Staying the Course

Abstract

For proponents of exceptionalism thesis, so-called October Revolution of 1945, led by R6mulo Betancourt and Acci6n Democritica (AD) party, and ouster of General Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958 are traditionally presented as important watersheds, producing changes that U.S. oil interests purportedly opposed (Alexander, 1964: 22). According to Edwin Lieuwen, events of October 1945 were the most fundamental in Venezuelan history (1963: 64). Robert Alexander likewise argued that 1945 had produced profound revolutionary change in country (1982: 195). For his part, John Martz contended that 1945 Trienio marked a structural transformation that... provided basis for future national development (1966: 62). A handful of Venezuelan leftist critics, including Salvador de la Plaza, Juan Bautista Fuenmayor, and members of group Ruptura disagreed with these assessments, asserting that AD policy amounted to a capitulation to U.S. interests. They maintained that middle-class nationalist rhetoric served to obscure fact that AD did not fundamentally challenge power relations that existed between state and foreign corporations. Within mainstream academy, these critical voices were largely dismissed as partisan polemics and silenced by prevailing triumphalism that greeted return of AD and Betancourt presidency (de la Plaza, 1999; Bautista Fuenmayor, 1981: Marquez and Bravo, 1977). While earlier critics focused on AD and its leadership, this work draws special attention to adaptive role of oil companies during this period. It underscores how three big oil companies that operated in Venezuela,