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.

Presidency

After Juan Vicente Gómez's death on December 17, 1935, the Council of Ministers named López as interim president. His was ratified by Congress on 2 January 1936. López supported gradual democratization, while fearing competitive politics. He held the view that the president must manipulate the political system to avoid what he saw as destructive political changes. He was ideologically conservative. He reformed the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

July July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before the ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, reducing the presidential term from 7 to 5 years, a clause that he himself applied. However, authoritarian measures were legalized, such as exile by presidential decree and the proscription of

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

ideologies, which caused several

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

s accused of such to be expelled from the country, among them Rómulo Betancourt. 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 A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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 June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of su ...

of the same year, where the purpose of the opposition was to overthrow him, which was not accomplished. 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

. 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,

he created the Venezuelan Children's Council. In

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

the Technical Institute of Immigration and Colonization was created, through which the government planned to distribute large estates to Venezuelan and foreign

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s, in order to repopulate the countryside and to raise the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

. He considered letting a civilian succeed him as president, but was persuaded by his military colleagues to designate General Isaias Medina Angarita as his successor.

1936 Constitution

Main changes: * Senators and deputies are elected by second degree elections. They are in charge of electing the President of the Republic. With the 1945 reform, parliamentarians are elected directly. * The presidential term is reduced from 7 to 5 years. * The parliamentary term is 4 years. * Men over 21 years of age and literate can elect and be elected. * Women can participate in the elections to Municipal Councils. After the reform of 1945, women are allowed to vote universally and by secret ballot. * The name of Zamora State is changed to Barinas State. * Communist and anarchist activities are prohibited, but in the reform of 1945 this provision is suppressed.

López Contreras cabinet

Personal life

Eleazar López Contreras was married to María Teresa Núñez Tovar, who served as First Lady of Venezuela from 1936 to 1941. File:María Teresa Núñez Tovar.jpg, María Teresa Núñez Tovar

References

*
General Eleazar López Contreras
– Official biography. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Contreras, Eleazar Presidents of Venezuela Venezuelan generals Venezuelan soldiers Venezuelan life senators Venezuelan people of Spanish descent Recipients of the Legion of Honour 1883 births 1973 deaths Juan Vicente Gómez ministers

Presidency

1936 Constitution

López Contreras cabinet

Personal life

See also

References