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", which sealed the pacification of Venezuela in 1903. Later, as head of a failed conspiracy against Juan Vicente Gómez he was imprisoned for 14 years in 1913, before attempting a naval invasion in 1929 to overthrow Gómez's regime and his Presidential front man.

Background and personal life

He was born to General Miguel Delgado Briceño (son of Santos Román Delgado Abreu and Abigail Briceño Gabaldón, whose grandparent was an Andalusian colonist) and Dolores Chalbaud Calderón (the daughter of José Antonio Chalbaud, a French immigrant, and Dolores Calderón Carrillo). He was the father of Carlos Delgado Chalbaud venezuelatuya.com
Román Delgado Chalbaud
/ref> (born 1909).

Career

Delgado entered the Venezuelan Naval Academy at Puerto Cabello, and by 1901 had obtained the rank of captain. He was Commander in Chief of the Venezuelan Navy during the ''Revolución Libertadora'' led by Manuel Antonio Matos against the government of Cipriano Castro. In 1906-7 he was involved with a group called "La Conjura" opposed to Juan Vicente Gómez, but nonetheless supported Gómez' 1908 coup against Castro.

The following year Delgado founded the ''Compañía Anónima de Navegación Fluvial y Costanera'', which controlled the entire maritime and river transport of Venezuela, with Gómez holding some shares. Delgado became sufficiently identified with ''gomecismo'' to be considered a possible successor to Gómez. In 1911 Delgado visited Europe to try to obtain financial support for a variety of development schemes in Venezuela. With some sectors of public opinion opposing the deals, Gómez, who had appeared to support them, opposed them. In 1913 he initiated a conspiracy against Gómez. This failed, and he was imprisoned for 14 years.

1929 invasion

Following his release, Delgado moved to Paris, a center of Venezuelan exile organisation against Gómez, and helped organise a government-in-exile, the ''Junta de Liberación Nacional'', of which Santos Dominici was president and Alberto Smith Vice President. On the morning of 11 August 1929 Delgado led the steamship ''Falke'' (renamed ''General Anzoátegui'' for the occasion) into Cumaná. Met by Venezuelan armed forces, the expeditionary force of 250-300 men soon ran into problems. Delgado was killed on the first day, and on 24 August, the leaders of the expedition surrendered. Delgado died at Cumaná, but his son Carlos was able to escape. Other participants included the writer José Rafael Pocaterra and Francisco Linares Alcantara. Venezuela's roving diplomat in Europe, José Ignacio Cárdenas, had reported on the planned expedition, which helped defeat it. venezuelatuya.com
José Ignacio Cárdenas
accessed 4 June 2012

Books

* Delgado Chalbaud, Roman (1912), ''Por mi jefe, por mi causa, y por mi nombre'', Emp. El Cojo
* Capriles Méndez, Ruth (1991), ''Los negocios de Román Delgado Chalbaud'', Academia Nacional de la Historia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado Chalbaud, Roman
1882 births
1929 deaths
20th-century Venezuelan businesspeople
People of Andalusian descent
Venezuelan people of French descent
Prisoners and detainees of Venezuela
Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
People from Mérida, Mérida
Venezuelan exiles