Month: November 2019

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Wallis & Futuna 1930, local Kings bend but do not break toward France

How to accept European help without forsaking the local culture? It wasn’t an easy question in the 19th century, nor in the 21st. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

On a small group of islands, there is a tendency to try to administer them jointly with similar far off south Pacific French Colonies. Hence the New Caledonia stamp overprinted for postal service in Wallis and Fortuna Island. This of course leaves some potential revenue on the table from the international stamp collector. Since World War II Wallis and Futuna have been well supplied  with farmed out topical stamp issues.

Todays stamp is issue A19, a 1 Centime stamp issued for use in Wallis and Futuna by French colonial authorities based in New Caledonia beginning in 1930. It was a 42 stamp issue in various denominations that came out over 14 years. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 25 cents unused. A version with a double overprint is worth $200. There are also later rival versions from wartime. A version without the RF in the top left corner means it was issued by Vichy France. These never reached the colony for use. There is a rival version with France Libre overprinted above the existing Wallis and Futuna overprint. These did make it to island service after the islands went Free French and are worth $2.50. The islands initially pledged to Vichy France but changed sides when the USA Marines landed.

The first humans on Wallis and Futuna were the Lapita ancestors of the Polynesians. Futuna was first spotted by the Dutch and Wallis by the British. The first Europeans to land in 1837 were French Catholic Missionaries. The group was lead by Priest and later Saint Peter Chanel. At first Chanel had very little luck but slowly made some conversions. When the King’s son was Baptized that was perceived as going too far as the King saw himself as both King and High Priest of the island. He sent his son in law, a noted warrior, to his son and the two fought. Injured, the son in law sought out Father Peter for help. While Father Peter tended his wounds, other warriors ransacked his house and then bludgeoned Father Peter to death. The areas Bishop than arraigned for a French naval ship to visit to recover the body. The body recovered, the area was now much more willing to convert and three tribal Kings petitioned France to become French Protectorates. Even the son in law now readily converted and even asked that he be buried next to Father Peter Chanel. That way, people trampling over him to pay respects to Father Peter would demonstrate forever his contrition. Chanel was Beatified in 1889, his remains having returned to France. Natives invented a dance called the eke that shows their regret over what happened to Peter Chanel. It includes much whacking of sticks.

Saint Peter Chanel

There have been almost constant clashes between the three native Kings on Wallis and Futuna and the French Colonial authorities. In 2005, King Tomasi Kulimoetoke II’s grandson was involved in a drunk driving incident where he killed a pedestrian on New Years Eve. He was granted asylum in the Palace causing a four month standoff with the police who wanted to try him for manslaughter. The King suggested the French give up the island but instead he gave up his grandson for prosecution.

Wallis King Tomasi Kulimoetoke II

The local Kings are really in no place to dictate to the French. French subsidies are 80 % of the economy and for every native that still lives on the islands there are two that have moved on to greener pastures in France. The islands shrinking population are dependent on these remittances.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Dutch and the British explorers who spotted the islands but kept sailing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Netherland Indies 1903, Dutch leadership of Indonesia goes from a cultivation system to an ethical policy to a communist mutiny

After the Napoleonic Wars, the Netherlands needed the Indies to transform into a cash cow. The extent that it did so meant that Liberals could then afford to reevaluate their position regarding natives. What about the natives themselves? Well, it was a different world then. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp is a bulk mail issue featuring then Queen Wilhelmina. There is no effort to display the colony on any Netherland Indies stamp prior to 1938. This is perhaps a consequence of decisions for the place being a conversation between Dutchmen alone.

Todays stamp is issue A9, a 10 Cent stamp issued by the Netherland Indies colony of Holland in modern day Indonesia starting in 1903. It was a 10 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Indonesia had been under Dutch control for hundreds of years, first as a for profit company and then as a colony. It had been a consistent money loser. After the Napoleonic Wars and with continued troubles in Belgium it became critical the colony begin to turn a profit. A cultivation system was put in place that required either 20 % of a villages land or 2 months of labor on the part of peasants go toward crops for export. In reality this moved the vast bulk of land from food production for locals or non use to export crops. Large, efficient rubber plantations began to generate much revenue both in the Indies and for the Netherlands. The Dutch did a slightly better job than the British in Ireland preventing such an economy leading to famines.

