Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido
Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido, was a Venezuelan lawyer, writer, journalist, and politician who served as acting president of Venezuela. A lawyer early in his career, in 1876 he cofounded the school La Paz in Caracas. Also dedicated to journalism, he founded the publications Alianza Literaria in 1876, La Mayoría in 1879, and Monitor in 1889. Between 1879 and 1892 he held various political roles including Secretary of Interior of the Federal District, secretary general in the government of President Antonio Guzmán Blanco, and a trial judge in Caracas.
Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido
Extract of a caricature of Villegas Pulido, which appeared in the humorist magazine El Diablo in 1892, the year he held the presidency.
Villegas Pulido, C. 1919.
Guillermo Tell Villegas was a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and writer. Among other government positions, he served as interim president of Venezuela in 1868, 1870 and 1892. Starting his career in law, he became governor of Barinas in 1859 and afterwards held various roles in the government of Juan Crisostomo Falcon, including deputy in the Assembly of Victory, Minister of Interior and Justice, and interim Foreign Minister of Venezuela. In 1864 and in 1866 was appointed to the Federal High Court. Villegas participated in the La Genuina revolution in 1867, and was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1868, where he openly opposed the government of Falcón. The Blue Revolution in 1868 removed Falcon from power, and Villegas became Foreign Minister under President José Ruperto Monagas. In 1868 Villegas spent eight months as interim president of Venezuela, during which time he reinstated the Federal Constitution from 1864. After again serving as interim president and Minister of the Interior in 1869, in 1870 he was interim president a third time while Monagas fought the Liberal Revolution. The revolution was successful, and Villegas retired from active politics after ceding the presidency.
Guillermo Tell Villegas
Poster allusive to the Venezuelan provisional government in the 1860s, after the Triumph of Federation. Villegas is on the far right.