Rómulo Betancourt
President of Venezuela (1908-1981)
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈromulo βetaŋˈkuɾ]), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was a Venezuelan politician who served as the president of Venezuela, from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of the Democratic Action, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century.
Betancourt, one of Venezuela's most important political figures, led a tumultuous career in Latin American politics. Periods of exile brought Betancourt in contact with various Latin American countries as well as the United States, securing his legacy as one of the most prominent international leaders to emerge from 20th-century Latin America. Scholars credit Betancourt as the Founding Father of modern democratic Venezuela.
During his time as president, a wide range of progressive reforms were carried out in areas such as health, education, and housing.
Early life
Betancourt was born in Guatire, a town near Caracas. His parents were Luis Betancourt Bello (of Canary origins) and Virginia Bello Milano. He attended a private school in Guatire, followed by high school at the Liceo Caracas in Caracas. He studied law at the Central University of Venezuela.
As a young man he was expelled from Venezuela for agitation and moved to Costa Rica where he founded, and led, a number of Communist student groups.
“Rómulo Betancourt” enters the record as president of Venezuela (1908-1981). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rómulo, Betancourt and President can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q332081. VIAF identifies the subject as 112010772. The Library of Congress control number is n50012376. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1981, 1945 and 1948.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rómulo Betancourt” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.