With the financial crisis past, the Dutch began to wonder if enough was being done for natives. In 1903, Queen Wilhelmina announced a new “ethical policy” that intended to open up more educational opportunities at local Dutch schools for natives and much spending on irrigation, roads, and water systems to deal with the rapidly growing population. All this was done very paternalistically but when a nationalistic organization was formed by newly educated natives, the Budi Utomo, it was welcomed by the Dutch.

It was also the Dutch that began the more threatening moves against the colony. Dutch communist activist Henk Sneevliet spent much time in the Indies forming a local communist party open to both left leaning Dutch and natives. It’s goal was Indonesian independence under communism. Sneevliet had much success among seaman and many ships were manned by mixed crews. His work culminated in the mutiny of the Heavy Cruiser HNLMS De Zeven Provincien in 1933. The Dutch naval ship with a mutinous crew of 450 was then bombed by the Dutch air force killing 23. This was quite a story and the ship was renamed to improve its reputation. Still in the Far East, Snievliet worked toward the forming of the mainland Chinese communist party. Later back in Holland, he was arrested during the German occupation. He walked to his 1942 execution singing “The Internationale”.

Henk Sneevliet
HNLMS De Zeven Provincien before the mutiny

Well my drink is empty and I am left with no one to toast. The Dutch never found the ideal formula and the Indonesians themselves in this period seemed largely no shows to the debate. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Argentina 1954, Remembering Evita the Peron way before the General’s coup that is to be remembered as the liberating revolution

Everything in Argentine history is remembered based on ones political views. So here 2 years after her death, we see Evita remembered in her glory with Peron still in power. The next year his elected government was replaced violently by a military general of British ancestry. The General’s  side remembers that as a “Liberating Revolution”. Fun place Argentina. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Peron era stamps are a feast for stamp collectors. I have done a few here https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/21/argentina-1954-peron-invokes-ceres-to-enobile-the-grain-exchange/   , and here https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/03/paying-extra-to-celebrate-the-art-of-stamp-designing/   . They just presented things with so much drama. Toward the end of Peron’s first rule, inflation was bettering the country and this is reflected is a reduction of print quality of this stamp. Reality has a way of showing through.

Todays stamp is issue A236, a three Peso stamp issued by Argentina in 1954. It was a single stamp issue remembering Evita Peron on the second anniversary of her death. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used.

Evita Peron was born illegitimately in humble rural circumstances. At the age of 15, she ran off with a tango musician to relatively wealthy Buenos Aires. She died her hair blond and sought employment as a singer dancer and actress. She had some success at this especially on radio soap operas. In 1944 at age 25, she met Juan Peron at a benefit for survivors of an earthquake. He was then Labor Minister and suggested that she organize a new labor union for those in the performing arts. This happened and was the first government recognized union with Evita the elected leader. She married Peron the next year and campaigned successfully with him for President the next year. She lead a special outreach to the poor working class that she referred to as Descamisodos, those without even shirts.

As First Lady she continued her outreach to the poor and championed female voting in her own Peronist female only political party. Peron’s foreign policy was isolationist so to reduce foreign influence in Argentina. So instead of a European Head of State tour Evita was sent alone on a “Rainbow Tour” of Europe. She caused a sensation in Spain, Portugal, and France but was only granted a perfunctory audience with the Pope and the British part of the tour was cancelled when officials refused to receive her.

As first lady, Evita made some changes to her official history. A new birth certificate showed her legitimate and three years younger. She then changed laws that disadvantaged those born illegitimate. The legal term was changed to natural children. In the new version of her history, her move to Buenos Aires included her mother and she then was chaperoned by old family friends.

