Isaías Medina Angarita

Isaías Medina Angarita (6 July 1897 – 15 September 1953) was a Venezuelan military and political leader, the president of Venezuela from 1941 until 1945, during World War II. He followed the path of his predecessor Eleazar López Contreras, and ruled the country's democratic transition process.

Early life and education

Medina was born in San Cristóbal, Venezuela, and graduated from the Military academy of Venezuela in 1914. He served as War Minister from 1936 to 1941 under Eleazar López Contreras.

Presidency (1941-1945)

As a result of the indirect 1941 Venezuelan presidential election, he was appointed president by lawmakers of the Congress of Venezuela. He assumed the presidency on 5 May 1941.

Medina's cabinet (1941–1945)

Domestic policy

In 1943, he founded the Venezuelan Democratic Party.

Foreign policy

Medina Angarita was the first Venezuelan president who traveled abroad (in active office). First, in 1943 to the Bolivarian countries, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Panama, and in January 1944, the United States invited by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The visit marked a milestone in the Venezuelan-US relations. Besides being the first time a Venezuelan president (in office) visited the United States, the time the journey was made was understood as an expression of the alliance of Venezuela with the Allies that fought the Axis. During the administration of Medina, Venezuela established relations with China in 1943 and the Soviet Union in 1945.

1945 coup d'état

Some in the Army considered his presidential regime too liberal while other political enemies accused him of being too conservative, and both sides were involved in a coup to remove him from power on 18 October 1945.