Out of Pocket

When President Juan Vicente Gomez died in 1935, after 27 years as dictator of oil-rich Venezuela, he was worth millions. Last week, Romulo Betancourt, who had just turned over the presidency to Novelist Romulo Gallegos (TIME, Feb. 23) after two years in office, was almost broke.

Betancourt, whose salary was $1,200 a month, went before a federal judge to declare his financial condition, as now legally required of retiring presidents. He began: "I, Romulo Betancourt, newspaperman; declare under oath that I possess no real-estate assets of any kind." Then he listed everything he owned: a few shares in the newspaper El Pais, a share in Los Cortijos (a recreation club), a 1947 Mercury, several suits of formal clothes. Total value: 17,000 Bs (bolivars, equaling $5,100). His debts: 4,156 Bs owed to his tailors; 1,200 still to be paid on the Mercury, and 10,500 borrowed from the Bank of Caracas. Total debts: 15,856 Bs ($4,756). Betancourt's net worth: 1,144 Bs ($343).

This week Betancourt, who had leased a house (for 500 Bs a month), was trying to dig up enough money for a four-week vacation in the U.S. before going to the Bogota conference, where his expenses will be paid as chief of the Venezuelan delegation. After the conference, he plans to return to Caracas, hopes to make a living writing for newspapers. He also may become salaried head of the Accion Democratica party.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.