Rómulo Betancourt – The Pull Of The Land

El Bogotazo II

April 26, 2022April 27, 2022 Richard Barnes

The prior post in this series (El Bogotazo I) reviewed Fidel Castro’s violent career in Cuba during high school and college, including arrests and questioning for suspicion of murder and more. This is important background for today’s post, which picks up in 1948, when the United States, concerned by Communist infiltration throughout Latin America, recommended the creation of the Organization of American States (OAS), an idea which was quickly seized upon by South American countries.

The function of this new organization was to provide a forum for the nations in the American continent to meet to discuss and address regional problems. For example, fast forward to 1962: President Rómulo Betancourt demanded and got the expulsion of Cuba from the OAS given repeated, proven attempts by Fidel Castro to subvert and overthrow the government of Venezuela, including shipments of armaments and men to Communist guerrilla groups operating under Castro. See Spurning Fidel.

The OAS was to be inaugurated during an international conference taking place in Bogota, Colombia in April, 1948. Although one could argue the site was appropriate, nevertheless, one could also argue that the timing was all wrong. Colombia was gearing up to hold presidential elections less than two years later, in 1950, and the Unión Nacional de Izquierda Revolucionaria (UNIR, translated “National Union of the Revolutionary Left”) were vocal in asserting those elections would be won by their candidate, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, a radical leftist populist.

Gaitán’s extremist nature was obvious, as witness his frequently repeated motto: “If I advance, follow me, if I retreat, push me, if I betray you, kill me, and if I die, avenge me! To the charge!” His bellicosity was not empty rhetoric. A few months before the OAS conference, he called for a march against the conservative government, “The March of Silence”, to which over 100,000 came, many of them fully armed.

To add to tensions, Rómulo Betancourt, who had assumed the temporary presidency of Venezuela by means of a military coup d’etat, and who was still known for his Communism, which was later abandoned (see Envy), had signaled his support for Gaitán and did not denounce rumors signaling that should the elections be fraudulent (interpreted to mean, should Gaitán lose), Venezuela would support the overthrow of Colombia’s conservative government. Talk about chickens coming home to roost: a little over a decade later, Betancourt led the expulsion of Castro from the OAS for having sought the overthrow of his government.

Opposed to the creation of the OAS, Argentina and the Soviet Union agreed together to sabotage it by surreptitiously financing a conference of Latin American “students” to denounce “Yankee aggression”, meaning the creation of the OAS. This conference would be held simultaneously with the OAS inauguration conference. The Soviet Union and Argentina sought to capitalize on the smoldering animosity between Colombia and Venezuela as well as the anti-American Zeitgeist in Latin American universities.

Argentina emerged from the Second World War as a major economic power. However, Juan Domingo Perón, yet another leftist military leader (see Right-Wing Military for discussion on military leftism) helped overthrow its government in a military coup and was its dictator from 1946 to 1955. He was very anti-American and had close ties with Nazi Germany and later the Soviet Union. Like all good Communists, he took Argentina from economic dominance to massive expropriations and economic decline. Argentina eventually became the poster child of hyperinflation which was eventually broken in the 1990s.

Perón and Stalin were determined to cause chaos in Bogota. They promoted, financed, and ensured the inauguration of the Congreso Estudiantil Latinoamericana (Latin American Student Congress) to be held alongside the assembly creating the OAS. The promotion and organization of the students to attend that congress was headquartered in Havana, Cuba, led by Fabio Grobart. The Congress itself was to be led by Gustavo Machado. And the star attraction of the Congress would be none other than Gaitán himself.

That would be the fuel. The lit matches would be groups of revolutionary Latin American students from all geographic points, directed from Argentina. These would travel separately and converge in Bogota a few days before the inauguration of the OAS. Their objective was to engage in violent street actions and sabotage operations ostensibly to prohibit the establishment of the OAS. The hard-nosed reality behind their purpose was actually to foment chaos.

Among the student groups traveling to Bogota would be a handpicked group of four from Havana, Cuba. And one of the four was Fidel Castro, fully in his element.

Juan Domingo Perón (1895-1974). Similar to Hugo Chavez, Perón was very charismatic and remained popular despite disastrous policies which did great economic harm to Argentina. He was overthrown and exiled in 1955 by a militar coup. Nevertheless, from exile, he used the Argentinian left and the Communist guerrillas to sow widespread chaos and lawlessness, eventually paving the way for his return to power in 1973.

Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was yet another left-wing military leader who was diligent and successful in creating havoc, chaos, and death in the bloody 20th century. His “alliance” with the United States and England during World War II allowed unprecedented Soviet access to allied military and diplomatic sources which harmed the West and from which she has yet to fully extricate.

Rómulo Betancourt (1908-1981), circa 1945, a time when his sympathies continued to lean heavily to port, creating long-lasting animosity with neighboring Colombia, and throwing fuel to an increasingly volatile environment.

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (1903-1948). “If I advance, follow me, if I retreat, push me, if I betray you, kill me, and if I die, avenge me! To the charge!” He was assassinated in April, 1948.

Early Communist activity in Cuba and Venezuela

March 15, 2022March 15, 2022 Richard Barnes

In our prior post we noted pre-Bolshevik and early post-Bolshevik Communist activity in Cuba and Venezuela (here), concluding with the arrival of Fabio Grobart in Cuba in 1922 and his role, along with Venezuelan Communist Gustavo Machado, in organizing the Cuban Communist Party. Grobart was an excellent organizer, having set up multiple cells with astounding success in infiltrating government, academia, and business. He recruited Fidel when the latter was an adolescent and remained his advisor till his death in 1994.

Machado was from one of the richest families in Venezuela. He was born in 1898 and by 1914 was already agitating against the General Gómez regime, making stratospheric statements about liberty and democracy, all the while seeking a Communist totalitarianism for his country. He entered Harvard and then the Sorbornne in Paris, where he participated in the founding of the French Communist Party.

Grobart and Machado had met in New York at his brother’s wedding — his brother, Eduardo Machado, married the daughter of Elmer Allison, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of America. Birds of a feather….

Upon Gustavo Machado’s graduation in Paris, he signed up with the Comintern and was summoned by Grobart to join him in Cuba. The tactic they used most successfully in recruiting impressionable young men was fomenting hatred against the United States and presenting Communism as the most effective competing worldview. The hatred was fomented most effectively by using the “racism card” — the gift that keeps on giving.

Fidel Castro was born in 1926 to Ángel Castro and Lina Ruz, the daughter of a family who worked in his hacienda. The elder Castro’s adultery was not amusing to Mrs. Castro, who threatened divorce, causing her husband to resort to chicanery to appear bankrupt, thereby blunting the damages his wronged wife could seek.

Fidel Castro’s mother, Lina Ruz, was steeped in santería and his father is remembered for cruelty, especially his skill with the whip, used against his laborers. “The image of Ángel Castro with a whip in his hands and a gun in his holster yelling orders to the black Haitians on his property … ” was well known. Also, the elder Castro was possessed of a passionate hatred against the Yanquis, for having destroyed the once-great Iberian empire. Nevertheless, working with the americanos, he became one of the wealthiest men in Cuba, owning a 30,000-acre hacienda, with its own railroad and train.

At the time of Fidel Castro’s birth, Grobart and Machado had emigrated to Mexico to avoid prosecution for subversion. From Mexico they continued their activities, with a special focus on Venezuela, on whose behalf they founded the Revolutionary Party of Venezuela, which later became the Communist Party of Venezuela.

In Nicaragua, Augusto Sandino (Prior post) was also active and the Comintern ordered Machado to travel there and offer support, which he promptly did with success. In Venezuela, Communist activity was also in fervent, as “The Generation of 1928”, a group of university students led by Rómulo Betancourt — who would later mature and become anti-Communist — attempted a coup against General Gómez.

Although Julio Mella was assassinated by a fellow Communist in Mexico (prior post), the deed provided the pretext for violent rioting and pillaging by University of Havana “students” which, ultimately, persuaded the United States administration to work against the then president, Gerardo Machado (no relation to Gustavo) and remove him from office in 1933. However, riots persisted until Fulgencio Batista intervened and vowed to work with all parties, including the Communists and the Americans. He evidenced his good intentions by legalizing the Communist Party of Cuba, thereby sealing his and his country’s doom less than two decades later. Few realize the role the Franklin Roosevelt administration played in facilitating the rise of Batista, however inadvertently.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, further ferment occurred with the failed Falke expedition in 1929, a Quixotic attempt to overthrow General Gómez by sea. Although almost comical, it produced bloodshed and wide destruction.

