Populist Anxiety: Race and Social Change in the Thought of Romulo Gallegos

• Published in: The Americas (Washington. 1944) 1999-07, Vol.56 (1), p.65-90
• Main Author: Yarrington, Doug
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Aristocracy; Authorship; Cultural Characteristics; Ethnic Groups - education; Ethnic Groups - ethnology; Ethnic Groups - history; Ethnic Groups - legislation & jurisprudence; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Gender Identity; History of medicine; History, 20th Century; Humans; Latin American culture; Latin American literature; Literary criticism; Literature - history; Middle class; Novels; Populism; Positivism; Prejudice; Race Relations - history; Race Relations - legislation & jurisprudence; Race Relations - psychology; Social Change - history; Social Class; Social Problems - economics; Social Problems - ethnology; Social Problems - history; Social Problems - legislation & jurisprudence; Social Problems - psychology; Social Responsibility; Social Values - ethnology; Stereotyping; Venezuela - ethnology; White people
• ISSN: 0003-1615; 1533-6247
• DOI: 10.2307/1008443

Novelist and statesman Rómulo Gallegos (1884-1969) played a key role in the emergence of Venezuelan populism, first by inscribing the populist rationale for change in a series of novels—most famously in Doña Bárbara (1929)—and later by lending his prestige to Acción Democrática (AD), the nation’s most successful populist party. A founding member of AD, Gallegos supported the coup that brought the party to power in 1945 and became the party’s standard bearer in 1947, winning Venezuela’s first presidential election based on universal suffrage and direct voting. As president, he advanced AD’s reform agenda for almost a year before the military removed him from office and imposed a reactionary dictatorship. Forced into exile, Gallegos returned to his homeland when the dictatorship fell in 1958 and spent his remaining years as a revered elder statesman and acclaimed cultural figure.