After a failed run to be Peron’s vice president, Evita fell ill. She suffered from cervical cancer that resulted in fainting spells and severe vaginal bleeding. An American surgeon was imported for aggressive treatment that included a full historectomy, Argentina’s first chemotherapy, and a full frontal lobotomy to reduce her anxiety. Evita died in 1952 at her preferred age or thirty.

Evita near her death with her hair a wig and relying on President Peron to hold her up

In 1955 much was made in military and business circles of the over the top nature with which the Perons were presented. Peron answered that his way was more naturally Hispanic and only looks strange to those of English heritage. He was overthrown in a coup known as a “Liberating Revolution” and it was the General’s turn to edit out the English aspects of their heritage.

Well my drink is empty and I will happily pour another to toast Evita. After all of Broadway can for so many years, so can I. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

 

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Spain, going down a slippery slope with Aragon

Coming together was a slow process many centuries ago with Spain. In the 1970s and 1980s several regions demanded more autonomy from a more weak central government. This stamp celebrates the granting of autonomy to Aragon in 1982. Since then they have granted more and more. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

What stands out to me most on this stamp is showing the flag of the old Kingdom of Aragon, Not even alongside the Spanish flag. Sometimes the left’s disdain for flag waving gets in the way of the gentle reminder that Aragon was still a part of Spain.

Todays stamp was issue A652, a 16 Peseta stamp issued by the Kingdom of Spain on April 23rd, 1984. It was a single stamp issue although there was a similar stamp later in the year celebrating the autonomy granted Madrid. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused.

Aragon was part of the Roman Empire until that collapsed and the area was occupied by the Visigoths. In 714, the Muslims arrived in the area and set up the Taifa of Zargoza. Later the area was liberated by the Kingdom of Pamplona under Sancho the Great. Aragon was then a province of Pamplona. As Sancho’s royal line petered out after the death of Sancho IV, a new royal line emerged from Aragon. In 1469, Philip of Aragon married Isabella of Castile and Spain was united and Christian. There was quickly some tension with Aragon as Castilian Viceroys were appointed to govern Aragon.

After the death of Franco in 1975 the central government of Spain took a hard turn to the left. Soon there were large protests in Zargoza demanding self rule for the region. This was granted in 1982. A local parliament was set up called a Cort. It did not have much power but created many more available positions for out of work would be lefty politicians. Perhaps realizing that the people had been had and their cause subsumed, the people demanded and received further devolutions of central government power in 1992 and 2007.

One thing Spanish from the many would break away regions to consider is this. If and when the Muslims come for Aragon as they did in 714 AD. Will the amount of autonomy granted mean the then Spanish King will decide it is their job to handle. After all, nothing says freedom and independence like a reconstituted Taifa of Zargoza.

Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait for tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Austria 2000, recognizing at least 100 years of Vienna’s Philharmonic

The Vienna Philharmonic is one of the top orchestras in the world. Austrians might claim the top, while their German friends might point toward Berlin. My own towns quite good Philharmonic does not rise that high, despite recently replacing an Irish fellow with a Japanese one, a local man to conduct apparently not an option. Who the conductor is seems to matter a lot on this stamp, as it only recognizes 100 of the Philharmonic’s then 158 years. !00 years was when there was a young outsider brought in to modernize. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I do like the visuals of the stamp. I simple view of a violin, is a nice way to emphasize the importance of the music. Claiming 100 years when the Philharmonic was formed in 1842 seems strange, but may not be as political as I assume. In 1942, Austria was part of Germany and distracted by the war. The Philharmonic was performing during that time, but missed out on a stamp recognizing the milestone.

Todays stamp is issue A1066, a 7 Schilling stamp issued by Austria on September 15th, 2000. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 used.

Before the Philharmonic was organized there were orchestral performance. They tended to be one time mash ups of professional and amateur mucisians. The German composer and conductor Franz Lachner began to meet with prominent Vienna citizens how met regularly at the pub Zum Amor. The idea was that there would be a subscription service that would then hire musicans. The musicians would all be professional and standards would be assured by hiring only those that had previously served for at least three years with the Austrian state Opera, then known as the Hofoper. The Philharmonic, it was first known as the Kunstiemverein, moved to it’s current home in the Musikverien in 1870.

