Carlos Román Delgado Chalbaud Gómez (20 January 1909 – 13 November 1950) was a

Venezuelan Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

career military officer. He was the

president of Venezuela The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...

from 1948 to 1950 as leader of a

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

. In 1945, he was one of the high-ranking officers who brought to power the Democratic Action party by a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. In 1948, as a Minister of Defense, he led another

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

and lingered as the President until his assassination in Caracas.

Early life

Delgado Chalbaud was the son of

Román Delgado Chalbaud Román Delgado Chalbaud ( Mérida, 12 April 1882 - Cumana, 11 August 1929) was a Venezuelan naval officer, founder, admiral, and commander in chief of the Venezuelan navy, businessman and politician. Hero of the battle of "Ciudad Bolívar", whic ...

(grandson of a French immigrant and great-grandson of Andalusian colonist) and Luisa Elena Gómez Velutini (of Corsican descent). He was known as Carlos Delgado Chalbaud because he used the last name of his father Román Delgado Chalbaud as a tribute to his memory. When he was 20, he approached the cruiser ' in the port of Danzig (

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

). It landed on the coasts of

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

on 11 August 1929, with the purpose to overthrow the strongman

Juan Vicente Gomez ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. In this failed operation his father Román commandant of the expeditionary was killed, leading Carlos to return to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Delgado Chalbaud spent most of his life in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he studied engineering and later attended the

Saint-Cyr military academy Saint-Cyr refers to the popular child-saint Saint Quiricus (Cyriacus), whose following was strong in France because relics were brought back from Antioch by the 4th-century Bishop Saint Amator of Auxerre. Saint-Cyr may refer to: Places Franc ...

. He returned to Venezuela in 1939 and was promptly commissioned in the Venezuelan army by president General Eleazar Lopez Contreras with the rank of captain.

Career

As one of the brightest officials of the Armed Forces associated with the group that overthrew

Isaías Medina Angarita Isaías Medina Angarita (6 July 1897 – 15 September 1953) was a Venezuelan military and political leader, the president of Venezuela from 1941 until 1945, during World War II. He followed the path of his predecessor Eleazar López Contreras ...

in 1945, Carlos was a member of the Government Revolutionary Junta that replaced Medina. He was Minister of Defense during the presidencies of

Rómulo Betancourt Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; ), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was the president of Venezuela, serving from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Acción De ...

and

Rómulo Gallegos Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire (2 August 1884 – 5 April 1969) was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of nine months during 1948, he governed as the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was ...

. In 1948, Chalbaud was among those who overthrew that government of president Gallegos, and was a member of the Military Junta of Government along with

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 195 ...

and Luis Llovera Páez, who was the titular head of the three-person junta.

Death

Chalbaud was kidnapped and murdered on 13 November 1950, by a group led by

Rafael Simón Urbina Rafael Simón Urbina López (Puerto Cumarebo, 1897 - Caracas, 13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan rebel who fought against the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. Biography Early battles Implicated in a 1919 conspiracy to overthrow President Góm ...

and his

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

Domingo Urbina. The kidnapping took place in Caracas between the neighborhood of Country Club and Chapellin, and his murder took place in the semi-abandoned Las Mercedes neighborhood. His murder seems to be the unintended outcome of a failed kidnapping led by Simón Urbina, who looked to overthrow the Chalbaud presidency. Some believe Urbina despised Delgado Chalbaud, while others argue they were close until a falling out over politics. The day after the capture and imprisonment of Urbina, he was assassinated by orders of the Direction of National Security, efficiently securing Pérez Jiménez's position as the strongman in Venezuela for the next several years.

Personal life

Chalbaud was married to Lucía Devine, who served as

First Lady of Venezuela First Lady of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Primera Dama de Venezuela'') is the unofficial title traditionally held by the wife of the president of Venezuela. The current office of the first lady is disputed. List of first ladies Non-spouse first ladie ...

from 1948 to 1950. Cerro Carlos Delgado Chalbaud (1047m), a mountain in Venezuela's Amazonas estate where the headwaters of the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

are located, is named after him. File:Lucía Devine.jpg, Lucía Devine

References

External links