[The Hispanic Nations of the New World by William R. Shepherd]@TWC D-Link bookThe Hispanic Nations of the New World CHAPTER VII 29/32
Further, the presidential term was lengthened from two years to six, and the name of the country was changed, finally, to "Republic of Colombia." Two years later the power of the Church was strengthened by a concordat with the Pope. Venezuela on its part had undergone changes no less marked.
A liberal constitution promulgated in 1864 had provided for the reorganization of the country on a federal basis.
The name chosen for the republic was "United States of Venezuela." More than that, it had anticipated Mexico and Guatemala in being the first of the Hispanic nations to witness the establishment of a presidential autocracy of the continuous and enlightened type. Antonio Guzman Blanco was the man who imposed upon Venezuela for about nineteen years a regime of obedience to law, and, to some extent, of modern ideas of administration such as the country had never known before.
A person of much versatility, he had studied medicine and law before he became a soldier and a politician.
Later he displayed another kind of versatility by letting henchmen hold the presidential office while he remained the power behind the throne.
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