By 1934, with the Communists legalized in Cuba, Fabio Grabart and Gustavo Machado returned to continue their nefarious yet successful activities.

The above narrates chaotic, seemingly unconnected events. They are indeed chaotic, but they are not unconnected. The spirit of totalitarianism feeds on anarchy and seemingly meaningless death, mayhem, panic, and fear. Its promulgators foment such an environment because it prepares their road to power and control.

“Generation of ’28” student Communists. Future president Rómulo Betancourt is in second row, second from left. He later turned against Communism and earned the eternal hatred of Fidel Castro.

All Within the State: Understanding the Cuba – Venezuela Nexus III: Fidel’s Revenge Part I

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021 Richard Barnes

“My entry to Caracas has been more emocional than my entry to Havana, because here I have received everything from those who have received nothing from me.” — Fidel Castro, January 23, 1959, Caracas, Venezuela

As explained in the prior post, on that seemingly propitious visit, Fidel Castro was eventually Spurned by Rómulo Betancourt, who then proceeded to defeat Castro’s efforts to subvert and overthrow his democratically elected government as well as to disrupt the next elections where the Venezuelan people elected Raúl Leoni, who also successfully blocked Castro’s nefarious efforts against Venezuela.

In early 1992, Hugo Chávez led an attempted leftist military coup against the elected president, Carlos Andrés Pérez. In November of that same year, from prison, he led yet another coup attempt. Both attempts failed but not before the deaths of at least 150 people, although historians believe several hundred were killed.

Records indicate that preparations for these coups actually began in the 1970’s under former Communist guerrilla fighter, Douglas Bravo. He initiated an “infiltration” strategy with the objective of taking power via the Venezuelan military. In the early 80s, Chávez joined in this enterprise, having founded a “Bolivariano” movement with the same objectives. Such reports help explain former president Rómulo Betancourt’s concerns and his working to organize a coalition of Latin American armies to fight Castro in the 1970s. His plans never came to fruition as his health deteriorated followed by his death in 1981.

Unsurprisingly, according to officially unconfirmed reports, as well as the excellent (but poorly edited) history, El Delfín de Fidel, Castro was behind and helped organize much of this subversive activity, even placing sleeper agents in Venezuela in the late 80s to foment unrest. His intent was to use Chávez as the face of the coup so as to avoid retaliation by the United States.

By then, Castro desperately needed financial succor, as Cuba had entered its “special period” when aid from the Soviet Union had been severely reduced. Venezuelan Major Orlando Madriz Benítez reported that Castro also worked to falsely assure President Pérez that there was no truth to reports of an impending coup. Infuriatingly, but also credibly, in addition to Castro, future president, Rafael Caldera also knew of the coup. Castro and Chávez were to have ensured he would have been named interim president as had been the case with leftist Wolfgang Larrazábal after Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown 34 years earlier.

This explains why Caldera pardoned Chávez in 1994, a mere two years after the coup attempts. This freed a man who at least twice had plotted to overthrow the elected government and who went to jail with the blood of many on his hands. That same year, 1994, he flew to Cuba where Castro had organized a massive reception.

And here was the inchoate, yet palpable incunabula of Castro’s inadvertently prophetic statement, “I have received everything from those who have received nothing from me.” For here, Castro and Chávez, in a firm, mutual embrace agreed to proceed on their common path of “the anti-imperialism of our era….”

By 2009, ten years after Chavez’ first inauguration, fifteen years after his pardon and portentous visit to Havana, Cuban functionaries were present throughout the whole of the Venezuelan territory as the face of multitudinous “social programs”. By then, Cuba jointly administered the Venezuelan ports (some would drop the word jointly), she had ensconced herself firmly in the army and navy and was well on her way to management of Venezuela’s internal security apparatus, including identification documents and passport control. And there is much more.

But Cuba did not do this for free. She was receiving over 100,000 barrels of oil daily, in addition to hundreds of no bid contracts for projects and services at astronomically priced rates. So great was the financial impact that as Venezuela sank from positive to negative GDP growth, Cuba rose from negative to positive.

So, Castro’s words in 1959 can be read as a prophecy of what was to come a generation later when indeed the Venezuelan people will have begun giving “everything” to Castro while “receiving nothing from” him.

