Antonio Blanco: The Venezuelan Revolution

Antonio Blanco (1829 – 1899) Blanco was a Venezuelan lawyer and politician who ruled as dictator of Venezuela from 1870 to 1888. He was a flamboyant leader. He surrounded himself with sycophants and ostentatious wealth while the people of Venezuela suffered. His corruption was legendary. He took a personal slice off the top of every governmental project. He enjoyed traveling abroad and was eventually deposed in absentia by irate Venezuelans while visiting Paris in 1888.
Blanco was the son of Anonio Leocadio Guzman who was the founder of the Venezuelan Liberal party. Blanco was given a very good education and proved to be intelligent and energetic. She served in the diplomatic service. He was very involved with the Venezuelan politics and when General Jual Crisostomo Falcon rose up in rebellion against the conservative government of Jose Antonio Paez. When Falcon triumphed in 1863 Guzman was made Vice President. In 1866 Falcon resigned the presidency leading to serveral years of chaos in which conservatives and liberals fought over the presidency. In 1869 Guzman who had been in exile led a rebellion and seized power for himself wrestling power away from conservative president Jose Ruperto Monagas and his brief successor Guiollermo Tell
Guzman sought to curtail the power wealth and influence of the Catholic Church at every turn. He nationalized church property, abolished converts and monasteries, wrested control of education from the church in favor of the state and finally even attempted to set up a state religion. Guzman was forced to show a little restraint. Guzman was happiest in Paris. He made many efforts to turn Caracas into a Paris of the New World, widening the boulevards and adding an opera house, presidential palace and even a Pantheon to house the bones of Venezuela’s most illustrious dead. He is appreciated today by those who enjoy the beauty of his public works, but the spending was unpopular at the