Source: The Militant, Vol. 12 No. 50, 13 December 1948, pp. 1 & 2.
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American oil interests were directly involved in the Venezuelan army coup. This is the sensational charge made by exiled President Romulo Gallegos upon his arrival in Havana. In a press conference Dec. 5, Gallegos accused United States oil companies and local Venezuelan capitalists of instigating the army clique to overthrow the government.
The oil corporations, who hold some two billion dollars worth of investments ip Venezuela, were angered, according to Gallegos, by a 50 percent profits tax which was recently levied.
The exiled President also implied that the U.S. State Department was not without knowledge of the conspiracy. The military attache of a “large power" was at army headquarters when the coup was staged, he said. Gallegos did not name the “large power” but it is inferred he meant the United States.
This fits in with the accusations made by the well-known columnist, Drew Pearson, who declared Dec. 3: “What’s happened in Venezuela—and will soon take place in other Latin-American republics — is the direct product of ... incredible State Department double-dealing.”
According to Pearson, the State Department promised to consult with Gallegos as well as the governments of Ecuador, Colombia and Chile before taking any action toward recognizing the conspirators who recently seized power in Peru. Three days later the State Department, “without warning,” recognized the Peruvian army clique.
This was taken by the Venezuelan brass hats as a rebuff to Gallegos and “showed Washington’s lack of confidence in Gallegos.” The plotters drew the logical conclusion that the Truman Administration would recognize a totalitarian regime in Venezuela as it had in Peru.
The Gulf Oil Corporation hastily issued a denial that it “had anything whatsoever to do with the army coup.” Gulf gratuitously included in its denial the other oil corporations who have so far remained discreetly silent: “Nor do we believe other oil companies were involved.” According to the publicity handout, “Our companies were as surprised as anyone else over the turn of events.”
Even if Gulf, Shell and Standard Oil did not directly organize the coup, it is not likely that the central conspirators in the army clique would have carried and their brazen plot without first getting the green light from the dominant power m Venezuela, the American oil companies.
Working hand in glove, with the most reactionary national capitalists and land-holders, these imperialist giants have exercised a malignant sway over national affairs for decades. No regime has been able to survive without their approval.
While Gallegos today accuses the American oil interests of being involved in his overthrow, it cannot be said that he fought against them while in office. In fact Gallegos tried to win the favor of both the oil interests and the Truman Administration. He was wined, and dined by the White House and publicized as one of the best Latin American friends of the Truman Administration.
Similarly, Gallegos made no serious effort as head of the government to cut down the power of the military clique. This he could have done without much difficulty on taking office last February, for the overwhelming majority of the people, including the trade unions, supported him. However, when the ultra-reactionary officer caste indicated their dissatisfaction with the government, Gallegos attempted to appease them by giving them more posts in his cabinet. This taste of blood only increased their thirst for absolute power.
The military plotters, now pressing for early recognition of their regime, are demonstrating how well they intend to serve American imperialism. On Dec. 5, the same day they dissolved Congress and all the state legislatures, Pedro Aguerrevere, the conspirator in the office of Minister of Development, told a conference of oil and mining company representatives that their investments are “safe and sound.”
Aguerrevere assured the oil barons that the new dictatorship would work out a policy toward the petroleum industry that “everyone will accept and support in the future.”
Another plotter, Jose Rafael Pocaterra, has arrived in Washington to discuss recognition of the new regime with the State Department.
Washington’s main concern in Venezuela is over the interests of the oil corporations. The first announcement of the State Department upon the overthrow of the Gallegos government was not that democracy had been crushed and a totalitarian regime installed, but that the property of U.S. investors was “safe.”
Since the end of the war, the Truman Administration has followed a calculated policy of bolstering the reactionary military cliques throughout Latin America. Washington brass hats have toured the countries south of the border to tighten relations with the militarists and bind them closer to the American military machine.
Part of the plan to convert the entire Western Hemisphere into a gigantic armed camp in preparation for the next world war calls for standardization of arms in Latin America and the entrenchment of Washington’s military influence in the officer caste of those countries.
How the Truman Administration has deliberately strengthened the military cliques is graphically revealed in a survey prepared by the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain. Since April 1947, Venezuela “has bought $677,758 worth of bullets, bombs, tanks, airplanes, gas masks and bayonets for $46,746.”
In Peru, where the military clique recently staged a successful coup, $6,200,000 worth of tanks, planes, guns and spare parts were purchased from the U.S. Government for $479,000.
Similarly in Chile, where only a few weeks ago the military clique attempted an armed revolt. $4,800,000 worth of U.S. arms were purchased for $265,000.
In addition to this,
“Combat equipment worth $19,800,000 has been sold for $1,800,000 to military establishments in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba and Mexico. Argentina has paid $302,000 for $5,000,000 worth of military supplies. Brazil has bought $4,100,000 worth of combat equipment for $586,000.”
The State Department policy of fostering militarism has strengthened totalitarian tendencies throughout Latin America. The crushing of democracy and the establishment of military dictatorship in Venezuela is simply a glaring instance of what American imperialism is nurturing south of the Rio Grande.
Last updated on: 29 March 2023