Andueza Palacio, Raimundo (1843–1900)

Raimundo Andueza Palacio (b. February 1843; d. 17 August 1900), president of Venezuela (1890–1892). Andueza began his political and military activity after the Federal War (1859–1863) as aide-de-camp and secretary to the president of the Republic, Marshal Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (1863–1868). Having ties with the Liberal Party, he carried out important, and sometimes divisive, public duties during the administrations of Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1870–1877) and Francisco Linares Alcántara (1877–1878). After a brief period of exile, Andueza returned to Venezuela and became one of the political leaders of the Partido Liberalismo Amarillo (Yellow Liberalism Party).

With the end of the hegemony of Guzmán's policies during the administration of Dr. Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl (1888–1890), the Federal Council elected Andueza president for the 1890–1892 term. In an atmosphere of conflict between militarists and those favoring civilian rule, he declared himself a defender of the trend toward civilian rule and appointed a cabinet composed primarily of civilians. His administration is seen as having been blessed by a period of economic boom. Andueza saw the completion of various public projects begun before his regime and fostered a politics of clientele, with the object of creating a broad base of support that would allow him to remain in power. From within the state legislatures, he promoted a constitutional reform that included, among many other amendments, the lengthening of the presidential term from two to four years. Congress refused to launch this constitutional reform immediately, but the president declared that the new statute was in effect. The immediate result was the beginning of the Legalist Revolution led by General Joaquín Crespo, who put an end to Andueza's term of office. When Crespo died in 1898, Andueza returned from exile and again took up political activity, becoming minister of foreign affairs under General Cipriano Castro, who became president in 1900.

See alsoVenezuela, Political Parties: Liberal Party .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Manuel Alfredo Rodríguez, Andueza Palacio y la crisis del liberalismo venezolano (1960), and Ramón J. Velásquez, La caída del liberalismo amarillo: Tiempo y drama de Antonio Paredes (1977).

Additional Bibliography

Pineda, Victor. "Raimundo Andueza Palacio: el caso del continuismo político venezolano en el siglo XIX," Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Historia (Venezuela) 84: 335 (July-Sept., 2001), pp. 48-66.

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