Romulo's Successor:

Doing Well

An amiably irreverent columnist for an evening paper in Caracas recently observed that Venezuela's new President Raul Leoni, "though descended from Corsicans, strikes no Napoleonic attitudes." Leoni never thumps his desk; he does not ride out on crusades, and when he speaks, his raspy baritone has all the oratorical appeal of a buzz saw. In short, he is the opposite of his predecessor, Romulo Betancourt. Yet Leoni has not only filled Betancourt's sizable shoes. In some ways, he may even be the better man for Venezuela these days.

In the five months since Betancourt stepped down, the Venezuelan economy has continued climbing steadily. Gross national product, which rose 5.8% last year, is expected to climb 8.2% this year. Industrial production, up 8.7% last year, is on its way to a 15% gain for 1964. Foreign reserves stand at $800 million--highest of any Latin American country. And where Betancourt often met congressional resistance to his programs, Leoni has maneuvered through all 18 bills introduced by his government--though lacking the coalition majority that Betancourt had. Leoni's biggest triumph: his four-year, $850 million public works program for developing the country's interior and stimulating more private investment.

After the Macho. Few presidents have ever had a more difficult act to follow. With his dash and magnetic oratory, Betancourt was a macho, the fiery tough-guy who helped topple Dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez in 1958, tamed the military, walloped the Communists, and rammed through the initial economic and social reforms that started Venezuela on the road to recovery. More than anything else, Betancourt --the first popularly elected President in Venezuelan history to complete his term--proved that democracy could work in his country.

But under Betancourt, the presidential household often resembled a threering circus. Appointments were constantly broken while the President chased hither and yon. Leoni, who spent six years straw-bossing Betancourt's A.D. Party, is a better administrator. He sees every minister at least once a week privately in his office, presides at a regular weekly full-dress Cabinet meeting. He pays careful attention to Venezuela's sensitive military. And he still finds time for the public ribbon-snipping that Betancourt found so useful. Last month, on a trip to Maracaibo, Leoni dedicated a new teachers col lege, the first section of a 1,000-home housing project, a new tumor-study center at Zulia University Hospital, and a new radio-TV relay station--all in only two hours before a luncheon date.

Ambitious Plans. "Betancourt," says one high government official, "was like a boxer who swung away with both fists. Leoni is the type who dances around without throwing many punches, but he doesn't get hit either." When Leoni decided that Venezuela should enter the Latin American Free Trade Asso ciation, he quietly sent a government delegation to a meeting of the powerful Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industrialists, a longtime opponent of membership. After some polite arm-twisting, Leoni announced Venezuela's entry into LAFTA, almost as though it were all the association's idea. But Leoni can also be tough and direct. A few months ago Venezuela's navy chief loudly objected to some proposed promotions. Leoni swiftly pushed through promotions, sacked the commander and named his replacement--and all was quiet again.

For his five-year term, Leoni has ambitious plans to cut unemployment by 40%, build 380,000 new homes (v. 55,000 under Betancourt), double secondary-school enrollments, expand irrigated acreage from 125,000 acres to 625,000 acres, and double the country's power-generating capacity to 1,400,000 kw. The Christian Democratic COPEI Party, which supported Betancourt and polled 20% of the December vote, still refuses to join Leoni's government after an argument over Cabinet seats. But Leoni is convinced that COPEI's lead ers, being responsible men, will come around in time.

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