Juan Bautista Pérez

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Juan Bautista Pérez
Juan Bautista Pérez

In office
May 30, 1929 – June 13, 1931
Preceded by Juan Vicente Gómez
Succeeded by Juan Vicente Gómez

Born December 20, 1869
Caracas, Venezuela
Died May 7, 1952
Caracas, Venezuela

Juan Bautista Pérez was born in Caracas, December 20, 1869, and dies in Caracas, May 7, 1952, Lawyer, magistrate and president of the Republic (1929-1931). Graduating as a lawyer in the Central University of Venezuela near 1895, he exerted his profession in Villa de Cura, Aragua state. In 1900, he returned to Caracas, where he entered in the magistrature until reaching the Presidency of the Federal Court and Abrogation (1929).

When Gómez was finalizing his presidential period (1922-1929), he had decided to retire to Maracay from where he would maintain control of the state as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. Nevertheless, Congress reelected Gómez, in April 19 of 1929 for the period 1929-1936; a delegation of Congress went to Gómez's estate El Trompillo to ask to him to accept the presidency for another period. In light of the legislators' insistence, Gómez decided to propose the candidacy of Juan Bautista Pérez. Pérez was ordered to the presidency from April 19, as president of the Federal Court. Finally, in May 30, 1929, Perez occupied the presidency of the Republic. One of the first measures that Perez made was to sign an executive decree in October 11, 1929, by means of which he expelled from the country the bishop of Valencia and restoring monsignor Montes de Oca, which caused problems with the Venezuelan ecclesiastical hierarchy and motivated the diplomatic intervention of Apostolic Nuncio. Also, he finally completed the full payment of the country's external debt in 1930.

In June of 1931, with the problems with the Church still pending, the National Congress made Pérez responsible for the strong depression that afflicted the economy (reflected by the world-wide great economic crisis initiated in 1929) and in that same opportunity, as a result of the circulation of the first manifesto of the Communist Party of Venezuela in May 1, 1931, he was accused by Parliament of allowing the entry of Communist ideas into the country. Nevertheless, both the problem with the church as well as the accusations formulated by Congress were partly a product of political maneuvers designed to replace the weak figure of Juan Bautista Pérez by a representative of the new Andean generations, of which one was general Jose Maria García Velasco. Before the pressures Perez was forced to resign in June 13, 1931, but in spite of the presidential aspirations of some figures, Gómez reelected himself with greater constitutional powers for the period of 1931-1938. Juan Bautista Pérez, on the other hand, was named plenipotenciario minister of Venezuela in Spain and Portugal (1931-1933). he soon returns to Venezuela, but as the result of the events of February 14, 1936, his family was expelled, and his house was sacked. He lived in Barcelona (Spain) until the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (July, 1936), when he was transferred to Paris. In 1939 he returned to Venezuela. his property, confiscated after October 18, 1945, was restituted in 1949.

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The Presidential Army Ensign of Venezuela.      Presidents of Venezuela      The Coat of Arms of Venezuela.
Mendoza | Bolívar | Bolívar | Páez | Vargas | Narvarte | Carreño | Soublette | Páez | Soublette | J.T. Monagas | J.G. Monagas | J.T. Monagas | Gual | J. Castro | Gual | Tovar | Gual | Páez | Falcón | Bruzual | Villegas | J.R. Monagas | Villegas | Guzmán | Linares | Varela | Guzmán | Crespo | Guzmán | H. López | Rojas | Andueza | Villegas | Crespo | Andrade | C. Castro | Gómez | Márques | Gómez | J. Pérez | Gómez | E. López | Medina | Betancourt | Gallegos | Delgado Chalbaud | Suárez Flamerich | Pérez Jiménez | Larrazábal | Sanabria | Betancourt | Leoni | Caldera | C. Pérez | Herrera | Lusinchi | C. Pérez | Velásquez | Caldera | Chávez | Carmona | Cabello | Chávez