However, actually, they did receive “something” from him, as we will discuss in future posts.

Hugo Chávez as unrepentant leader of a military coup, February, 1992.

Newly elected Hugo Chávez in 1998, four years after his pardon by outgoing president, Rafael Caldera (right). Chávez was inaugurated on February 2, 1999.

Fidel Castro receives Hugo Chávez shortly after the latter’s pardon by President Rafael Caldera.

All Within the State: Understanding the Cuba – Venezuela Nexus II: Spurning Fidel

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021 Richard Barnes

“What I want to say I’ll say even more forcefully. If the Castro regime continues with its policy of aggression against Venezuela and [other countries] the moment will come when those governments will lead a joint action of their armed forces by air, sea, and land to make war on Fidel Castro, on his 300 thousand militias, and on his Soviet military advisors.” — Rómulo Betancourt, papers, 1972

While it is true that Rómulo Betancourt founded the Communist Party of Costa Rica in the 1930s, it is also true that he moderated his views over the years.

That allowed him to see through and size up Castro very quickly: he must have wondered why many in Venezuela’s army leadership seemingly did not see what he saw. Vice Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal, the leader of the military coup against Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1958 and the provisional government’s president, was at the very least sympathetic to Fidel Castro, even giving the effusive welcome speech on Castro’s arrival in 1959. Although he vehemently denied providing weapons to Castro’s Communist guerrillas, there is much evidence to the contrary, including a letter from Fidel thanking him for his “noble gesture.”

(Although seemingly counterintuitive, the Venezuelan army was mined with leftists enamored with Communism. For example, Wolfgang Larrazábal ran for president, with Communist support. He was defeated by Betancourt. And we should not forget that Hugo Chávez himself came to prominence leading two Communist-supported army coup attempts in 1992. We in the West all-too-often unthinkingly genuflect before military leaders. We should be more cautious.)

But Larrazábal had plenty of company: Fidel was feted by many Venezuelan luminaries, including future president, Rafael Caldera, perennial presidential candidates and political leaders, such as Jóvito Villalba, and intellectual elites such as Prieto Figueroa.

President Betancourt was the only major politician in Venezuela, and very likely in all of Latin America, who understood from the start the grave danger Castro posed to national, regional, and hemispheric stability. He recognized a “gangster” who sat before him in 1959. He readily understood that this man was willing to sink his own island nation just to retain power or destroy the United States — preferably both — by any means necessary. His willingness, nay, his craving to destroy became clear to the rest of the world a few short years later during the 1962 missile crisis. This suicidal disposition is a common trait with apocalyptic dictators, including Hitler.

Betancourt, almost alone, saw this.

In 1972 he led efforts to raise a legitimate multinational Latin American army to confront Castro’s tyranny. However, this objective died along with Betancourt’s failing health and subsequent death in 1981.

But his greatest legacy also became a danger to his country and region: he not only spurned Fidel Castro, he defeated him time and again. Castro backed deadly guerrilla and army uprisings in Venezuela, including Barcelona in 1961 and Carúpano and Puerto Cabello in 1962, not to mention the very real attempts to disrupt the 1963 elections. Betancourt’s energy and vigilance ensured the defeat of all such attempts, which inflicted great loss of life and property. And profoundly angered the Cuban dictator.

We must also credit his successor, President Raúl Leoni, who acted with energy in repulsing Castro’s attacks, including an armed landing in 1967 of Cubans and Venezuelans trained in Cuba. President Leoni’s 5-year term was also attacked by Communist activists and guerrillas including yet another military coup attempt in 1966, which was quickly squashed. That same year, Leoni felt compelled to order an army search for revolutionaries in Central University in Caracas. By the end of his term, however, most subversive activity had practically ceased.

Castro never gave up on his designs on Venezuela. After Betancourt, his obsession grew apace.

In the high councils of Havana, it must have grated when another politician who saw through Castro uttered the following words upon President Betancourt’s death:

“I speak for all Americans in expressing our heartfelt sadness at the death of Rómulo Betancourt. While he was first and foremost a Venezuelan patriot, Rómulo Betancourt was an especially close friend of the United States. During the 1950s he considered the United States a refuge while he was in exile, and we were proud to receive him. We are honored that this courageous man whose life was dedicated to the principles of liberty and justice spent his final days on our shores. We join the Venezuelan people and those who love freedom around the world in mourning his death.” — President Ronald Reagan, September, 1981

It is necessary to understand the above background if one is to understand the Cuba-Venezuela nexus and the quid pro quo between Castro, Chávez, and Maduro.