Around the turn of the 20th century, there was a movement to modernize the music that was played. A young Bohemian, Gustav Mahler, was proposed as the new conductor. He had previously worked in Budapest where performing German pieces was considered cultural colonialism. Mahler tried to show his traditional bonefied by diecting tradition Wagner and Mozart pieces as part of his demonstrations. Once appointed though, his first was a Czech opera that involved nationalistic yearnings that were further stroked by the hero not dying in the end as it was written. This sent shock waves through Vienna. Remember this being the time of Bohemian, Hungarians, and Germans all being under the German Hapsburgs. Appointing not Germans resulted in sudden changes as to what was produced. I will leave for another day whether diversity was a strength or a can or worms. The stamp comes down clearly on one side.

Politics have been a part of the Philharmonic since. The 1930s saw the changes began by Mahler reversed as people were forced out or just moved on. Then there was the reversal with a new cleansing in the late 1940s. This does not sound like a formula for one of the top orchestras in the world. The answer to why it still is may lie in the fact that the original idea of professional musicians of long tenure with the state opera. Professional standards. The organization now gets around the controversy  appointing conductors by only having guest ones who serve for a season.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast founder Franz Lachner and perhaps play some Wagner. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Denmark 1960, a small, crowded, rich country misleads on how it is done agriculturally

A small crowded country might have to bring in a lot of food. Same thing with industrial and consumer goods. Sounds like a formula for staying poor.  Yet somehow Denmark is prosperous. Maybe they considered carefully how to make the best of what they had. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

In the title, I hinted that the stamp is misleading with regard to agriculture. I don’t think the stamp designers meant it to be. They were told to put together a set of stamps showing off modern agriculture and did so. It is hard to make out what is going on with this stamp thanks to typically poor period Scandinavian printing, but it is showing a harvester combine as was used in wheat cultivation. They have the potential to look impressive and modern on a stamp, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/19/nicaragua-1976-somoza-will-bleed-the-peasants-dry-and-then-automate-their-function/  , but have nothing to do with what was getting Denmark ahead. It is a better stamp that tells the real story.

Todays stamp is issue A79, a 30 Ore stamp issued by Denmark on April 28th, 1960. It was a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Agriculture up to the nineteenth century was not particularly successful. There was wheat and cereals to go with some raising of pigs. As the farms were smaller, costs were higher. Denmark was not very fertile as land to the west tended to be quite sandy and that in the east had a great deal of clay. Much money was expended in government programs adding topsoil that would allow for more fertility.

This was not enough as there was not enough land for the large, productive wheat farms that exist in the American midsection, Canada, Australia, and perhaps in old Soviet fantasies, the Ukraine. Those are where the combine harvesters shine.

What if though you could use what land you have to do a few things agriculturally mainly for export and that revenue could then be enough to import the more land intensive basic foodstuffs. There was an excess demand for dairy in the UK that could be satisfied by dairy farms on Jutland. Zealand is low lying and gets a healthy dose of rainfall. This is condusive to fast growing cereals. The pig raising is still a big part of things. This small crowded country manages not to have an agricultural trade deficit. Not what one might expect.

Well my drink is empty and I have a sudden desire to have some crackers with ham and cheese with the next round. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Israel 1974, a former Christian, later Arab, city is now Israeli

This is a story how a place can change overnight, over and over, and yet still be a part of ancient tradition. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This series of stamps was issued a quarter century after the founding of Israel. The views of Israel presented make it look a lot older than that. The city of Zefat, with it’s stone edifices built a long time ago on a high hillside plays into that theme well.

Todays stamp is issue A193, a 1.3 Israeli Pound stamp issued by Israel on November 5th, 1974. It was part of a 23 stamp issue in various denominations that came out over a five year period showing Israeli landscapes. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused.

