January 23, 1958: 60 years in which the sancristobalenses expressed joy for the overthrow of Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Pérez Jiménez during the inauguration of the bridge over El Chama, in El Vigía, State of Mérida, on December 8, 1954.
Today marks the 60th anniversary of the overthrow of the dictatorship of General Marcos Pérez Jiménez, a period in which many exalt as transformation of the country, roads and monumental works that he built, but there are those who call attention to the lack of freedom.
The lawyer and historian Luis Hernández Contreras, chronicler of San Cristóbal, spoke of that moment in which "for General Marcos Pérez Jiménez everything seemed normal. His government, initiated with the ignorance of the popular will exerted in the elections of November 30, 1952, had transformed the country. Of course, without political parties, without press freedom, without opposition and with the absolute support of the Armed Forces. The "transformation of the physical environment, philosophy of the New National Ideal, as it qualified its mandate, had filled the country with roads and monumental works that were well needed. It also announced that it had decreased 20 percent of crime. "
"In exchange for this, the freedom of the people coerced through terrible means of oppression, such as National Security. His administration had been so profitable for some that the US government of President Eisenhower honored him with the highest order granted to a foreign agent. For the world, Pérez Jiménez was the best ruler of Latin America. "
A little history
The historian summarized the last days of dictatorship in the increase of the ruler's power, his "excessive" enrichment, the 1957 re-election project replaced by the plebiscite to continue in power, which "once again curtailed the popular will and increased the discontent in many sectors of the population. " He recalled that Archbishop Rafael Arias denounced in the pastoral of May "the cruel reality of the country, military sectors were persecuted by the National Security
and the economic indexes had decreased due to the high level of investments that the State had made in all orders. In addition, Latin America was seeing its dictatorships fall, like those of Colombia, Peru and Argentina, to name a few. "
He noted that after the triumph of the plebiscite, Perez was proclaimed on December 20, "and the military discontent was underway, arose just dawn on January 1, 1958. An unstoppable tension began and the general undertook the dismissal of officials as the Minister Vallenilla and the head of National Security, Pedro Estrada. But it was too late to remedy it, the situation reached such a point that the governor of Táchira, Antonio Pérez Vivas, cousin of the dictator, was appointed Minister of Interior Relations on the 13th. "
He pointed out that the national press stopped going out, the university students and the high school students folded to the great national strike called by the Patriotic Board that decided "to face the regime, while leaders in exile such as Rómulo Betancourt, Jóvito Villalba and Rafael Caldera joined forces for the necessary unification that could cause the regime to leave ".
Táchira: between the holidays of January
And meanwhile in the Tachira, everything seemed normal within the season of the Fiestas de Enero, because "the press and the incomprehensible reports that by different ways were received from Caracas, kept a group aware of what was really happening. Pérez Jiménez himself had assumed the ownership of the Ministry of Defense and the capajero military, Colonel José Teófilo Velasco, supplanted Estrada in the direction of National Security ".
-With the departure of Antonio Pérez Vivas, the General Secretary, Homero Moreno Orozco, assumed the Governorship of Táchira and the eighteen, Luis Alfonzo Larráin's orchestra acted in the dances organized in the Social Club of the Casa Sindical de San Cristóbal. The Festival of January had begun and was inaugurated with the presence of delegates of the Ministers of Agriculture and Crop and Development, the Agricultural Exhibition of Táchira for the festivities of San Sebastian.
The historian pointed out that "something serious was happening, because no high level official had arrived in the Tahrir capital. On January 22, the communiqués of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Transport and Communications that called on the population to maintain public order were published. Nothing could contain the force of history. The fall of Pérez Jiménez was a fact and some argue that he could stay in power, but the military preferred not to shed more blood. "
It was then that the dictator under the pressure of the military high estates, left power and fled to the Dominican Republic with his wife, his daughters and three ministers, in the "Holy Cow", the presidential plane.
The Governor for Tachira
Hernandez reported that the circumstances decided that the highest ranking officer assumed the power of the country which was assumed by Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal, and in San Cristobal, the Interior was temporarily assumed by Colonel Luis Brea Boyer, commander of the Military Group No. 1 of Tachira.
-The press published the first decrees issued by the Military Junta of the National Government and the regional leaders of the nascent democracy, Drs. Francisco Romero Lobo, Teófilo Labrador Rangel and Alfonso Ramírez Castillo, representing the Civic Committee of San Cristóbal, met with a group of officers in the Comando de Grupamiento Militar Nº 1.
He noted that "the overwhelmed joy of the population could not be contained. In the Plaza Bolívar of San Cristóbal, more than five thousand people expressed their joy at the overthrow of the Pérez Jiménez government. "
However, the January Festival continued, fulfilling its program without fail. The 24th was carried out, as if nothing happened, the agricultural auction in the Exhibition Park. On the 29th, Colonel Miguel Méndez Salas was in charge of the Government of Táchira State, until the Governing Board presided over by Larrazabal appointed Major Santiago Ochoa Briceño as governor. On January 31, he took office before the First Superior Civil Judge, Rafael Parra León.