Romulo's Last Tape

In his five years in office, Romulo Betancourt proved that democracy could work in Venezuela. He tamed the military, subdued the Communists, won the confidence of business, and embarked on a successful program of social and economic reform. This week, as Venezuela's first president in 134 years to complete his term, Betancourt will turn over the red, blue and yellow sash of office to a freely elected successor: Raul Leoni, 57, a member of his own Accion Democratica Party. Yet Leoni has lost his first political battle before he even begins, and Venezuela seems headed for trouble.

A Failure. One of the strengths of Betancourt's government, especially in the first years, was its partnership with the country's second-ranking COPEI, a middle-road Social Christian party that is ably led by Caracas Lawyer Rafael Caldera. In last December's elections, A.D. slipped to 33% of the vote (from 49% in 1958) while COPEI increased its share from 16% to 20%.

But unlike Betancourt, Leoni and other A.D. leaders were in no hurry to bring Caldera into a new coalition. Jealous of COPEI's rapid growth, A.D. leaders offered Caldera's party only a few governorships and some minor Cabinet posts.

As the negotiations dragged on, Betancourt himself argued for a bigger role for COPEI. He arrived at a party meeting with a tape recorder. "I know what I'm going to say here now will prove historic," he said, and then proceeded to read the riot act. "My government would not have survived without COPEI's support. Yours will not either. So get that support." Then he left, promising to play back the tape at a future date.

A Last Try. The gesture was of no avail. Last week President-elect Leoni, a dour, unimaginative party politician, rejected Caldera's final offer for coalition. With that, Caldera announced that COPEI would now go into opposition, would pursue an independent course of "autonomy of action." Leoni scrambled among the other parties, tried to scrape up a tenuous four-party coalition that would give A.D. a majority in Congress. But few Venezuelans were willing to bet that any new coalition would last much beyond inauguration day.

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