The Liberal Party (, PL), better known as Great Liberal Party of Venezuela (, GPLV), was a political party in Venezuela, founded on August 20, 1840, by Antonio Leocadio Guzmán and Tomás Lander, through an editorial published by Guzmán at El Venezolano newspaper. It was the rival of the Conservative Party.
History The party very successfully promoted liberal policies during the early days of the Republic. Several of the early presidents of the country were members of the Liberal Party, including José Tadeo Monagas (in office from 1 March 1847 – 5 February 1851 and 20 January 1855 – 15 March 1858) who abolished capital punishment for political crimes. President José Gregorio Monagas proclaimed that Venezuela was a nation free of slavery in an edict signed on 24 March 1854.Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman. Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, 1995. Page 34. In 1863, under the leadership of President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón (in office 15 June 1863 – 25 April 1868), a member of the Liberal Party, Venezuela became the first country to totally abolish the death penalty for all crimes.
Presidents of Venezuela
State of Venezuela (1830–1864)
No.For the purposes of numbering, a presidency is defined as an uninterrupted period of time in office served by one person. For example, Carlos Soublette was both the 8th and 10th President because the two periods where he was president were not consecutive. A period during which a vice-president temporarily becomes acting president under the Constitution is not a presidency, because the president remains in office during such a period. Portrait President State Term of office 7 José Gregorio Monagas Monagas 5 February 1851 –20 January 1855 (6) José Tadeo Monagas Monagas 20 January 1855 –15 March 1858
United States of Venezuela (1864–1953) No. Portrait President State Term of office Juan Crisóstomo Falcón Falcón 10 June 1863 –25 April 1868 13 Guillermo Tell Villegas Carabobo 28 June 1868 –20 February 1869 (13) Guillermo Tell Villegas Carabobo 16 April 1870 –27 April 1870 15 Antonio Guzmán Blanco Caracas 27 April 1870 –27 February 1877 16 Francisco Linares Alcántara Aragua 27 February 1877 –30 November 1878 17 José Gregorio Valera 30 November 1878 –26 February 1879 (15) Antonio Guzmán Blanco Caracas 26 February 1879 –26 April 1884 18 Joaquín Crespo Aragua 26 April 1884 –15 September 1886 (15) Antonio Guzmán Blanco Caracas 15 September 1886 –8 August 1887 20 Juan Pablo Rojas Paúl Caracas 2 July 1888 –19 March 1890 Raimundo Andueza Palacio Portuguesa (13) Guillermo Tell Villegas Carabobo 17 June 1892 –31 August 1892 22 Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido Barinas 31 August 1892 –7 October 1892 Joaquín Crespo Aragua 23 Ignacio Andrade Mérida 28 February 1898 –20 October 1899
Notes
See also Federal War Dios y Federación Liberalism and conservatism in Latin America