Republic of Venezuela

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Republic of Venezuela República de Venezuela (Spanish)
1953–1999
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Dios y Federación" (Spanish)
Anthem: "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo"
Capital and largest city	Caracas
Official languages	Spanish
Religion	None (around 92% Roman Catholic)
Demonym(s)	Venezuelan
Government	Federal presidential constitutional initially under a military dictatorship (1953–1958)
President
• 1953–1958	Marcos Pérez Jiménez
• 1959–1964	Rómulo Betancourt[1]
• 1964–1969	Raúl Leoni
• 1969–1974	Rafael Caldera
• 1974–1979	Carlos Andrés Pérez
• 1979–1984	Luis Herrera Campins
• 1984–1989	Jaime Lusinchi
• 1989–1993	Carlos Andrés Pérez
• 1993–1994	Ramón José Velásquez
• 1994–1999	Rafael Caldera
• 1999	Hugo Chávez
Legislature	Bicameral Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	Deputies
History
• Established	11 April 1953
• Constitution adopted	16 January 1961
• Bolivarian Republic established	2 February 1999
Population
• Estimate	8,142,838
HDI (1999)	0.674[2] medium
Currency	Bolívar
ISO 3166 code	VE
Preceded by Succeeded by United States of Venezuela Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Part of a series on the
History of Venezuela
Chronology
Pre-Columbian period 1522–1821 1821–30 1830–1908 1908–58 1948–58 1953–99 1999–present
Topics
New Spain Province of Venezuela Viceroyalty of New Granada Captaincy General American Confederation of Venezuela War of Independence First Republic Second Republic Third Republic Caudillismo Revolution of the Reforms 1848–1849 civil war March Revolution Federal War Blue Revolution April Revolution Revindicating Revolution Legalist Revolution Andean Hegemony Restorative Liberal Revolution Liberating Revolution 1902–03 blockade 1908 coup Oil industry history Generation of 1928 El Trienio Adeco Democratic period 1958 coup Punto Fijo Pact Carupanazo Porteñazo Caracazo February 1992 coup attempt November 1992 coup attempt Bolivarian Revolution Vargas tragedy 2002 coup attempt 2002–03 general strike 2004 recall referendum 2007 RCTV protests Death and state funeral of Hugo Chávez Crisis in Venezuela
Venezuela portal
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The Republic of Venezuela was a democratic republic first established in 1953, and replaced in 1999 by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Venezuela saw ten years of military dictatorship from 1948 to 1958. After the 1948 Venezuelan coup d'état brought an end to a three-year experiment in democracy (Spanish: El Trienio Adeco), a triumvirate of military personnel controlled the government until 1952, when it held presidential elections. These were free enough to produce results unacceptable to the government, leading them to be falsified and to one of the three leaders, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, assuming the Presidency. His government was brought to an end by the 1958 Venezuelan coup d'état, which saw the advent of democracy with a transitional government under Admiral Wolfgang Larrazábal in place until the December 1958 elections. Prior to the elections, three of the main political parties, Acción Democrática, COPEI and Unión Republicana Democrática, with the notable exclusion of the Communist Party of Venezuela, signed up to the Puntofijo Pact power-sharing agreement.

This period was characterised by the alternation of political power established in the Punto Fijo Pact; by the nationalisation of the oil industry in 1976 and the creation of PDVSA, the national oil and gas company; and by the rise of new social elites. Internationally, Venezuela became a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The 1980s in particular were characterised by the flowering of art and culture and by the artistic development of the nation, especially in television. Pioneering media like RCTV made Venezuela famous with soap operas such as Kassandra.