VENEZUELA-- Essay: De Jure (Legitimate) vs. De Facto (Illegitimate) Government--CONTROL OF TERRITORY, WILL OF PEOPLE, TREATIES

03  May 2019

De Jure (Legitimate) vs. De Facto (Illegitimate) Government

     Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's criticism of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) recent sounding off about the United States' dubious interference in the affairs of the Venezuelan government acknowledges his own ignorance as well. The recognition of a new government while another one still exists, even though supported by allies, does not mean the new government is by any means legitimate. This is especially true with our Western Hemisphere relations, and in particular, with Venezuela.
     As reported by Mairead McArdle in the National Review today, Omar is critical of the US role in the upheaval;
“A lot of the policies that we have put in place has [sic] kind of helped lead [to] the devastation in Venezuela And we’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.” (1)
The Secretary, discarding diplomatic protocol altogether,  called the remarks "ignorant" and "disgusting." His own take on the Venezuelan status is a bit short sighted as well, dating all the way back to Hugo Chavez and the last century, not far enough however.
     Turning the clock back to  independence from Colombia, the United States first recognized the nation in 1835, but that wasn't without a stream of extra baggage involving, as we continue to see today, foreign meddling.  This is where the Monroe Doctrine appears and as postulated by William H. Gray in American Diplomacy in Venezuela, 1835-1865, recognition of the government depended on the "will of the people;"
"The secession of Venezuela from La Gran Colombia in 1829 and the inauguration of a constitution the following year was a unique instance of self-determination. Faced with the problem of recognizing this new nation which had withdrawn peacefully from the first of South America's republics, the United States was reluctant to act." (2)
Under pressure, President Andrew Jackson recognized the Caracas government in 1835. Gray points out it was in relation the Jefferson and a "de facto" government. Charles G. Fenwick in his Recognition of De Facto Governments,  dating back to Jefferson, describes de facto as;
"the will of the nation, substantially declared."(3)
That was an easy call for Jefferson and France but according to Fenwick, became abstruse for Central and South American governments at the mercy of strongman military factions constantly assuming power. The de facto regime comes into direct conflict with the de jure government, (Fenwick again);
"So the rule developed that it would be well that before recognition was given a statement should be required of the intention of the new government to observe its international obligations, mentioning specifically, on occasion, a particular treaty with respect to which there might be some doubt."
Can the newly recognized government live up to the commitments established by the previous one?
     Gray points out that the new nation of Venezuela, due to a number of turnovers, lacked basic components of recognition;
"Thenceforth the Secretary held to the opinion that a revolutionary government in South America must be accepted by the will of the people, in addition to possessing actual control of the country, before recognition should be granted it by the United States." (4)
The Secretary (of State) in question was  William Seward and the year was 1861.
     Leading up to that position was a number of mini crises involving Venezuela and its neighbors as well as its own internal affairs related to boundary disputes and debt. Eventually, the reliance on America to resolve the problems with foreign meddlers reflected in the Monroe Doctrine;
"Hope that the Monroe Doctrine might be a bulwark against European aggression first appeared in Venezuela with regard to the Guiana boundary dispute. The stone markers set up in 1840 by Robert H. Schomburgk to show the limits of British Guiana caused a cry of alarm to rise from the Venezuelans." (5)
Time and again the Caracas government, no matter who it was, depended on the US to bail it out of foreign aggression, whether hostile or political. Not only did the Venezuelans understand the willingness of America to back it up, but found examples of the assurance in such speeches as that of Zachary Taylor in 1849;
" It is our policy to encourage every practicable route across the isthmus which connects North and South America, either by railroad or canal, which the energy and enterprise of our citizens may induce them to complete, and I consider it obligatory upon me to adopt that policy, especially in consequence of the absolute necessity of facilitating intercourse with our possessions on the Pacific." (6)
It was clear to emerging nations in the Western Hemisphere that the United States held the interests of all of the nations of North, Central  and South America with equal concern.
     Perhaps the most enduring commitment was the Treaty of 1836 between the United States and Venezuela, referred to as "Peace, Friendship, Navigation and Commerce." The 34 articles followed the usual agreement of the times but the bottom line seemed to always infer a Monroe Doctrine tone.

     Certainly, today, it may seem rather moot that what stood up in the past between the two nations has somehow fallen by the wayside through numerous regimes, both in the United States and Venezuela. It has become too politically expedient for the Congresswoman to blame the United States and for the Secretary of State to call her ignorant. What has been established is whether the new de facto government of Juan Guaidó has basic components for recognition: control of the territory, will of the people and acceptance of prior treaties. Without these, according to historical standards set from the outset, his government is illegitimate.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
1.) Omar,  McArdle, National Review via https://news.yahoo.com/us-officials-continue-weigh-options-171113659.html
2.) Will of the People, American Diplomacy in Venezuela, 1835-1865, WH Gray,  https://www.jstor.org/stable/2507046
3.) Will of the Nation, recognition of De Facto Governments, Charles G. Fenwick,  https://www.jstor.org/stable/20671025
4.) Gray, The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Nov., 1940), pp. 551-574, Duke Univ. page 552
5.) Gray, page 553
6.) First Annual Message, Zachary Taylor, https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/december-4-1849-first-annual-message
7.) Photo of Juan Guaidó, http://nova24tv.si/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Venezuela-Juan-Guaido-1024x683.jpg

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