Dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez

The dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez (also known as Gomecismo and self-named Rehabilitación) refers to the presidency of Juan Vicente Gómez and his subsequent puppet governments in Venezuela. It began after Gómez, then vice president, betrayed and overthrew Cipriano Castro in a 1908 coup d'état, ending Castro's dictatorship. The regime lasted 27 years until Gómez's death in 1935, following his fourth reelection.

Initially presenting itself as a government with democratic tendencies, Gómez abandoned this facade when faced with the possibility of losing the 1914 elections. He fabricated claims of a foreign invasion led by Castro and launched a crackdown on political opponents, solidifying his authoritarian rule by 1913.

The government promoted the constitutions of 1909, 1914, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1929 and 1931. Gómez also maintained control over the executive power during the presidencies of José Gil Fortoul, Victorino Márquez Bustillos, and Juan Bautista Pérez.

During this time, the modern state was consolidated in Venezuela, marked by the decline of the regional caudillos and the consolidation of the end of almost a century of civil wars. In 1913, the government lost control of the Amazonas territory following the assassination of its president (governor) and the establishment of the de facto government of Tomás Funes, who was executed seven years later by the anti-Gómez guerrilla Emilio Arévalo Cedeño.

Economically, this period saw the emergence of oil, which led to the beginning of the petroleum industry in the country through foreign investment, with the subsequent payoff of the external debt. By the 1920s, Venezuela was the world's leading oil exporter and the second-largest producer globally.

Foreign policy included the resolution of the Dutch-Venezuelan crisis of 1908 alongside the reestablishment of relations with the United States in 1913. Venezuela signed a non-belligerence treaty with Brazil in 1933. This government also led Venezuela during World War I, maintaining a neutral position.

The government was marked by severe repression. In Táchira alone, an estimated 20,000 people fled into exile. State security forces carried out widespread torture and forced disappearances, though the exact number remains unknown. Nationwide, hundreds of political prisoners were subjected to forced labor, including the construction of highways and public works.