The Directory of National Security ( es, Dirección de Seguridad Nacional, abbreviated as DSN) was the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

Venezuela 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 ...

from 1938 until is disestablishment in 1958.

History

The Directory of National Security was established in 1938 in

. The Seguridad Nacional was active during the presidencies of

Eleazar López Contreras 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, López C ...

, Isaías Medina Angarita,

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 ...

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 ...

Carlos Delgado Chalbaud Carlos Román Delgado Chalbaud Gómez (20 January 1909 – 13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan career military officer. He was the president of Venezuela from 1948 to 1950 as leader of a military junta. In 1945, he was one of the high-ranking o ...

Germán Suárez Flamerich Germán Suárez Flamerich (10 April 1907 – 24 June 1990) was the president of Venezuela from 1950 to 1952. Flamerich was a lawyer, college professor, diplomat, and politician. He was president of the Government Junta from 1950 to 1952, after th ...

, and most notably,

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 19 ...

. The purpose of the Seguridad Nacional was to investigate, arrest,

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

, or assassinate political opponents to the Venezuelan government. From 1951 until 1953, the Seguridad Nacional operated a prison camp on , which was effectively a

forced labour camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

. The Seguridad Nacional was abolished following the overthrow of Pérez Jiménez on 23 January 1958.

References

{{reflist

External links

Laws of the Directory of National Security – 1938
Defunct law enforcement agencies of Venezuela Government agencies established in 1938 1938 establishments in Venezuela Government agencies disestablished in 1958 1958 disestablishments in Venezuela

History

See also

References

External links