Much more was done in social, economic, political, and cultural spheres, but enough has been mentioned to cast a bit of doubt on typical aspersions such as “[Venezuelan’s] needs were ignored by the state….” The stability of the early 20th century allowed growth, development, and general well-being in a country that had not seen such in well over a century. Even infant morality decreased.

In my childhood, I remember hearing a refrain, “Juan Vicente Gómez was the father of modern Venezuela.” That was en era uninhibited by today’s political correctness.

Eleazar López Contreras — 1935-1941

Already mentioned above as a member of the Gómez cabinet, he believed Venezuela, after decades of peace and prosperity, was ready for more political “activity” and also removed labor organizing restrictions. He modeled democratic transition by peacefully allowing himself to be succeeded by:

Isaias Medina Angarita — 1941-1945

Allowed more political activities and also granted new oil concessions, furthering another “petroleum boom.” However, the now more active politicians deposed him and took power, the first time a political party, AcciónDemocrática (Democratic Action) takes power in Venezuela. Rómulo Betancourt, a future president, leads a civilian-military junta. 

Acción Democrática aggressively launches “reform” programs, including tax decrees and “land reform”. This provoked the more conservative and cooler heads to depose the junta.

Carlos Delgado Chalbaud — 1948-1951

A quiet man, he was assassinated by a personal opponent who in turn was also killed.

Marcos Pérez Jiménez — 1951-1958 (the last of the Andinos prior to democratic rule)

In the next post, we will conclude our review of the The Andinos and look at the transfer of power to Acción Democrática and Rómulo Betancourt, coinciding with the growth of ranchitos

Cipriano Castro, the first of the Andinos, in power 1899-1908. He died in exile in 1924
U.S. Newspaper reporting on the death of Juan Vicente Gómez in 1935.
The Piranha (or Piraña). Also known as Caribe in Venezuela.
Their ancestors in effect terrorized the islands of the Caribbean Sea and, earlier, Venezuela. Their acts included murder, rape, torture, and cannibalism.

Apple Foot: A Road Trip to Mérida

In the late 1960’s, during a summer trip back home to Venezuela, we took a road trip to the state of Mérida in western Venezuela. Mérida is in the giant cordillera of the Andes, the longest mountain range in the world; it is the principal physical feature of the continent as a whole. Lest I be accused of bias, let’s see what a non-South American had to say about these hills: 

“Stretching in an uninterrupted granite flow for forty-five hundred miles from the Caribbean to Cape Horn, the Andes are the most stupendous mountains in the whole world; nothing can rival their solid and continuous immensity. There are many single peaks in the Himalayas that are higher, but the Andes include no fewer than forty-nine over twenty thousand feet, much higher than anything in the continental United States, Switzerland, or the Caucasus. Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and nine other giants are at least a mile higher than Mont Blanc or Mount Whitney.”

On the frontier between Argentina and Chile, more than twenty peaks rise over 20,400 feet and thus surpass Mt. McKinley in Alaska. Pico Bolivar, the highest in Venezuela at 16,300 feet is about 2,000 feet higher than Mt. Whitney and 4,000 feet shorter than Mt. McKinley.

One cannot help but be amazed when reading about Simón Bolivar’s crossing the Andes, surprising and beating the Spanish in Boyacá. But one is astounded when reading about José de San Martín (1778-1850), a major hero, only, unlike Bolivar, not tempestuous nor spectacular. An Argentinian Creole (Spanish, but born in the colonies) he trained a crack force, a small army of Chileans and Argentinians and led one of the most phenomenal campaigns in history. 

He, two years before Bolivar, crossed the Andes, in his case from Argentina to Chile. The crossing was initiated on January 18, 1817 and it was rapid: just a few weeks to cover 300 miles of incredibly steep mountain trails. He led his men “through defiles, chasms, and passes that were often 10,000 to 12,000 feet high.” He became known as “The Hannibal of the Andes.” Simón Bolivar crossed the Andes in a like feat two years later, in 1819. Both crossings were decisive in the ultimate fate of South America. 

The contrast between both crossings is instructive in considering the very real differences between the two. San Martín planned the crossing with great discipline and strategy. Bolivar deceived his men to get them to the foothills and many deserted then, but the sheer force of his personality was sufficient to compel many others to remain with him for the crossing. In both cases, the crossing was met with military success.  But it illustrated the chaos of Bolivar versus the order and discipline of San Martín, thereby foreshadowing the results of their conference in Guayaquil in 1822 when San Martín in effect stepped aside and allowed Bolivar to come to Perú with no competition. Impetuosity triumphed and determined in large measure the course of South American history.

The Venezuelan city of Mérida is beautifully situated in an Andean valley and is home to the second oldest university in Venezuela, the University of the Andes (Universidad de Los Andes), established in 1810. 

