Venezulian President Romulo Betancourt (

Venezulian President Romulo Betancourt (C), embraces U.S President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (L) under the smiling look of Jackie Kennedy, 22 February 1963 at the White House in Washington as Betancourt is on an official visit to the U.S.A.. After having been appointed provisional President following a coup against the government of General Angarita, Betancourt, co-founder of Accion Democratica, a left-wing anti communist party, resigned in 1948 to permit the election of his successor, but a coup, led by Marcos Perez Jimenez, drove him once again into exile. Ten years later, after a new coup which overthrown Jimenez, Betancourt returned to Venezuela and was elected president, establishing policies of agrarian reform, industrial development and popular participation in government. (Photo credit should read STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)