Zefat, there are many spellings depending on who you are. is a small town in northern Galilee near the Lebanese and Syrian border. Being near the Syrian border is dependent on whether you accept the Israeli annexation of the occupied Golan Heights. Towns in this part of the world make you accept a lot of quick changes. The town first came to prominence at the time of the Crusades when the hill sprouted a Christian castle and a town grew up around it. The town was majority Christian but contained an Arab quarter. At the time there were no Jews in the area. The town fell to the Arab forces under King Saladin in 1188 after a year long siege. Most Christians in the area relocated to Tyre in modern Lebanon. Unlike most crusader castles, the one at Zefat was not destroyed. The crusaders were soon back in Zefat and refortified the castle. This didn’t last and in 1260 the town again fell to Arab forces under Sultan Baybars. He was more vengeful on Christians, and that was the end of their presence.

The area passed to the Ottomans who administered it as part of the vilayet of Sidon in modern day Lebanon. The city  became attractive to Jews who were relocating from Spain. Specifically to Jews who practiced the mysticism of Kabala. Kabala Jews believe that the Jewish Savior will arrive on a hilltop in Galilee. Zefat is on top of the highest hill in Galilee. By the standards of the area, the Ottomans were most welcoming and a Jewish Quarter of the town took shape.

The time of the British mandate of Palestine paints a confusing picture depending on whose story you are following. Both sides seem to agree the British stood back as either Jews encroached on Arab land or the Jewish quarter of Zefat was mercilessly attacked in an attempt to starve them out. The Arab view should be given more credence as within a week after the end of the British mandate in 1948, there was a military offensive by the Palmach Jewish forces. At the time the town had 12,000 Arabs and 1700 Jews. The entire Arab population was forced out. Among them was the family of Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the West Bank Palestinian Authority.

Today Zefat has a population of 32,000 and is over 99% Jewish. Tomorrow? The Hebrew language has been modernized since this stamp and they currently call the city Safed.

Well my drink is empty and I will switch to Turkish coffee and toast the comparatively welcoming Ottomans. Come again tomorrow for another story  that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Falkland Island Dependencies 1946, How Britain suddenly itself becomes dependant during manefestations of Herr Graf Spee

War between major powers often takes place in some far off places. A otherwise costly, lonely outpost can become suddenly important when you add the presence of the enemy. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is the first stamp issue of the Falkland Island Dependencies. So why not inform the collector where you are talking about with a map. The stamp looks nice but I can’t make much out on the map. The stamp designers saw this themselves and redrew the stamp two years later but it is hard to get around that the south Atlantic ocean is large and the tiny outposts spread out.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a half penny stamp issued by the Dependencies of the British Crown Colony of the Falkland Islands. It was an eight stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.10 unused. The half penny denomination, quite the bargain, would have only been useful for inter-outpost mail, so the stamp being used triples the value. I mentioned the stamp was redrawn and that change ups their value 8 fold.

The Falkland Islands dependencies was the arrangement where by the Falkland Island colony administration took responsibility for other British outposts including South Georgia island, the South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands, the South Shetland Islands, and British outposts on Antarctica. The Antarctic territories separated in 1962, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/10/british-antarctic-territory-1963-with-no-more-shackleton-we-better-make-bases-permanent/ , and left only  South Georgia and South Sandwich as Falkland Dependencies. In 1985 the Dependencies became a separate overseas territory of Britain, which they remain. The islands were free to do there own stamps, we covered a South Georgia stamp here https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/14/south-georgia-at-least-the-norwegians-immigrants-brought-reindeer-to-this-british-island/  .

Maintaining British nationals in such far off outposts will always be expensive. The 20th century brought world wide wars among Great Powers and a base suddenly useful. In World War I the German Indian Ocean naval squadron was returning home by way of the south Atlantic under the command of Admiral and Graf Maximillian Spee. He decided to bombard the Falklands to deprive the British of their radio relay and coal station. A larger British naval squadron was looking for them and had stopped at Stanley to be refueled. Spee’s squadron was surprised and most of the ships were sunk, only two of the eight German ships escaped. Admiral and Graf Spee perished.

