Marcos Pérez Jiménez – The Pull Of The Land

Magnificent Works

August 22, 2026August 22, 2026 Richard Barnes

In this blog I’ve alluded to several monumental feats of engineering and construction such as the Caracas-La Guira Expressway, the Hotel Humboldt, the Pico Bolivar cable transport, the Torres Del Silencio, and more.

Every single one of those works still stands, to this day — 70 years later — having endured the folly of men — coups and coup attempts as well as incredible neglect of maintenance and upkeep — and the vicissitudes of nature — the 1967 and 2026 earthquakes and the horrendous rains of 1999.

They still stand.

In his memorable and enduring book and accompanying video series, How Should We Then Live?, the late Francis Schaeffer demonstrates that a civilization can be judged by its art, its architecture, its engineering, its construction projects, and more. He contrasts the art seen in Florence, Italy, with that which preceded and followed it. He discusses the uniqueness and endurance of Roman roads and aqueducts as well as the exquisite detail of Greek architecture contrasted with that of the more spartan Roman.

If Dr. Schaeffer is correct, then we must reckon with the magnificent works inaugurated during the Pérez Jiménez regime. To do so it is necessary to set aside our egalitarian, democratic prejudices and face reality, unencumbered by politics and ideology.

In the 50s Venezuela was a — several sources insist it was the most — prosperous South American country. She enjoyed economic freedom and was also “free” of the oratory of envy. Sources note that it had the largest middle class in South America.

I was born in the early part of that decade, during the Pérez Jiménez regime. I remember in childhood rubbing shoulders with friends and relatives from all social and economic strata of society. I do not recall folks politically fomenting class warfare or envy of any kind.

Later in life I came to realize that under the dictatorship, we did not enjoy a free press nor did we have universal suffrage. However, we did enjoy high levels of freedom, including freedom of mobility, freedom of commerce, freedom in society, and certainly freedom in our homes. We had nowhere near the restrictions the peoples of Eastern Europe or Mao’s China struggled under. Not to mention Fauci’s America.

In the first half of the 20th Century Venezuela became an economic powerhouse. As the petroleum and later the iron ore industries surged, Venezuela ensured they remained in private hands. The dictators understood that the state did not have the expertise to manage such vast, far flung operations; they left them in the hands of the international companies but did charge royalties and obtained other concessions in return. This arrangement ensured increasing prosperity for her people as well as great advances in local technology and culture.

This was a period of phenomenal progress in research and technology and discovery. “To cite just one example, the diamond knife (or scalpel) was invented in the 50s by Venezuelan Humberto Fernández-Morán Villalobos (1924-1999). This ‘significantly advanced the development of electromagnetic lenses for electron microscopy based on superconductor technology and many other scientific contributions.'”

In the 50s, the Venezuelan state was receiving billions and billions of dollars in monthly revenues (equivalent to today’s values). Well, so did the democratic regimes which followed, including Chávez and Maduro. But, unlike the latter two, the dictatorships were not involved as partners and major investors in illicit drug and mining operations.

The big difference between the 50s and later eras was that state spending focused on the country’s roads, airports, schools, hospitals, and universities. In other words, they benefitted the people of the country. Such spending was represented by major works as the aforementioned, plus the University Hospital of Caracas and her great historic monument and park, Paseo los Próceres (roughly translated as Walkway of the Heroes).

Caracas and La Güira also boasted a breathtaking cable car up Mount Ávila where the cylindrical Hotel Humboldt was built in the same decade and stands to this day. The design of the hotel was not only for beauty but to better withstand the strong winds which flow at those heights. And earthquakes.

In comparison, the 2026 earthquakes uncovered the sand castles nature of the most celebrated works of the Chávez regime: public housing. By now millions have seen the heartbreaking photos or videos of collapsed buildings and their foam — foam! — support.

