Eleazar López Contreras

José Eleazar López Contreras (5 May 1883 – 2 January 1973) was a Venezuelan politician who served as the 36th President of Venezuela from 1935 to 1941. He was Minister of War under President Juan Vicente Gómez from 1931 to 1935.

Gómez fell into a coma and died in 1935, and López was selected to succeed him. A new constitution was created in 1936, and López did some reforms for workers and oil companies.

Early life Eleazar López Contreras was born in Queniquea, Venezuela, on 5 May 1883, to Manuel María López Trejo and María Catalina Contreras Mora. López's father died from malaria a few days after his birth. Fernando María Contreras, a priest and López's uncle, was a father figure to López. He attended schools in Capacho Viejo and before moving to La Grita in 1893. He attended 's Sacred Heart of Jesus School in La Grita before graduating in 1898.

López supported Cipriano Castro during the Restorative Liberal Revolution. He was wounded at the Battle of Tocuyito on 14 September 1899, and had surgery done on his left arm. Castro appointed López as his aide-de-camp. He was garrison commander in Tucacas in 1901, second-in-command at from 1902 to 1905, and appointed head of the Cristóbal Colón Customs House in 1907.

Presidency

Juan Vicente Gómez entered a coma on 15 December and died on 17 December 1935, after holding power in Venezuela for 27 years. López was the designated successor of Gómez and the cabinet voted to make him acting president so that there would be no vacuum of power after Gómez's death. López became provisional president after Gómez's death and the Congress of Venezuela elected him to serve the remainder of Gómez's term two weeks later. On 25 April 1936, Congress voted to give him a full term by a vote of 132 to 1.

López announced on 2 January 1936, that the main political prison in Venezuela, would be demolished. People were allowed into La Rotunda and other political prisons to see the facilities themselves.

In 1939, López accepted on behalf of Venezuela the ships Koenigstein and Caribia which had fled with Jews from Germany.

Economics Protests against Gómez broke out in 1935, and continued against López in 1936. In February 1936, López announced the February Program which would promote labor rights, education, better management of public funds, the modernization of agriculture, and economic development. That same year, a labor law providing various rights for workers was introduced.

The large fortune that Gómez acquired during his dictatorship was nationalized by López in July 1936. López initially opposed nationalizing the wealth and allowed over 90 of Gómez's relatives to leave the country with money. Corruption charges were filed against and other members of Gómez's cabinet.

Legislation allowing collective bargaining and profit-sharing and requiring compensation for laid-off workers and companies to help combat malaria was passed in 1936. The Standard Oil Company of New Jersey sued against the provision requiring compensation to laid-off workers on 13 April 1937, and the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela ruled in Standard Oil's favor on 19 April.

Oil Royal Dutch Shell, Standard Oil, and Gulf Oil were the major oil companies in Venezuela when López became president. An export tax on oil shipped from Venezuela was prohibited by the pre-1936 constitution, but this was omitted in the 1936 constitution. Oil concessions to private people was ended by López in 1938.

Petroleum workers started striking in the Maracaibo region on 11 December 1936, and this continued until it was ended by a presidential degree from López on 22 January 1937. There was a 39% decrease in oil production during the strike and 6.5 million bolívares lost. Oil companies instituted some reforms such as increasing the wages to 8 bolívares a day and improving living conditions.

Democracy A new constitution was passed by Congress in 1936, and this restricted voting rights to literate males over the age of 21; over half of Venezuelans could not read. The Venezuelan Organizing Movement, Progressive Republican Party, and other left-wing groups were banned in 1937.

López supported gradual democratization, while fearing competitive politics. He held the view that the president must manipulate the political system to avoid what he saw as destructive political changes.

Later life Angarita was overthrown in 1945, and both Angarita and López were arrested and then sent into exile. López chose to stay in exile even after he was invited to return in 1947, and did not return to Venezuela until 1951. López died on 2 January 1973.

Personal life In 1907, López married Luz María Wolkmar Hernández, with whom he had six children before Luz's death in an unknown year. He married Luisa Elena Mijares in 1924, and separated in an unknown year. In 1933, he married María Teresa Núñez Tovar, with whom he had two children.