Douglas Bravo facts for kids
Douglas Ignacio Bravo Mora (born March 11, 1932 – died January 31, 2021) was a Venezuelan politician and a leader of guerrilla groups. He was known for fighting against governments he disagreed with.
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Early Life and Political Beginnings
Douglas Bravo was born in a small village called Cabure in Falcón, Venezuela. From a young age, he became interested in politics. In 1946, when he was just 14, he helped start a youth group for the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) in his village.
He was very active in supporting workers' rights. He helped organize strikes for oil workers in 1950 and students in 1952. Because of this, he was put in jail briefly both times. In 1953, he started studying at the University of Zulia.
Fighting for Change
Douglas Bravo was involved in efforts to remove the dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez from power. He helped plan the uprising in 1958 that led to the dictator being overthrown.
After this, Bravo became a leader for a group within the PCV that wanted to fight the new government of Rómulo Betancourt. He went to the mountains to organize armed groups, known as guerrillas, to resist the government. He was arrested in 1961 but escaped the next year. In his home state, he set up a group called the José Leonardo Chirino Front. This group was inspired by the successful revolution in Cuba.
Guerrilla Leader and Later Years
Douglas Bravo soon became an important figure in the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), which means "Armed Forces of National Liberation". This was a group that used armed struggle. However, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) started to move away from using violence. This caused a disagreement between Bravo and the PCV.
Even though Fidel Castro from Cuba supported Bravo's actions, it wasn't enough. Bravo was removed from the Communist Party in 1967.
In 1969, the government offered a deal called an "amnesty." This meant that if guerrillas stopped fighting, they would not be punished. Many guerrillas accepted this offer. But Bravo and a small group of his followers continued their fight. They finally accepted a second amnesty offer in September 1979. Later, he was sent away to France, but he eventually returned to Venezuela.
In the early 1980s, Bravo started a political party called the Partido de la Revolución Venezolana (PRV), or the Party of Venezuelan Revolution. He strongly believed in opposing foreign control over countries, a idea known as anti-imperialism. He even had connections with Che Guevara, another famous revolutionary. Bravo also disagreed with the policies of the Soviet Union.
Douglas Bravo wanted to start a successful revolution in Venezuela. He recruited military officers who agreed with his ideas. One of these officers was a young Hugo Chávez. Bravo met Chávez in 1980 in Mérida. Chávez later became the President of Venezuela through elections. However, Bravo did not think these elections were "revolutionary" enough.
Bravo was involved in the 1992 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts, which were attempts to overthrow the government. He was arrested but was later pardoned in 1993.
He also led a group called the Third Road Movement. This group criticized the government of Hugo Chávez for relying too much on energy companies from rich countries.
Douglas Bravo passed away on January 31, 2021, at the age of 88. He died from COVID-19 in Coro, Venezuela, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela.
See also
- List of Venezuelans
