Talk:Juan Vicente Gómez

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[edit] Despotism?

If I get the time, I'll do it, but this article really does not touch on the tactics Gomez would use to defeat political enemies and how many people he imprisoned. Also, this article needs to elaborate more on Gomez's reliance on the US and UK to maintain his power. Although he was a dictator and did not support the people's right to self determination the "freedom loving" nations backed this man so they could maintain their hold on Venezuelan oil. Romulo Betancourt said that, “…Gomez was something more than a local despot, he was the instrument of foreign control of the Venezuelan economy, the ally and servant of powerful outside interests”.

AdrianLaTraceJr (Chicago) 03:38, 16 November 2006 (CST)

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An interesting fact, I'm not sure deserves inclusion in the article, at least not as stated (way too POV), but, in a quiz book dated 1938 ("The Quiz and Answer Book" by Frederic J. Haskin) that I have, the following answer is given to the quiz question "Who is Juan Vicente Gomez?": "Dictator of Venezuela from 1909 to 1935 [sic], the most ruthless, cruel and perhaps brilliant dictator that the modern world has known." Surprisingly POV for a quiz book (but there are a handful of other questions/answers of the 2000+ that are) and kind of surprising, since this was written before the true nefarious-ness of some other dictators (Hitler and Stalin to name two) were known --Canuckguy 21:02, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

• Not that surprising. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia's bio of Juan Vincente Comez (linked at the end of the article) states : "Though cordial and simple in manner, Gómez was an absolute tyrant whose secret police ferreted out opposition and subjected victims to imprisonment and torture. He was also a patriot whose shrewdness and industry brought his country economic stability." So your quiz book says essentially the same, though in a more "vivid" language - not uncommon at the time, since you say it dates back to 1938.

That being said, I think the article is a bit too elliptic on the subject. I'll try to expand on it somewhat.--Fils du Soleil 05:12, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

• So I did. I also added a small "Legacy" section. --Fils du Soleil 00:21, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Again, why did you change the page like that, JEA IAT?

Piotr (Venezuela) 04:04, 25 October 2006 (UTC)