I do not pretend to believe that corruption was non-existent in the Venezuela of the 1950s or that government functionaries all had clean hands then. However, using our Lord’s measuring stick: “By their fruits ye shall know them”, we can easily conclude that the level of corruption paled exceedingly compared to the mafioso-like environment which followed thereafter.

But one need not be a professional auditor with access to all the data, financial or otherwise, to conclude thusly. One need just take a look around and see the fruits and enquire as to when such were sown and/or reaped. Every single major work was either inaugurated or initiated prior to 1959. Even the gargantuan SIDOR, Venezuela’s giant steel corporation, was founded in 1953 although it did not see its greatest expansion until the 1970s. However, today it is dead, its death agonies having accelerated in the Chávez years when the military took over and bled it to the grave.

The marvelous Macagua project, right in the heart of Ciudad Guayana was ideated in 1946 when plans were launched to “electrify” the entire country and to export her fossil fuels for added revenues. Construction began in 1956 for Phase 1 and the plan achieved its Phase 3 in 1997. Today, however, only a fraction of her generators are functioning.

The magnificent Guri Dam project was also included in the 40s electrification plans for Venezuela and construction began in the early 60s, according to plan, after the initiation of the Macagua enterprise. Guri was certainly one of the engineering and construction wonders of the modern world when inaugurated. Today it operates at less than 50% capacity due to woefully neglected maintenance and upkeep.

Put another way, the projects conceived in the 40s and 50s remain in use to this day, although all urgently require professional upkeep, repairs, and maintenance, which, sadly, are woefully lacking in a Socialistic environment where “everybody owns everything” — meaning no one owns anything and the State is god but a terrible administrator and creator.

Should you travel to Venezuela today, you would land in Maiquetía Airport, in La Güaira, and you would take the Caracas-La Güira Expressway. Should you like to visit the Humboldt Hotel atop the massive, imposing Mount Ávila, you could take the cable car from downtown Caracas up there. In the past, you could also take the cable car down to the coast to make a full day of it and return by the same expressway back to the city. However, due to lack of maintenance and upkeep that leg is no longer operational.

You might also like to enjoy the large park, Próceres, with its aesthetically beautiful fountains and extensive mall. Or you might desire to take a cab to the still modern Torres del Silencio, with its traffic proceeding beneath the buildings to allow pedestrian tranquility above. And you might walk about the gardens of the University Hospital which still serves patients 50 years after her inauguration.

All projects noted in the previous two paragraphs were built and inaugurated in the 50s. They were designed and engineered by Venezuelan professionals, as well as Swiss, Italian, German, and North American; and they were built by men from the same or similar origins.

Of course, the upkeep and maintenance have been abysmal; however, the engineering, architecture, and construction have stood the test of time in a natural and human environment which have been exceedingly challenging. One of the great expressway viaducts spanning hundreds of feet of bottomless canyons actually became fearfully unsafe for lack of care. A byway was constructed in its stead in the 90s.

I am not aware of any projects ideated let alone inaugurated after the 50s which come within a mile of those which came before.

What would a visitor a century hence conclude when observing these works?

I am confident that his conclusion would be that the caliber of the people, especially the leaders, in the 50s and prior was superior to that which came after.

For the most part it is principally the people and their faith, not their form of government, which primarily determine her progress or its lack. Many in Venezuela still remember Pérez Jiménez and some even tend to idolize him, which is wrong. However, they do recognize that the man loved his country and was not the corrupt kleptomaniac that politicians insist he was.

The United States government not only dishonored the amnesty he had sought, but put him in jail even though he had paid his bond — this jailing in Miami, Florida, where he was placed with common criminals was so unprecedented and even cruel that many in the international community protested. By the time he was transferred to Venezuela he had lost 40 pounds.

In Venezuela he was jailed for 5 more years while awaiting what to every sentient human being was a political trial, from which he was declared not guilty for the original charges, as per the extradition treaty — peculation (the “fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else”) — but guilty of other charges (enrichment!) — which the politicized judges added towards the end of the legal circus, in violation of the extradition treaty. Even so, the prestige of the judges was by then so soiled that they released him, saying he had already served sufficient years for such incredible charges.

