Beyond the Betancourt Doctrine: covert help as a tool of Venezuela`S Cold War foreign policy (1959-64

Abstract

The following article analyzes the Betancourt Doctrine as one of the instruments, yet not the only one, of the foreign policy of defense and promotion of democracy enacted by the Betancourt constitutional government (1959-64). Resorting to primary sources of American and Venezuelan archives, and applying the method of historical analysis, it will be seen how the Betancourt Doctrine, initially conceived as a multilateral regional tool, ended being reduced to a unilateral policy of the Venezuelan government. Furthermore, we will highlight the role of public support and especially of covert help as concomitant strategies to contain both right wing military dictatorships as well as Fidel Castro’s communist regime.