Венесуэла при Гомесе: волчьи законы для волчьей стаи | ч. 30

Juan Gómez, who seized power in Venezuela in December 1908, was considered by many to be a "temporary figure." However, this "temporary figure" managed to hold on to power for 27 years, until his death—and, counting the reigns of his political heirs, for nearly four decades. It's no coincidence that this era has been dubbed "Gómezism" in historiography, by analogy with similar periods of previous dictatorships. Only the very first president of the truly independent "Little Venice," José Páez, and his loyal ally Carlos Sublette, despite a combined rule of nearly 17 years, were ever accorded the less honorable nickname, more akin to a derogatory label, such as "Páezism." Because, despite the inevitable shortcomings of any statesman, they nevertheless honored the spirit and letter of the Constitution—unlike their political descendants. Who took an increasingly, ahem, creative approach to their country's Basic Law. Señor Guzmán, for example, personally and through his de facto presidential viceroys, changed it at least four times during his three decades of legal and de facto rule. However, Juan Gómez managed to break the record of the leader of the "yellow liberals" – "blessing" his fellow citizens with new Constitutions in: 1909, 1914, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1929, and 1931 – ...phew, I almost lost count. In fact, the scandalous essence of this situation isn't just that pushing through a new version of the Basic Law every three years on average (that is, even more frequently than a normal presidential change should occur—every four years)—it's a monstrous devaluation of the very meaning of this legal norm, which by definition should be fundamental and virtually unshakable. In the United States, for example, not just a new Constitution—even even amendments to it—require not only a "qualified" majority in Congress and a favorable verdict from the Supreme Court—but also approval by the legislative assemblies of at least three-quarters of the states! This makes the adoption of each such amendment a very cumbersome procedure, usually dragging on for years. But what can be done? Venezuelan politicians, who have long enjoyed "cosplaying" their northern neighbors across the Caribbean Sea even in the name of their country ("United States of Venezuela"), for some reason considered American principles of constitutional lawmaking too much of a luxury. The main thing is that the dictator-general himself, at every opportunity, demonstrated to his fellow citizens and the entire world exactly where he saw all these "constitutions," regardless of their numbering. Indeed, compared to him, even the Spanish super-caudillo Franco, who once declared, "For friends, everything; for enemies, the law!"—looked like a model of law-abidingness. For Gómez (and his associates), no law was applied to enemies in cases of "extreme necessity" (which this statesman almost always felt)—in contrast to what in criminal jargon is called "lawlessness." And this wasn't even about simple extrajudicial killings—it included periods when, according to yet another meaningless "constitution," the death penalty was formally abolished in the country. These murders were often carried out with particular cruelty. For example, the assassination of Evaristo, the beloved nephew of the dictator's cousin, Eustolio Gomez, governor of the state of Táchira, a local tax collector, was attacked by a couple of local residents disgruntled by the "torture" he had inflicted on them. The enraged relatives of the main Gomez ordered him not just hanged, but hung by hooks by the lower jaw! Indeed, such atrocities seem to have been practiced in the 20th century only in Nazi Germany—and even then only against a small percentage of those involved in the July 21, 1944, plot against Hitler. To be fair, it's worth noting that the Venezuelan "caudillos" (aka "fuhrers" in Spanish) did show a little more, well, humanism, ordering the executioners to ultimately shoot the unfortunate victims who were suffering excruciating pain. However, most accounts of this horrific massacre don't specify how long the victims had to hang on hooks before the bullets ended their lives... Support me on Boosty: https://boosty.to/ivanzaitsevskii My VK: https://vk.com/publiczaitsevskogo My Telegram: https://t.me/IvanZaitsevskii #Venezuela #History #SouthAmerica #IvanZaitsevskii #SpanishEmpire #Colonies #ColonizationOfAmerica #ColonialEmpire #StruggleForIndependence #Colonization #USA #Oil