Between 1870 and 1877, under General Antonio Guzmán Blanco's first period of government, a set of measures was inaugurated with the intent of modernizing Venezuelan society, government, and the State. The city of Caracas was a prime setting in which to undertake a series of reformist works and measures meant to transform the capital into an urban space boasting features similar to Europe's major cities. Standing among the years' main developments are the practice and teaching of medicine, measures seeking to improve public health conditions, and the express desire to use legal norms and resolutions to attack the principle diseases afflicting Caracas residents. The government and its circle of professional elites sought to set the stage to attract capital and European immigrants.
Caracas; modernization; capitalism; medicine; health