 This leftist government, resulting from a revolution, was the first to declare universal suffrage in Venezuela.As Secretary of Agriculture for Betancourt's government, Mendoza headed the Venezuelan Institute for Immigration and embraced the creation of the International Refugee Organization in 1946 (this body was later replaced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).Mendoza succeeded, despite fierce opposition within the cabinet, in ensuring that Venezuela would aid European refugees and displaced persons who could not or would not return to their homes after World War II and chose to emigrate to Venezuela.