State of Venezuela

The State of Venezuela was the official name Venezuela took in the constitution of 1830 under the government of José Antonio Páez. The name held until 1856, when a new constitution changed it to the Republic of Venezuela, and the constitution of 1864 raised it to the United States of Venezuela. Páez, a distinguished officer of the independence war and a colleague of Bolívar, ruled as president to 1846, then as the man behind the throne, and again from 1860 to 1863 as dictator, and despite his pardo origins the white oligarchy of Caracas backed him warmly. The 1830 constitution on paper prescribed democracy, but tradition and practical difficulty meant an oligarchy actually governed the nation, with representative life and elections carried out by a narrow class of caudillos and notables rather than by the people at large. The country remained predominantly agrarian, and the presidency rotated among a handful of military leaders.