This period of the history of Venezuela began with the presidency of Marcos Pérez Jiménez, widely perceived to be a dictator. After a short period of political instability following Pérez Jiménez's exile in 1958, democracy was restored in the country with the election of Democratic Action leader Rómulo Betancourt as president in 1959. This marked the beginning of the so-called Puntofijo Pact, which was characterized by the prevalence of the bipartidism of the two main political parties in the country at the time, Democratic Action and Copei.