Wolfgang Larrazábal

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Larrazábal and the second or maternal family name is Ugueto.
Wolfgang Larrazábal
Wolfgang Larrazábal
President of Venezuela
In office
23 January 1958 – 14 November 1958
Preceded byMarcos Pérez Jiménez
Succeeded byEdgar Sanabria
Personal details
Born
Wolfgang Enrique Larrazábal Ugueto

(1911-03-05)5 March 1911
Carúpano, Sucre state, Venezuela
Died27 February 2003(2003-02-27) (aged 91)
Caracas, Venezuela
Political partyDemocratic Republican Union
Spouse
Mercedes María Peláez
​
​
(died 2002)​
Signature

Rear Admiral Wolfgang Enrique Larrazábal Ugueto (Spanish pronunciation: [bolfˈɣaŋg laraˈsaβal]; 5 March 1911 – 27 February 2003) was a Venezuelan naval officer and politician. He served as President of Venezuela following the overthrow of Marcos Pérez Jiménez in the 23 January 1958 Venezuelan coup d'état, standing down later that year.

Biography[edit]

Larrazábal was born on 5 March 1911. He attended the Colegio Libertado in Maracaibo.[1] Described by Time as "the well-mannered scion of an old naval family",[2] Larrazábal graduated from the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Navy and was commissioned into the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela in 1932.[3] He completed a naval command course at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.[1] In 1945, he was named assistant director of the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Navy.[1] From 1949 to 1952, he served as naval attaché in the Embassy of Venezuela, Washington, D.C..[1] In July 1957, he was promoted to rear admiral and named chief of staff of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela.[1] In January 1958, Larrazábal was named supreme commander of the Navy by president Marcos Pérez Jiménez, making him Venezuela's highest ranking military officer.[2][3][4] At this time, Larrazábal was known as "a quiet man, more a conformist than a conspirator".[4]

After popular unrest broke out, on 22 January 1958 Larrazábal wrote to Pérez on behalf of the Venezuelan chiefs of staff demanding his resignation.[4] After Pérez fled the country, Larrazábal became president of Venezuela on 23 January 1958 as the head of a seven-member military junta comprising himself, colonel Roberto Cassanova, colonel Pedro Quevedo, colonel Carlo Araque, colonel Romero Villate, industrialist Eugenic Mendoza, and academic Bias Lamberti.[2][5][6] After taking power, Larrazábal promised to hold free elections as soon as possible[2] and guaranteed political freedoms and foreign investments.[7] He became "very popular among average Venezuelans for his folksy charisma, populist political views, and the generous welfare benefits offered under his government."[8]

Following the attack on Richard Nixon's motorcade in May 1958, in response to the movement of American military forces into the region, Larrazábal pledged the Nixon party would be "protected fully" thereafter.[9] After Nixon's departure from Venezuela, Larrazábal declined to condemn the attack, saying that he would have joined the protests if he were a student.[10]

In June 1958, Time noted that Larrazábal "has gone perplexingly out of his way to be kind to Communists", quoting Larrazábal as having said: "Maybe I am naïve. But I feel our Communism is a different Communism. Because of his rich patriotic heritage, no Venezuelan would accept orders from abroad."[11] Larrazábal was accused of supporting Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution by sending planes and weapons to Castro's forces in the Sierra Maestra.[1]

On 5 July 1958, army general Jesús María Castro León was appointed Minister of Defence. Upon his appointment, he presented Larrazábal with a note of grievances against the junta, which was interpreted as an ultimatum. On 23 July, a plot to kidnap Larrazábal was uncovered. After the plot was foiled, on 24 July Castro resigned and went into exile in Curaçao.[12] In September 1958, Larrazábal survived a second coup attempt.[3]

Larrazábal resigned on November 14, 1958, to run in the 7 December 1958 Venezuelan general election; he was succeeded by Edgar Sanabria as interim president.[5][13][8] He was formally supported by the Democratic Republican Union and the Communist Party of Venezuela;[14] he was also covertly supported by the Soviet Union.[13] He lost to former president Rómulo Betancourt of the Democratic Action Party, receiving 34.61% of the vote to Betancourt's 49.18%.[15] Following the election, Larrazábal made a "sportsmanlike concession of defeat".[16]

In 1959, Larrazábal was appointed as Ambassador of Venezuela to Chile, described by Time as "semi-exile".[17] In 1962, during El Carupanazo, Larrazábal wrote to Betancourt from Chile assuring him that the Navy would never revolt against a democratically-elected government.[1] His term as Ambassador ended in 1963.[3] He stood for president in the 1963 Venezuelan general election under the Popular Democratic Front banner but received only 9.43% of the vote, losing to Raúl Leoni of the Democratic Action Party.[15] He declined any position in Leoni's government.[18]

Larrazábal died from respiratory failure on 27 February 2003 at the age of 91.[19]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Sorenson, John L. (1964). Unconventional Warfare and the Venezuelan Society. Naval Ordnance Test Station. p. 10. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024 – via University of Michigan.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Hemisphere: Proceed with Caution". Time. 3 February 1958. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Chin, John J.; Wright, Joseph; Carter, David B. (2022). Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D'état. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 673–674. ISBN 9781538120682.
  4. ^ a b c Coronil, Fernando (1997). The Magical State: Nature, Money, and Modernity in Venezuela. University of Chicago Press. p. 211. ISBN 9780226116020.
  5. ^ a b "15. Venezuela (1913-present)". University of Central Arkansas. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  6. ^ Reuter; Associated Press; British United Press (24 January 1958). "Jiménez out". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  7. ^ "First Week of Freedom". Time. 10 February 1958. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b Trinkunas, Harold A. (2011). Crafting Civilian Control of the Military in Venezuela: A Comparative Perspective. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9780807877036. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Troops Arrive to Help Nixon". Ironwood Daily Globe. Associated Press. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Drinot, Paulo (2010). Che's Travels: The Making of a Revolutionary in 1950s Latin America. Duke University Press. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-8223-9180-7. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Venezuela: The Different Communists". Time. 30 June 1958. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  12. ^ Scheina, Robert L. (2003). Latin America's Wars Volume II: The Age of the Professional Soldier, 1900-2001. Potomac Books. p. 284. ISBN 9781597974783. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b Levin, Dov H. (2016). "Partisan electoral interventions by the great powers: Introducing the PEIG Dataset". Conflict Management and Peace Science. 36 (1): 88–106. doi:10.1177/0738894216661190. ISSN 0738-8942. S2CID 157114479.
  14. ^ "Venezuela: The Admiral & the Reds". Time. 30 June 1958. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  15. ^ a b Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas: a Data Handbook. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 555. ISBN 978-0-19-928358-3.
  16. ^ "Venezuela: Victory from Underground". Time. 22 December 1958. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Venezuela: Welcome Home". Time. 25 January 1963. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  18. ^ Central Intelligence Agency (1963). "Venezuela: 19 December 1963". Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts (244–245). Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
  19. ^ "Former president dies at 91 of respiratory failure". Orlando Sentinel. 1 March 2003. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.

External links[edit]

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Political offices
Preceded by President of Venezuela
1958 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by
None
 URD presidential candidate
1958 (lost) 		Succeeded by
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