HMS Inflexible picking up survivors from the sunken German Cruiser Sharnhorst after the Battle of the Falklands.

At the onset of World War II, a German pocket Battleship, named in honor of the World War I Admiral, deployed to the south Atlantic to raid commercial ships. A pocket battleship was a faster and better armed cruiser built to get around Weimar restrictions on ship building. It was at the extremes of its range and had no prospect of rearming so was ordered to avoid all contact with even weaker enemy ships. A British cruiser squadron  was again waiting for them off Falkland and the Graff Spee decided to scuttle herself to save her crew rather than face them. Captain Ludendorf of the Graf Spee committed suicide, his body falling on the battle ensign of the Graff Spee.

After the war the foreign intrusions were by lessor powers. In 1966, an Argentine DC4 airliner was hijacked to Falkland by 19 members of a Peronist extremist group and the plane landed on a racecourse but hit power lines. First responders were taken hostage and the Argentines disembarked around the plane, raised Argentine flags and sung the Argentine national anthem. The local part time defense forces surrounded the racecourse and forced an Argentine surrender. I will leave the 1982 war with Argentina for another stamp.

Well my drink is empty and I guess the Falklands are safe with Germans no longer using the name Graf Spee on their ships and not hiring any descendants of the Graff. Their navy’s current frigates however do rather resemble pocket battleships. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Venezuela 1961, Lefty Betancourt tries to get peasants interested in land reform

A new lefty government in Venezuela wanted to diversify the oil economy so that imported foodstuffs could be replaced by home grown production. Doing so would improve the lot of the average peasant who was to be the beneficiary of government mandated land reform. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The early 60s really saw socialism on the march. The educated, urban, intellectuals created some great visuals to go along with it. Case in point this stylized view of a cow’s head, grain, and a peasant family. Pretty cool if grain was an important part of Venezuela’s agriculture. It wasn’t, and strongly hints that the socialist didn’t have a good grasp of the situation. Perhaps good intentions are more important as they replaced neglect.

Todays stamp is issue C762, a 40 Centimos airmail stamp issued on February 6th, 1961. It was a 15 stamp issue in various denominations that recognized an agricultural census that went on the previous year in preparation for land reform, the redistribution of farmland from large landowners to the ownership of small tracts by the agricultural laborers. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The economy in Venezuela was really all about oil. Here the leftists work was solid because they showed flexibility and followed through when there was an advantage. Romulo Betancourt was a young communist who was exiled to Costa Rica. He had in mind a string of leftists regimes forming a block out of the former Gran Columbia. He had studied the 1938 Mexican nationalization of their oil industry and realized that was not the way to go to pay for it. The oil had naturally been found by American oil companies and World War II demand  had seen the companies greatly increase Venezuelan production. The softening of demand post war would have allowed them to boycott Venezuelan oil. Venezuela under the right wing had not much benefited from the oil as the tax revenue amounted to only 9% of production. In Betancourt’s first term as President, he raised the tax on the oil to 50% and the money flowed in while leaving the professional foreigners to keep production up.

Betancourt was not as successful with land reform. Millions of acres were bought from wealthy landowners and distributed to peasants. The products were mainly coffee, sugar cane and tobacco. Seeing the vast economic growth in the cities with it’s promise of an easier life, many peasants resold the land given to them and used the proceeds to finance the move to the cities. So land reform was no help to output. Indeed only 4 percent of the land in Venezuela is under cultivation. Food must be imported.

Betancourt was not done maximizing oil revenue however. American President Eisenhower was not pleased with the taxes on American oil companies and signed a law promoting importation of Mexican and Canadian oil over Venezuelan. Betancourt in turn sent his Arab speaking oil envoy to Cairo to work with fellow traveler pan Arabist socialists who were facing similar issues regarding getting control of middle east oil revenue. In 1961, Venezuela became a founding member of OPEC that over time had such a big part in rising oil prices.

