Republic of Venezuela

The Republic of Venezuela, also sometimes referred to as the Fourth Republic of Venezuela, was a democratic bipartidist republic first established in 1953, and replaced in 1999 by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Venezuela saw ten years of military dictatorship from 1948 to 1958. After the 1948 Venezuelan coup d'état brought an end to a three-year experiment in democracy, a triumvirate of military personnel controlled the government until 1952, when it held presidential elections. These were free enough to produce results unacceptable to the government, leading them to be falsified and to one of the three leaders, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, assuming the Presidency. His government was brought to an end by the 1958 Venezuelan coup d'état, which saw the advent of democracy with a transitional government under Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal in place until the December 1958 elections. Prior to the elections, three of the main political parties, Acción Democrática, COPEI and Unión Republicana Democrática, with the notable exclusion of the Communist Party of Venezuela, signed up to the Puntofijo Pact power-sharing agreement. This period is pejoratively known as the "Adeco" period.

This period was characterised by the alternation of political power established in the Punto Fijo Pact; by the nationalisation of the oil industry in 1976 and the creation of PDVSA, the national oil and gas company; and by the rise of new social elites. Internationally, Venezuela became a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The 1980s in particular were characterised by the flowering of art and culture and by the artistic development of the nation, especially in television. Pioneering media like RCTV made Venezuela famous with soap operas such as Kassandra.

The period following the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830 (and thus succeeding the Third Republic of Venezuela) to the establishment of a "Bolivarian Republic" by Hugo Chávez on August 5, 1999, is referred to as the Fourth Republic of Venezuela by official Venezuelan historiography. The term was coined by Chávez to define the 169-year period.

The term is not universally accepted by Venezuelan historians, however, as Elías Pino Iturrieta argues that no "Fifth Republic" was founded in 1999, while Diego Bautista Urbaneja proposes a different chronology for the entirety of Venezuela's republican history: a "First Republic" from 1830 to 1857, a "Second Republic" from 1870 to 1899, a "Third Republic" from 1909 to 1945, a "Fourth Republic" from 1958 to 1999 and a "Fifth Republic" from 1999 to 2013, ending with the death of Hugo Chávez (and thus suggesting a "Sixth Republic" under Nicolás Maduro).

After a military coup d'état on 23 January 1958 sent General Marcos Pérez Jiménez into exile, Venezuela's three main political parties signed the Punto Fijo Pact. The ensuing elections brought Acción Democrática, which had been the ruling party from 1945 to 1948, back to power under its leader Rómulo Betancourt. Betancourt's government halted grants to multinational oil companies, created a Venezuelan oil corporation, and helped establish OPEC in 1960, an initiative led by Development Minister Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso. The administration also introduced a new constitution in 1961, dividing the government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches; pursued agricultural reform; and promoted an international doctrine in which Venezuela only recognised governments elected by popular vote.

The new order had its opponents. On 24 June 1960, Betancourt was injured in an assassination attempt led by the Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Around the same time, the left-wingers excluded from the Punto Fijo Pact (Revolutionary Left Movement and Armed Forces of National Liberation) began an insurgency that was backed by the Communist Party of Cuba and its leader, Fidel Castro.

In 1963, Raúl Leoni was elected to succeed Betancourt as president. Leoni's government became known for public works and cultural development, but was confronted with continuous guerrilla warfare.

Rafael Caldera won the next election. Before he took office in 1969, the Rupununi Uprising broke out in neighboring Guyana. The border controversy was resolved with the Port of Spain Protocol in 1970. Additionally, a truce with the guerrillas allowed their reintegration into political life.