To be continued.

Large crowds welcoming Fidel Castro on his visit to Venezuela, January, 1959. He was invited by Vice-Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal, leader of the military coup against Marcos Pérez Jiménez. The crowds were composed mostly of the recently legalized Communist Party in Venezuela (Betancourt later outlawed it), but also, it must be said, many in the AD and other parties.

Father Luis Manuel Padilla holds a dying Venezuelan soldier shot down in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, during an army uprising of leftist army personnel backed by Fidel Castro’s Cuba. It was put down by Betancourt’s army but not before 200 soldiers and 400 rebels were killed. Photo above won the Pulitzer Prize for Héctor Rondón Lovera in 1963.

Castro with Venezuelan politicians, clockwise, beginning from upper left: Wolfgang Larrazábal, Betancourt, Carlos Andrés Pérez, and Hugo Chávez.

All Within the State: Understanding the Cuba – Venezuela Nexus

June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 Richard Barnes

“All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” — Benito Mussolini

“Revolutions do not measure their success in terms of productivity but in terms of control.” — Diego G. Maldonado

The author of the second quote is a pseudonym for the researcher of a magisterial investigation into the relationship between Venezuela and Cuba. He remains anonymous for obvious reasons.

Venezuela’s first democratically elected president was Rómulo Betancourt, elected in 1958 and inaugurated in 1959.

In 1958, Venezuela had the 4th highest per capita GDP in the world. Its monetary policy was stable and property rights were respected and honored. To quote a Venezuelan writer: “In 1958, Venezuela became a democracy when the dictatorship was overthrown. With that came all the usual benefits of democracy such as freedom of the press, universal suffrage, and other civil rights. Unfortunately, these reforms came along with … destruction of our economic freedom.”

Fast forward to 2020 and we find Venezuela in 140th place in per capital GDP, poorer than any other Latin American country and than most other countries in the world. And that ranking is based on unreliable numbers. Judging from the massive emigration over the years, I suspect she ranks even lower.

Given the above, would you be surprised to know that Venezuela is Cuba’s principal source of income since the turn of this century?

Despite (or because of) its collapse of oil production, Venezuela in 2018 (latest available figures) purchased $440 Million of foreign crude and sent it to Cuba at a lower price (at a loss), with flexible credit conditions. According to documents obtained by Reuters, this oil was purchased “at a cost of $12 per barrel more than the price she charged Cuba despite her great need of currency to sustain her own economy and import food and medicine midst a great scarcity.”

And that has been the case since Chavez’ election.

Why? Is it all ideological? Did Chávez and now Maduro love Cuba so much that they were willing to sacrifice their own country for Cuba’s survival?

It’s a bit more complicated and yet more simple than that: it is all done for control, for power.

Shortly after Betancourt’s inauguration in early 1959, he welcomed Fidel Castro as his first foreign state visitor. From eye witness accounts, the meetings did not go well. Castro believed he had a kindred soul in Betancourt; after all the newly elected president had founded the Communist Party in Costa Rica during his exile there.

However, Betancourt was more moderate than Castro. He knew he had an army that would not look kindly on a civilian president who immediately and radically set about to thrust the country from 4th place GDP to 140th in less than a generation. Also, he rejected Castro’s request for free or heavily subsidized petroleum: “That oil is not mine to give,” Betancourt is reported to have said.

Castro was offended and angered. In the early 60s Cuba supported and fomented Communist guerrilla warfare in Venezuela, uprisings by leftist members of the Venezuelan army, and sabotage of oil pipelines and supplies warehouses. As a child I remember our family car being stopped many times by the National Guard for searches. That was a common sight throughout the country as Betancourt energetically sought to defeat his former allies. He also successfully backed the expulsion of Cuba from the Organization of American States.

Castro never forgave him and, with Chavez, he succeeded where he had failed with Betancourt.

If, as noted above, it was all done for control and power, what then was the quid pro quo between Chavez, Maduro, and Castro?

We will be writing more on this in future posts.