Dictatorship and Politics

Dictatorship and Politics presents the first major study of General Juan Vicente Gmezs regime in Venezuela from 1908 to 1935 and the efforts of Gmezs enemies to overthrow him during his twenty-seven years in power. In this reappraisal of the Gmez regime, Brian S. McBeth demonstrates that Gmezs success in withstanding opponents attacks was not only the result of his political acumen and ruthless methods of oppression. The political disagreements, personal rivalries, financial difficulties, occasional harassment by foreign powers, and at times plain bad luck of his opponents, usually in exile, were important contributing factors in the failure of their plots to overthrow him. In examining the opposition to the Gmez dictatorship, McBeth also intentionally removes the politics of oil from the center stage of the regimes foreign relations and instead focuses on the tolerance and intolerance by foreign governments of the exiles activities. This monumental work of scholarship encompasses political correspondence, personal memoirs, newspapers, British and U.S. sources, and various public and private archives in Venezuela. Historians, as well as political scientists working on themes related to dictatorships and opposition, will find the book of interest.