This book is not a history of Gómez's dictatorship but examines specifically the relationship between the Gómez regime and the oil industry which developed during his government. I am most grateful to my parents, to whom the book is dedicated, for their support in the preparation of this work. As always, my wife María Cristina, was very helpful at every stage in the preparation of this book. I would also like to thank Malcolm Deas for his detailed and meticulous comments on the manuscript and for his general encouragement. I am also indebted to Senator Dr Ramón J. Velásquez for his hospitality and counsel in Caracas, and for gaining me access to the Archivo Histórico de Miraflores and to the Archivo dependiente de la División de Conservatión de la Oficina Técnica de Hidrocarburos (Ministerio de Energía y Minas) for my studies. I wish also to thank the following people in Caracas: Dr Gumersindo Torres Ellul, Professor Manuel Pérez Vila, Dr Pedro Grases, Dr César González, Dr Nikita Harwich, and last but not least, Dr and Mrs William M. Sullivan for their kind hospitality and help. A special thanks is also due to the staff of the Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos ‘Rómulo Gallegos’ who bore my many requests with great patience and tact.

My stay in Caracas was financed by a Foreign Area Fellowship granted by the Social Science Research Council (U.S.) and the American Council of Learned Societies, and by grants from the Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos ‘Rómulo Gallegos’, Fundación John Boulton, and St Antony's College, Oxford.