Eleazar López Contreras

Last updated

Eleazar López Contreras
Eleazar Lopez Contreras.jpg
President of Venezuela
In office
18 December 1935 5 May 1941
Years of service1899−1941
Rank Vice Commander (final)
Commands
Battles/wars

José Eleazar López Contreras (5 May 1883 – 2 January 1973) was the president of Venezuela between 1935 and 1941. He was an army general and one of Juan Vicente Gómez's collaborators, serving as his War Minister from 1931. In 1939, Contreras accepted on behalf of Venezuela the ships Koenigstein and Caribia which had fled with Jews from Germany. [1] [2]

Contents

Presidency

At the beginning of his presidency he faced two great crises: the first one was on Friday, 14 February 1936, when a popular demonstration arrived at Miraflores to demand the restitution of constitutional guarantees, the dissolution of the Gomecista majority Congress and the summoning of a National Constituent Assembly. The bloody events that took place during the repression of said demonstration led to the immediate dismissal and temporary arrest of the Governor of the Capital District, Felix Galavis. President Lopez partially accepted the demands. The second was the labor strike in June of the same year, where the purpose of the opposition was to overthrow him, which was not accomplished. He reformed the Constitution in July 1936, tried to be democratic by reducing the presidential term from 7 to 5 years, a clause that he himself surprisingly applied. However, authoritarian measures were legalized, such as exile by presidential decree and the proscription of communist and anarchist ideologies, which caused several politicians accused of such to be expelled from the country, among them Rómulo Betancourt.

His government is remembered for the creation of protection and assistance organisms such as the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance by a decree on 25 February 1936. The importance of public hygiene was stated as a motive. Many of the innovations that the Ministry introduced were due to Arnoldo Gabaldón, who brought recommendations from the Conference of Directors of Public Health in Washington, D.C. in 1936. The Ministry of Agriculture and Breeding was also created due to the importance that the policy of Contreras intended to attribute to agricultural development. On 6 August, 1936 he created the Venezuelan Children's Council. In 1938 the Technical Institute of Immigration and Colonization was created, through which the government planned to distribute large estates to Venezuelan and foreign farmers, in order to repopulate the countryside and to raise the quality of life.

1936 Constitution

Main changes: [3]

López Contreras cabinet

Cabinet [5]
OFFICENAMETERM
President Eleazar López Contreras1935–1941
Interior AffairsPedro Tinoco1935–1936
  Diógenes Escalante 1936
 Alejandro Lara1936
 Régulo Olivares1936–1937
 Alfonso Mejía1937–1938
 Luis Gerónimo Pietri1938–1941
Foreign Affairs Pedro Itriago Chacín 1935–1936
  Esteban Gil Borges 1936–1941
FinanceEfraim González1935–1936
  Gustavo Herrera 1936
 Alejandro Lara1936
  Alberto Adriani 1936
 Cristóbal L. Mendoza1937–1938
 Francisco J. Parra1938–1941
War and NavyAntonio Chalbaud Cardona1935–1936
  Isaías Medina Angarita 1936–1941
DevelopmentPedro París1936
 Nestor Luis Pérez1936–1938
 Manuel R. Egaña1938–1941
Public WorksAntonio Díaz1935–1936
 Tomás Pacaninis1936–1938
 Enrique Jorge Aguerrevere1938–1941
Public InstructionR. González Rincones1935–1936
 José Ramón Ayala1936
  Caracciolo Parra Pérez 1936
  Rómulo Gallegos 1936
 Alberto Smith1936–1937
 Rafael Ernesto López1937–1938
 Enrique Tejera1938–1939
  Arturo Uslar Pietri 1939–1941
Sanitation and AgricultureR. González Rincones1935–1936
Health and Social WelfareEnrique Tejera1936
 Santos A. Dominici1936–1937
 Honorio Sigala1937–1938
 Julio García Álvarez1938–1941
Agriculture Alberto Adriani 1936
 Alfonso Mejía1936–1937
 Hugo Parra Pérez1937–1938
 Amenodoro Rangel Lamus1938–1939
 Alfonso Mejía1939–1941
CommunicationsFrancisco H. Rivero1936
 Honorio Sigala1936
 Alejandro Lara1936–1937
 Luis Gerónimo Pietri1937–1938
 Héctor Cuenca1938–1939
  José Rafael Pocaterra 1939–1941
Secretary of the PresidencyAmenodoro Rangel1935-1936
 Francisco Parra1936
  Diógenes Escalante 1936–1938
 Alfonso Mejía1938–1939
  Tulio Chiossone 1939−1941
SecretaryAmenodoro Rangel Lamus1935-1937

Personal life

Eleazar López Contreras was married to María Teresa Núñez Tovar,[ citation needed ] who served as First Lady of Venezuela from 1936 to 1941.[ citation needed ]

See also

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References

  1. "Nuevo Mundo Israelita – Semanario al servicio de la comunidad judia de Venezuela". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  2. "Morashá | Home". Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  3. "Fundación Empresas Polar > Historia de Venezuela para nosotros". 31 March 2008. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Rojas, Indira (18 October 2020). "La revolución del voto y el 18 de octubre de 1945". Prodavinci (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  5. Centro Editor/José Rivas Rivas (1972). "Historia Gráfica de Venezuela. 1- El Gobierno de López Contreras"
Political offices
Preceded by President of Venezuela
1935–1941
Succeeded by