He settled in Spain to live the rest of his life there; however, the people of Venezuela actually elected him to a Senate seat in the 1973 elections; nevertheless, the “democratic” political parties colluded to amend the constitution to prohibit his ever returning to the country.

The corruption and the malfeasance of public funds in Venezuela during the democratic governments were so vast and so obvious that the door was swung wide open to the demagoguery of Chávez. And, as previously noted, corrupt and repressive governments do not leave much of a heritage other than destruction or abandonment of what came before.

We must not ignore that particularly evil forms of government and culture not only do not foment the creation of beauty and functionality and permanence, but actually destroy what beauty and permanence they find. A brief look at Cuba and the Soviet Union makes this abundantly clear. Not to mention the utter deterioration in Venezuela itself, especially over the past two decades.

But — whether a republic as described in the USA constitution or a monarchy such as England’s during her incomparable industrial revolution or the monarchies of the GCC or the strict, autocratic government of Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore — a system which allows a certain level of liberty and creativity to her people will enable them to leave us long lasting evidence of beauty and permanence, assuming the caliber of the people is “moral and religious” as per John Adams.

In December, 1961, President John F. Kennedy and the First Lady visited Venezuela as part of the inaugural tour of the Alliance for Progress. You can still find online the short speech given in Spanish by Mrs. Kennedy. In that speech she spoke about the need for progress and opportunity for all, not just for the fortunate. Although I appreciate Mrs. Kennedy and her efforts to speak the local language, her speech is illustrative of the facile politics in the modern Americas.

In the 50s and into 1961 when the Kennedy’s visited, Venezuela had the largest middle class in all of South America. Today it is an impoverished land languishing under a suffocating “democratically elected” corrupt regime. Despite all the evidence right in front of her, the First Lady, like most modern politicos, assumed that the form of government dictates whether or not a people are fortunate. And she — and many, many like her — ignored what was right in front of her eyes.

A classic example of being led by sweet sounding words instead of reality; of being enamored of gestures rather than substance.

Her talk was well meaning but woefully ignorant.

Caracas-La Güaira Expressway construction. Installation of one of her viaducts

Two massive tunnels, with the most modern lighting and exhaust technology were built; one is over a mile long through solid rock. One of the tunnels no longer has lighting which makes it dangerous to traverse, especially at night.

Hotel Humboldt was an extraordinary feat of engineering and architecture. Construction was executed via cable cars which took materials and generator equipment to the summit of Mt. Ávila.

Los Próceres in Caracas, designed and constructed in the 1950s.

Torres del Silencio under construction in the early 50s

Macagua Dam in the heart of Ciudad Guayana: a 45-minute drive from El Pao.

Motorcade 1958

July 4, 2024July 4, 2024 Richard Barnes

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 13^th, 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.

Barred for Life

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 Richard Barnes

This blog has alluded to President Marcos Pérez Jiménez on several occasions, such as here and here (the blog search bar will direct you to more). Hearing and reading about calls by the usual suspects to bar President Trump from running again for office, reminds me of Venezuelan politicians’ visceral detestation of President Jiménez.

First, to get a taste of how Jiménez is treated by the elite media, let us very briefly contrast the standard accounts of Pérez Jiménez with those of Fidel Castro. The following quotes are the initial paragraph for Jiménez and Castro, respectively, as presented in Brittanica:

“Marcos Pérez Jiménez, (born April 25, 1914, Michelena, Venezuela — died September 20, 2001, Madrid, Spain), professional soldier and president (1952-58) of Venezuela whose regime was marked by extravagance, corruption, police oppression, and mounting unemployment.”

“Fidel Castro, in full Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, (born August 13, 1926, near Birán, Cuba–died November 25, 2016, Cuba), political leader of Cuba(1959–2008) who transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Castro became a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America. He held the title of premier until 1976 and then began a long tenure as president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. He handed over provisional power in July 2006 because of health problems and formally relinquished the presidency in February 2008.”