I mentioned that Betancourt was a young Communist. Indeed he was a participant in violent plots against right wing strongmen in Columbia and Costa Rica. Back in Venezuela however he marketed himself as a democrat. His early radicalism was not forgotten though when Dominican Republic strongman Trujillo tried to have him assassinated by a car bomb. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/07/05/dominican-republic-1937-making-the-guy-behind-the-cow-understand-you-are-working-for-him-with-parsley/  . He was badly burned but survived. With the change in the USA from Eisenhower to more progressive President Kennedy in 1961, Betancourt sought and received better relations with the USA. He  forever burnished his democratic credentials by leaving office without incident at the end of his final term in 1964. A rarity in the Latin America of the day.

Romulo Betancourt after leaving office

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Venezuelan stamp designers of the 60s. The international socialist movement in the 60s did not turn out to have all the answers, but they definitely had a hopeful vision of where they wanted to go, well captured on this stamp. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Guatemala 1902, attention Europeans, new country with rich Spanish culture is open to immigration

So many of the early Guatemalan stamps show impressive stone edifaces. It is what claudillos like to build with their obvious achievement and hopefully stone permanence. What better to show potential immigrants who might worry the place will be a cultural wasteland. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today shows the La Reforma Palace. It was designed by French architects. The palace as with many of the structures on this set of stamps were destroyed by a large earthquake in 1919. The government of the time was not stable enough to follow through with plans for reconstruction. I covered this issues Carrera  opera house here, https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/06/guatemala-columbus-theatre-still-impressive-on-the-stamp-but-really-in-ruins/   .

Todays stamp is issue A30, a 5 Centavo stamp issued by Guatemala in 1902. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations featuring architectural achievements. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. A vertical pair of this stamp in imperferate form is worth $100.

After independence from Spain Guatemala faced big problems. The bulk of the people in the countryside were of indian heritage. Their traditional style of living was on rural land under communal ownership of the tribe. The capital of Guatemala City had a slight majority of people of criollo background. This was much closer to Spanish with still some mixing. These were the leaders of the political parties, both left and right, and the military officers. The call out for European immigrants was one of self preservation. At the time, the Yukatan peninsula to the north was a separate indian run country. There was a boom in the cultivation of henequen, useful in ropes and a local alcoholic drink. The cultivation sent Indians off the land and toward Guatemala City from Yukatan. To keep them out of the capital and the following inevitable demand for political power, the American United Fruit Company was invited in, They set up banana plantations that took even more land from Indians but required much labor. The workers were given a small plot of land for themselves in return for several months of labor on the plantation. Guatemala City, now much larger, still claims a slight criollo majority. Their current relief valve are those caravans walking north.

I mentioned that the Presidential Palace on the stamp was destroyed in 1919. The street it was on still shares its name. A new design for a palace was  commissioned from Italian architects, but there was no money to build it.The frustrated President Herrerra wanted a new palace in time for the Guatemala Centennial and ordered one built in 3 months with a shoestring budget. The result was known as the Cardboard Palace. It only lasted a few years before burning in 1925. Guatemala got by without until the current Presidential Palace was completed in 1943, with the help of the United Fruit Company. They courteously delivered the Palace on the Dictator Ubico’s birthday.

The current Palace is somewhat notorious today for death tribunals held there in the early 1980s by Dictator Efrain Rios Montt against mainly leftist Indians. 15 were killed after trials. For many years Rios Montt was protected from opponants retribution  by staying an elected member of Parliment after leaving the Presidency. When he attempted to retire in 2012 at age 85 he was quickly indicted and convicted of genocide. The vertict was overturned by a higher court. It was agreed to reconvict him but without jail time due his age. The journey to civilization begins with one small step. Rios Montt died in 2018 at age 91.

President Efrain Rios Montt on trial for his alleged crimes late in life

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the United Fruit Company. Dangerous places require relief valves especially beneficial are domestic ones. Plus you can’t have people as esteemed as Guatemalan leaders living in cardboard palaces. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.