VENEZUELA: Blow Off

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Frantically last week the Dutch Government's radio station at Willemstad called The Hague for help. To his vast dismay Governor B. W. T. van Slobbe had found 97 Gómezes landing, bag & baggage, on his tight little island of Curaçao, only 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela. It was no laughing matter. The fugitives were the children, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins of dead Dictator Juan Vicente Gómez of Venezuela, seeking safety from the wrath of a people that sexy old codger had oppressed for more than 20 years. Anyone who knew Venezuela knew that Gómezes do not give up without a fight. The last time a serious revolution threatened Venezuela, exiled revolutionists raided the fortress of Willemstad, sailed off with most of its small arms.

On the mainland, nobody had time to pay much attention to the fugitive Gómezes. No matter how their condition may improve, a people cannot live in physical fear for nearly three decades without an ultimate explosion. Venezuelans were having it last week, in full measure. Rioting swept every city in the land, pro-Gómez newspapers were wrecked, the homes of Gómez adherents were looted, at least 50 people were assassinated. The most important killing was that of General Eustoquio Gómez, a cousin of the old Dictator, who as Governor of the State of Carabobo gained a reputation that smelled to high heaven for torturing political prisoners. Under his orders at least three men were hanged in chains to be eaten by vultures. Attempting an unplanned coup d'é in Caracas, General Gómez was shot down like a dog.

Most important political upset was the removal from office of General Vincencio Pérez Soto, Governor of Zulia, by hollow-cheeked Provisional President Eleazar López Contreras. In Zulia lie practically all Venezuela's oil wells. General Pérez Soto was a politico in whom U. S., British and Dutch oil companies had largely invested. He was generally considered to be the strongest man in the country. He took his removal quietly last week—and waited.

Provisional President López Contreras made two shrewd moves to insure his own popularity, quiet the country. He announced that: 1) the Government would buy the nation's entire coffee crop for $7,800,000, trade it abroad for war munitions; 2) an elaborate public works program would be started with paid workers instead of the customary gangs of political prisoners.