Is it just me, or does the second entry have a whiff of heroism to it as contrasted with the first?

Well, Brittanica reflects the standard treatment, which paints Jiménez as a corrupt ne’er-do-well, while Castro is portrayed as something of an epic figure, as opposed to the brutal Communist dictator who “succeeded” in transforming Cuba from a country with a “higher standard of living in 1958 than half of Europe, a larger middle class than Switzerland, a more highly unionized work force than the U.S., more doctors and dentists per capita than Great Britain, more cars and televisions per capita than Canada or Germany….(Fontova).”

(I began distrusting the media during the Nixon years, even though I was not a Nixon fan. But it was the Reagan years that finally convinced me we could not believe the regular media. One of our founders, upon being asked what the 1787 Constitutional Convention had wrought, replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic requires, among other things, hard work and study. That study requires gathering information and knowledge as one would dig for treasure. Being spoon fed by The New York Times won’t cut it.)

Jiménez enhanced Venezuela’s independence by promoting oil and ore concessions and improving or expanding the transportation and transit infrastructure. In brief, he catapulted Venezuela onto the mid-twentieth century. Caracas was modernized with skyscrapers, major public housing projects, and other initiatives, including the symbolic Humboldt Hotel overlooking the city. During his tenure, Venezuela built South America’s finest highway system, most of which is still in use into the 21st century, including spectacular freeways cutting through and winding around giant mountain ranges.

Venezuela was transformed into the most modern nation of South America: “modern” defined as excellent infrastructure, breathtaking skylines, and a rapidly growing middle class. In addition, during Jiménez’s tenure, about one million Europeans immigrated to Venezuela, from all countries, but principally Spain and Portugal. Many Americans came to work in Venezuela, primarily, but not exclusively, in the oil and ore industries. Recall that in the case of Cuba, tens of thousands emigrated. Other than disgruntled professors and assorted sympathizers, no one voluntarily immigrated to Cuba.

By the way, according to Brittanica (see above), the Jiménez “regime” was characterized by “mounting unemployment.” However, a million Europeans do not emigrate to a country with “mounting unemployment.” The truth is that employment was so plentiful that Jiménez opened the doors to immigration in order to fulfill the labor demand, which greatly exceeded supply.

(I must be charitable and diplomatic; therefore, I refuse to say that Brittanica and other elite editors are liars. I’ll just say that their assertions have little, if any basis in the facts of the matter.)

A plebiscite was held in December, 1957, which Jiménez won handily, but which opponents insisted was a rigged exercise. Full scale riots, with focal centers in the Universidad de Caracas, ensued, culminating in a military coup. Jiménez went into self-imposed exile in Miami Beach, in 1958, having received asylum from the United States. However, the Kennedy administration, extradited him back to Venezuela, vainly believing the United States federal government, for the first time in its history, could afford to break its promise of asylum in exchange for the applause of Venezuelan politicians. This was an asymmetrical swap: honor out; applause in. We succeeded with the former, weightier matter; failed with the latter, transitory one.

Jiménez was eventually convicted of theft and sentenced to 4 years, which had already been exceeded by the time of the sentencing, so he was released and emigrated to Spain from where he ran for the Senate in absentia and won by overwhelming margins. However, alarmed politicians succeeded in overturning his election. In 1973 his supporters nominated him for the presidency. Stunned by his popularity, the political parties amended the constitution, in effect retroactively prohibiting him from running for president again.

He died in Spain in 2001, having never returned to Venezuela.

Whether you love him, hate him, or are indifferent to him, Marcos Pérez Jiménez was one of the most remarkable men in Venezuela’s history. This capsule summary of his tenure reminds us that the vindictive nature of politicians is not limited to Venezuelans who barred their political opponent from running for president. We now have American politicians seeking to do the same against President Trump.

The Venezuelan politicians succeeded. We shall see whether the American variety succeeds as well.