Eleazar López Contreras

Eleazar López Contreras
Eleazar López Contreras
President of Venezuela
	In office; 18 December 1935 – 5 May 1941
Preceded by	Juan Vicente Gómez
Succeeded by	Isaías Medina Angarita
Ministry of War
	In office; 22 April 1931 – 17 December 1935
Preceded by	Tobías Utribe
Succeeded by	Antonio Chalboud Cardona
Senator for life
	In office; 23 January 1961 – 2 January 1973
Personal details
Born	5 May 1883; Queniquea, Táchira, Venezuela
Died	2 January 1973 (aged 89); Caracas, Venezuela
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Luz María Volkmar; Luisa Elena Mijares; María Teresa Núñez Tovar
Children	Blanca Rosa; Eleazar; Cristina; Cecilia; Fernando; Margarita
Profession	General, Politician
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Army of Cipriano Castro; Army of Venezuela;
Years of service	1899−1941
Rank	Vice Commander (final)
Commands	Libertador Battalion; Carabobo Battalion; Army of Venezuela;
Battles/wars	Batalla de La Victoria; Batalla del Tocuyito;

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, Contreras accepted on behalf of Venezuela the ships Koenigstein and Caribia which had fled with Jews from Germany.^[1]^[2]

Presidency

At the beginning of his presidency he faced two great crises: the first one was on Friday, February 14, 1936, when a popular demonstration arrived at Miraflores to demand the restitution of constitutional guarantees, the dissolution of the Gomecista majority Congress and the summoning of a National Constituent Assembly. The bloody events that took place during the repression of said demonstration led to the immediate dismissal and temporary arrest of the Governor of the Capital District, Felix Galavis. President Lopez partially accepted the demands. The second was the labor strike in June of the same year, where the purpose of the opposition was to overthrow him, which was not accomplished. He reformed the Constitution in July 1936, tried to be democratic by reducing the presidential term from 7 to 5 years, a clause that he himself surprisingly applied. However, authoritarian measures were legalized, such as exile by presidential decree and the proscription of communist and anarchist ideologies, which caused several politicians accused of such to be expelled from the country, among them Rómulo Betancourt.

His government is remembered for the creation of protection and assistance organisms such as the Ministry of Health and Social Assistance by a decree on February 25, 1936. The importance of public hygiene was stated as a motive. Many of the innovations that the Ministry introduced were due to Arnoldo Gabaldón, who brought recommendations from the Conference of Directors of Public Health in Washington, D.C. in 1936. The Ministry of Agriculture and Breeding was also created due to the importance that the policy of Contreras intended to attribute to agricultural development. On August 6, 1936 he created the Venezuelan Children's Council. In 1938 the Technical Institute of Immigration and Colonization was created, through which the government planned to distribute large estates to Venezuelan and foreign farmers, in order to repopulate the countryside and to raise the quality of life.

1936 Constitution

Main changes:^[3]

Senators and deputies are elected by second degree elections. They are in charge of electing the President of the Republic. With the 1945 reform, parliamentarians are elected directly.^[4]
The presidential term is reduced from 7 to 5 years.
The parliamentary term is 4 years.
Men over 21 years of age and literate can elect and be elected.
Women can participate in the elections to Municipal Councils. After the reform of 1945, women are allowed to vote universally and by secret ballot.^[4]
The name of Zamora State is changed to Barinas State.
Communist and anarchist activities are prohibited, but in the reform of 1945 this provision is suppressed.^[4]

López Contreras cabinet

Cabinet^[5]
OFFICE	NAME	TERM

President	Eleazar López Contreras	1935–1941
Interior Affairs	Pedro Tinoco	1935–1936
	Diógenes Escalante	1936
	Alejandro Lara	1936
	Régulo Olivares	1936–1937
	Alfonso Mejía	1937–1938
	Luis Gerónimo Pietri	1938–1941

Foreign Affairs	Pedro Itriago Chacín	1935–1936
	Esteban Gil Borges	1936–1941
Finance	Efraim González	1935–1936
	Gustavo Herrera	1936
	Alejandro Lara	1936
	Alberto Adriani	1936
	Cristóbal L. Mendoza	1937–1938
	Francisco J. Parra	1938–1941
War and Navy	Antonio Chalbaud Cardona	1935–1936
	Isaías Medina Angarita	1936–1941
Development	Pedro París	1936
	Nestor Luis Pérez	1936–1938
	Manuel R. Egaña	1938–1941
Public Works	Antonio Díaz	1935–1936
	Tomás Pacaninis	1936–1938
	Enrique Jorge Aguerrevere	1938–1941
Public Instruction	R. González Rincones	1935–1936
	José Ramón Ayala	1936
	Caracciolo Parra Pérez	1936
	Rómulo Gallegos	1936
	Alberto Smith	1936–1937
	Rafael Ernesto López	1937–1938
	Enrique Tejera	1938–1939
	Arturo Uslar Pietri	1939–1941
Sanitation and Agriculture	R. González Rincones	1935–1936
Health and Social Welfare	Enrique Tejera	1936
	Santos A. Dominici	1936–1937
	Honorio Sigala	1937–1938
	Julio García Álvarez	1938–1941
Agriculture	Alberto Adriani	1936
	Alfonso Mejía	1936–1937
	Hugo Parra Pérez	1937–1938
	Amenodoro Rangel Lamus	1938–1939
	Alfonso Mejía	1939–1941
Communications	Francisco H. Rivero	1936
	Honorio Sigala	1936
	Alejandro Lara	1936–1937
	Luis Gerónimo Pietri	1937–1938
	Héctor Cuenca	1938–1939
	José Rafael Pocaterra	1939–1941
Secretary of the Presidency	Amenodoro Rangel	1935-1936
	Francisco Parra	1936
	Diógenes Escalante	1936–1938
	Alfonso Mejía	1938–1939
	Tulio Chiossone	1939−1941
Secretary	Amenodoro Rangel Lamus	1935-1937

Personal life

Eleazar López Contreras was married to María Teresa Núñez Tovar,^{[citation needed]} who served as First Lady of Venezuela from 1936–1941.^{[citation needed]}

María Teresa Núñez Tovar

References

(in Spanish) General Eleazar López Contreras — Official biography.

^ "Nuevo Mundo Israelita - Semanario al servicio de la comunidad judia de Venezuela". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
^ "Morashá | Home". Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
^ "Fundación Empresas Polar > Historia de Venezuela para nosotros". web.archive.org. 31 March 2008. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Rojas, Indira (18 October 2020). "La revolución del voto y el 18 de octubre de 1945". Prodavinci (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 February 2024.
^ Centro Editor/José Rivas Rivas (1972). "Historia Gráfica de Venezuela. 1- El Gobierno de López Contreras"