El Porteñazo (2 June 1962 – 6 June 1962) was a short-lived Communist military rebellion against the government of
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; ), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was a Venezuelan politician who served as the president of Venezuela, from and again from Second presidency of Rómulo ...
in
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 ...
, in which rebels attempted to take over the city of
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the count ...
, located ~ West of the capital
Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
. The rebellion was on a substantially larger scale than that of ''
El Carupanazo'' a month earlier.
On 2 June 1962, units led by navy Captains Manuel Ponte RodrÃguez, Pedro Medina Silva and VÃctor Hugo Morales went into rebellion.
[ venezuelatuya.com]
El Carupanazo y El Porteñazo
/ref> The 55th National Guard Detachment declined to participate. The rebellion was crushed by 3 June, leaving more than 400 dead and 700 injured, and by 6 June the rebels' stronghold of Solano Castle had fallen.[
A photograph of chaplain Luis MarÃa Padilla holding a wounded soldier during the rebellion won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Photography and 1962 World Press Photo of the Year for Héctor Rondón of '' ''La República''''.
]
Testimonies
Different stories retelling the event mourned Venezuela, taking the rebellion as an unjust and unnecessary act of war. Many reconciled what had happened according to their personal and political affiliations.
Alà Brett wrote, according to his investigation:
He concludes his investigation by saying:
See also
* Second Presidency of Rómulo Betancourt#Internal unrest
* El Barcelonazo
* El Carupanazo
References
Further reading
* Alà Brett MartÃnez (1973), ''El Porteñazo: historia de una rebelión'', Ediciones Adaro
* '' Últimas Noticias'', 5 June 2012
Del archivo de la Cadena Capriles: El Porteñazo
- gallery of 24 photographs, including ''Últimas Noticias front page of 4 June 1962, with the award-winning photo by Hector Rondón.
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1962 in Venezuela
Conflicts in 1962
Rebellions in Venezuela
June 1962 in South America
Puerto Cabello
Rómulo Betancourt