Under his direction all of the international tangles of Venezuela were straightened out.
In 1914 the country adopted its eleventh constitution and thereby lengthened the presidential term to seven years, shortened that of members of the lower house of the Congress to four, determined definitely the number of States in the union, altered the apportionment of their congressional representation, and enlarged the powers of the federal Government--or, rather, those of its executive branch! In 1914 Gomez resigned office in favor of the Vice President, and secured an appointment instead as commander in chief of the army.

This procedure was promptly denounced as a trick to evade the constitutional prohibition of two consecutive terms.

A year later he was unanimously elected President, though he never formally took the oath of office.
Whatever may be thought of the political ways and means of this new Guzmin Blanco to maintain himself as a power behind or on the presidential throne, Gomez gave Venezuela an administration of a sort very different from that of his immediate predecessor.

He suppressed various government monopolies, removed other obstacles to the material advancement of the country, and reduced the national debt.

He did much also to improve the sanitary conditions at La Guaira, and he promoted education, especially the teaching of foreign languages.
Gomez nevertheless had to keep a watchful eye on the partisans of Castro, who broke out in revolt whenever they had an opportunity.