About 10 miles from the city center sits the majestic Pico Bolivar (Bolivar Peak), the tallest peak in Venezuela, one of many within the Sierra Nevada de Mérida which runs about 200 miles Southeast-Northwest, part of the northern extent of the Andes Mountains.

Mérida is home to the highest and second longest cable car in the world (1,600 feet shorter than the Tatev in Armenia). However, it is unsurpassed in combining such height and length. The journey is just shy of eight miles, reaching a height of 15,600 feet: a one-of-a-kind engineering marvel with over 40 years of history. It was conceived and built in the 1950’s under Pérez Jimenez and reached the end of its useful life in 2006 when it was closed. However, it was rebuilt and service was resumed in 2016.

But what impressed me the most from that trip were the roads. The exciting, thrilling, dangerous, crazy roads. 

Many of these, including the Carretera Transandina were built during the military government of Juan Vicente Gómez. General Gómez provided badly needed leadership and enrichment to the country, principally through  concessions granted to American companies. Many of these concessions were in remote and dangerous sites in far west Venezuela, on which also roamed unconquered Motilone Indians whose expertise included great accuracy with poisoned arrows. So, while Americans were foxtrotting to the “Roaring Twenties, western Venezuelans were waltzing away from poisoned arrows. 

Venezuelan infrastructure, much of which exists today, was built. Cattle paths became paved highways; wooden structures became skyscrapers, only surpassed by the public works fomented by yet another dictator in the 1950’s. And all foreign debt was paid. By the end of his rule, the Caracas-La Guira; Caracas-Colombia; Caracas-Soledad (on the Orinoco River) and a network of many other highways had been built. This contributed powerfully to national integration and to reaching heretofore terribly isolated regions of the country.

Even his enemies, and they are legion, admit that the Gómez years were characterized by peace and unprecedented progress. He was a great admirer of Simón Bolivar and built most of the monuments to his honor, including the one in New York City. To the consternation of his enemies, he died the very same calendar day, December 17, of Bolivar’s death, but 105 years later.

We will be reviewing more about Gómez in future posts.

The roads are what I most remember from that trip and my understanding that they were built with prison labor.

I also recall stopping at a small restaurant at the edge of a cliff and my father reading over the menu. Suddenly he laughs, “Look at this. It says ‘Pie de Manzana’.” 

We all joined him in laughter. In some countries the anglicized translation and pronunciation for apple pie is accepted (pie de manzana). But not in Venezuela, at least not back then. The translation would be “pastel de manzana.” The Spanish word pie (pronounced pyeh) means “foot”, not pie.

 We then went back to seeing what the menu had for lunch, when my father breaks out in louder, infectious laughter. The menu had an English page and for dessert, it said, “Apple Foot.” 

We all laughed heartily.

I don’t recall seeing any more such menu items during my life in Venezuela, but years later I did see some menu items an Englishman read in Ecuador:

Hays Krimm (ice cream)Airistiu (Irish stew)Wide Navel Wisky (White Label Whiskey)

Apple Foot is my favorite.

The crossing of the Andes can be recreated for those with a more adventurous bent. Explorers Passage offers “world class guides” who are “the pioneers of trekking along San Martín’s infamous route.” Unlike San Martín, for “nights off the trail” you can relax in comfort and luxury in premium accommodations.
José de San Martín, circa 1848, two years before his death. Photo taken in France. After his explosive meeting with Bolivar, San Martín exiled himself to Europe where he lived the rest of his life. Unlike Bolivar, he was modest and disinterested. He was a devoted husband. When his wife, Doña Remedios, died he had the words, “Wife and Friend” chiseled on her tombstone. She embroidered a flag for him when he set out for Chile across the Andes. The flag never left his side.
Artist rendition of the meeting between Bolivar and San Martín in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The meeting actually took place in an office, not outdoors. Little is known of what was actually said. But San Martín was disappointed and shortly thereafter resigned his command, returned to Argentina, and sailed into exile to Europe. He never returned to Argentina.
City of Mérida, Venezuela. Pico Bolivar is about ten miles distant.
In 1935, Enrique Bourgoin and his guide, Domingo Peña, were the first to reach the peak of this, the highest mountain in Venezuela. Many previous attempts had failed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Above map shows the route they took.
View of Pico Bolivar within its range, the Sierra Nevada. 
Cable car which reaches to Pico Espejo, relatively close to Pico Bolivar.
I recall my mother telling me that many of the roads were built with prison labor.
Near Apartaderos, Mérida, one of the highest towns accessible by car on earth. Built during the military government of Juan Vicente Gómez, early 20th century.
Part of the Carretera Transandina built in the Gómez era.
Photo taken in 1925, shortly after the inauguration of the Transandina Highway.
The old Caracas – La Guaira Highway, also built during the Gómez era, inaugurated in 1924. This was still in use into the 1950’s. I recall excitedly looking forward to being driven to the airport during our annual family leave. 
Juan Vicente Gómez (1857-1935).