José Rafael Pocaterra (18 December 1889 – 18 April 1955) was a
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n writer, journalist and politician.
Career
He was imprisoned in 1907 to 1908 for his work on the opposition newspaper ''Caín'', and again from 1919 to 1922 after participating in
Luis Rafael Pimentel's attempt to overthrow the dictator
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, politician and '' de facto'' ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions d ...
.
Whilst in prison, where he was tortured, he wrote the history book ''Memorias de un venezolano de la decadencia'' (published in 1927) and the novel ''La casa de los Ábila'' (published 1946).
Later he participated in
Román Delgado Chalbaud
Román Delgado Chalbaud (Mérida, Mérida, 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 ...
's ill-fated 1929 ''Falke'' expedition aimed at over-throwing
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, politician and '' de facto'' ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions d ...
.
Under
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, Contr ...
he was Minister of Communications (1939–1941), and then held a variety of ambassadorial posts (to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Brazil, and the United States) until he resigned as Ambassador to Washington in 1950 following the assassination of
Carlos Delgado Chalbaud
Carlos Román Delgado Gómez (20 January 1909 – 13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan military officer who served as president of Venezuela from 1948 to 1950 as leader of a Military dictatorship, military junta. In 1945, he was one of the high- ...
.
[ Arria, Piero and Muñoz Arteaga, Valmore (2003)]
José Rafael Pocaterra ante la condición humana
Espéculo. Revista de estudios literarios. Number 23. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...
He was a contributor to ''
El Heraldo de Cuba
''El Heraldo de Cuba'' was a national newspaper in Cuba founded by future President of Cuba
The president of Cuba (), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba (), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was estab ...
'',
["José Rafael Pocaterra", ''Biografías y Vidas'']
/ref> amongst other publications.
Books
;Novels
* ''Política feminista: o, El doctor Bebé'' (1910)
* ''Vidas oscuras'' (1912)
* ''Tierra del sol amada'' (1917)
* ''La casa de los Ábila'' (1946)
;Other
* ''Memorias de un venezolano de la decadencia'' (1927, historical)
* ''Cuentos grotescos'' (1922, short stories)
;Books by others
* ''Cartas a José Rafael Pocaterra (1889–1955)'' (2007, collection of letters to Pocaterra). Editorial El Perro y la Rana.
* ''José Rafael Pocaterra (1889–1955)'' (2009, by Simón Alberto Consalvi). Editora El Nacional.
See also
* Political prisoners in Venezuela
* Torture in Venezuela
Torture in Venezuela has been a consistent phenomenon throughout its history. Various dictatorships from the Spanish colonial era into the twentieth century utilized torture against common criminals and political opponents. In the twentieth cent ...
References
Venezuelan novelists
Venezuelan male novelists
1955 deaths
1889 births
Ambassadors of Venezuela to the United Kingdom
Ambassadors of Venezuela to the United States
Ambassadors of Venezuela to the Soviet Union
Ambassadors of Venezuela to Brazil
People from Valencia, Venezuela
20th-century Venezuelan novelists
20th-century Venezuelan male writers
Political prisoners during the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez
Venezuelan torture victims
Communications ministers of Venezuela
Labour ministers of Venezuela
Venezuelan prisoners and detainees
Journalists imprisoned in Venezuela
20th-century Venezuelan journalists
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