José Rafael Pocaterra (18 December 1889 – 18 April 1955) was a Venezuelan writer, journalist and politician.
Career He was imprisoned in 1907 to 1908 for his work on the opposition newspaper Caín, and again from 1919 to 1922 after participating in Luis Rafael Pimentel's attempt to overthrow the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez. Whilst in prison, where he was tortured, he wrote the history book Memorias de un venezolano de la decadencia (published in 1927) and the novel La casa de los Ábila (published 1946). Later he participated in Román Delgado Chalbaud's ill-fated 1929 Falke expedition aimed at over-throwing Juan Vicente Gómez. Under Eleazar López Contreras he was Minister of Communications (1939–1941), and then held a variety of ambassadorial posts (to the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Brazil, and the United States) until he resigned as Ambassador to Washington in 1950 following the assassination of Carlos Delgado Chalbaud. Arria, Piero and Muñoz Arteaga, Valmore (2003), José Rafael Pocaterra ante la condición humana, Espéculo. Revista de estudios literarios. Number 23. Universidad Complutense de Madrid
He was a contributor to El Heraldo de Cuba,"José Rafael Pocaterra", Biografías y Vidas amongst other publications.
Books Novels Política feminista: o, El doctor Bebé (1910) Vidas oscuras (1912) Tierra del sol amada (1917) La casa de los Ábila (1946)
Other Memorias de un venezolano de la decadencia (1927, historical) Cuentos grotescos (1922, short stories)
Books by others Cartas a José Rafael Pocaterra (1889–1955) (2007, collection of letters to Pocaterra). Editorial El Perro y la Rana. José Rafael Pocaterra (1889–1955) (2009, by Simón Alberto Consalvi). Editora El Nacional.
See also Political prisoners in Venezuela Torture in Venezuela
References