'Carlos Román Delgado Chalbaud Gómez' (
Caracas,
January 20,
1909 –
Caracas,
November 13,
1950) was
President of Venezuela from
1948 to
1950.
Delgado Chalbaud spent his entire adult life in the Venezuelan army. By
1945 he was a high-ranking officer and was among the leaders of a military coup. In
1948 he led another military coup and became head of state as chairman of a military junta, serving in that position until his death. He was assassinated in Caracas.
Carlos Delgado Paolini was a military man and a Venezuelan politician. Known as Carlos Delgado Chalbaud because he used the last names of his father Román Delgado Chalbaud as a form of tribute to his memory. He studied Engineering in
France; after finishing his studies he returned to
Paris and joined the Army with the rank of captain. As one of the most shining officials of the Armed Forces associated to the group that overthrew
IsaÃas Medina Angarita, he was member of the Revolutionary junta of Government which replaced Medina in power, Minister of Defense during the presidency of
Rómulo Gallegos, was of the group that overthrew that government, and was a member of the Military Junta of Government along with
Marcos Pérez Jiménez and
Luis Llovera Páez. He was candidate to preside the Government after which the Military junta would summon elections, but was kidnapped and assassinated by a group led by
Rafael Simón Urbina and his nephew
Domingo Urbina.
Although it has not been possible to confirm, for many people, the mastermind was Pérez Jiménez; nevertheless some believe this is unlikely since the wife of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Doña Flor MarÃa Chalbaud Cardona de Pérez Jiménez, was Delgado Chalbaud's cousin. His murder seems to be the unintended outcome of a failed kidnapping led by Rafael Simón Urbina who looked to overthrow the Chalbaud presidency. Some believe Urbina despised Delgado Chalbaud although others say they were close until a falling out over politics split them apart. The day after the capture and imprisonment of Urbina, he was assassinated by orders of the Direction of National Security, effectively securing Pérez Jiménez's position as the strongman in Venezuela for the next several years.
See also
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Venezuela
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Presidents of Venezuela