The President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, had commissioned his vice president to embark on a “Goodwill Tour” of South America. This was public and widespread knowledge and a highly anticipated visit by the continent’s governments as well as the great majority of “common citizens” of South America, as became clear after the dust had settled and cooler heads had had an opportunity to investigate and do some independent research and interviews in later years.
But in 1958, the message to foment agitation was very similar throughout the countries he visited: the Yankee Imperialist has hired puppet regimes in [fill-in-the-country] for long enough! It is imperative for the communist parties, on behalf of “the people”, to stop any inroads the United States might make into Latin America.
In the case of Venezuela, such propaganda was especially effective, having recently overthrown the Perez Jimenez government. The agitators added incredible tales of torture and unending horrors, tying the United States to such. They also took the credit for the overthrow of Jimenez (and, thereby, the simultaneous defeat of the Imperialist Giant from the North), although he was in fact deposed by a left-wing military coup. Nevertheless, and more importantly, as all successful agitators, they were effective propagandists and knew how to “personalize” whatever they identified as the obstacles to their objectives.
There was much opposition to their dream of a Venezuelan Communist utopia – whether the conservative elements within Venezuela itself, or the inherent desire of a majority of Venezuelans to live in peace, with a measure of liberty, or the generally anti-communist foreign policy of the United States, etc. But they easily personalized all of that, and more, in Richard Milhous Nixon.
Beginning with a trickle months before, and culminating in torrents of pamphlets, speeches, lectures, and harangues, the message was clear and consistent:
[To] send the “truculent” vice president of the United States to this land is an “imperialist abuse” and evidence of their intention to continue running Venezuela via puppet regimes. Richard Nixon is the one who most pushed for “sword diplomacy” against the countries of South America, installing and maintaining dictators who governed and tortured at the Yanqui’sbeck and call; whose strings were pulled directly from the Yanqui embassies in the capitals of South America.
Richard Nixon wants to increase his filthy, blood-soaked riches by taking control over all our natural resources and to do so he will order the imprisonment, torture, exile, and execution of all who oppose such self-serving policies. Etc.
Clearly such crassly personalized propaganda would not move the great majority of Venezuelans or South Americans. But the objective was not to move the majority; only the dedicated, combative, and disciplined minority. In this, it succeeded. Wildly.
Nixon’s plane landed shortly after 11AM on Tuesday, May 13th, 1958.
As he and his wife came to the door of the Air Force prop plane, they were met with the requisite dignitaries and the usual security apparatus.
However, all that was overwhelmed by the jeering, shouting, blowing whistles and horns, and clanging steel. As the Nixons, whose security detail was no more than 12 secret service officers, walked to their waiting limousine they found themselves not only attacked by “death-to-Nixon” chants and banners and all manner of vulgar vituperations, whistles, and jeers, but also hit by trash and spittle.
It was quite a sight. Professional agitators and organizers had bused down hundreds and had stationed most on the balcony above where the Nixons and the official party had to pass. So the American party had to walk towards those angry mobs wishing them ill and spitting on them and Mrs. Nixon.
In the Cadillac limousine, the danger did not abate, but intensified, as the mob easily overwhelmed the minimal local police force and surrounded the car, hitting it with pipes and rods, and began to rock the car, seeking to overturn it and burn it, all the while loudly chanting “death to Nixon”. The secret service, did not once use their fists, but with open palms, even when injured, continued to move insistently between the attackers and the vice-president. Inside the car, one agent did pull his gun when windows were broken and it seemed the crowds would gain entrance.
Miraculously, though, the car was able to break through and then proceed towards the city, only to encounter blockades along the way. By then, the Venezuela military had sent a large flatbed truck which was used to clear blockades and allow passage to Caracas, where more rioters were ready for action; including a mob desecrating the Simon Bolivar pantheon. As witnesses wryly observed later, the “defenders of Venezuelan virtue did not mind desecrating their own flag that day, as they tore and destroyed it.”
Vice President Nixon was persuaded to cancel the scheduled wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of Simón Bolívar, which cancellation was clearly not anticipated by the rioters.
The behavior of the mobs was precisely as had been instructed and promoted by the omniscient leaders, who had not anticipated that the “truculent” vice-president would have actually acceded to cancelling the scheduled public ceremonies. As was ascertained later, this act short-circuited the preparations for further violence by the Juventud comunista, including the use of Molotov cocktails at the site.
Decades later, Allen Hansen, posted to the American embassy during this event, wrote:
There was such a well-organized mob around the Pantheon, that it was decided on the spot the Nixon party would not stop there but would go directly to the American Ambassador’s residence. Well, they made it safely. Some felt concern, even, that the embassy residence might be attacked, but that was never a real likelihood. There was a question as to whether the VP should give a press conference; this he did, and he conducted himself with great dignity. He’s never been higher in my esteem than he was at that moment, speaking with such reserve and calm about it not being easy to see one’s wife being spit upon, and that kind of thing, but still statesmanlike in his reaction although he was obviously seething beneath it all. So I gained some respect for the political leadership of Richard M. Nixon that day.
A day later, upon arrival in Washington, D.C., the vice president and his wife were met by President Dwight Eisenhower and 15,000 well-wishers.
The events above took place over 65 years ago; however, the strategies and tactics used by the perpetrators ought to be familiar to us today. They continue to be used with varying degrees of success because we continue to refuse to see and teach the tie between godlessness, anarchy, and totalitarianism.
