Flora
The flora of Venezuela covers a wide range because of the vertical climatic zones. The coastal zone and lower slopes of all the mountains, including the lower Orinoco region and the Maracaibo basin, are clothed with a typical tropical vegetation. There is no seasonal interruption in vegetation. The tropical vegetation extends to an altitude of about 1300 ft., above which it may be classed as semi-tropical up to about 3500 ft., and temperate up to 7200 ft., above which the vegetation is Alpine. Palms grow everywhere; among them the coco-nut palm (Cocos nucifera) is the most prominent. There are some exotics in this zone, like the mango, which thrive so well that they are thought to be indigenous. The cacau is at its best in the humid forests of this region and is cultivated in the rich alluvial valleys, and the banana thrives everywhere, as well as the exotic orange and lemon. On the mountain slopes orchids are found in great profusion. Sugar-cane is cultivated in the alluvial valleys and coffee on their slopes up to a height of about 2000 ft. Among the many tropical fruits found here are bananas, guavas, mangoes, cashews, breadfruit, aguacates, papayas, zapotes, granadillas, oranges, lemons and limes. In the next zone are grown many of the cereals (including rice), beans, tobacco, sugar-cane, peaches, apricots, quinces and strawberries. The llanos have some distinguishing characteristics. They are extensive grassy plains, the lowest being the bed of an ancient inland lake about which is a broad terrace (mesa), the talus perhaps of the ancient encircling highlands. The lower level has extensive lagoons and swampy areas and suffers less from the long periodical drought. Its wild grasses are luxuriant and a shrubby growth is found along many of its streams. The decline in stock-breeding resulted in a considerable growth of trees and chaparral over the greater part of the plain. A large part of the chaparral consists of the chaparro, a low evergreen oak of hardy characteristics, mixed with mimosa, desmauthus, zonia and others. Much of this region is covered with gamelote, a tall, worthless, grass with sharp stiff blades. One of the most remarkable palms of the Orinoco region is the " moriche " (Mauritia flexuosa). The fruit is edible and its juice is made into beer; the sap of the tree is made into wine, and its pith into bread; the leaves furnish an excellent thatch, and the fibre extracted from their midribs is used f or fish lines, cordage, hammocks, nets, &c.; and the wood is hard and makes good building' material. The fruit of the Guilielma is also widely used for food among the natives. Among other forest trees of economic importance are the silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), the Palo de vaca, or cow-tree (Brosimum galactodendron), whose sap resembles milk and is used for that purpose, the Inga saman, the Hevea guayanensis, celebrated in the production of rubber, and the Altalea speciosa, distinguished for the length of its leaves.
The principal economic plants of the country are cacau, coffee, cassava (manioc) called " mandioca " in Brazil, Indian corn, beans, sweet potatoes, taro, sugar-cane, cotton and tobacco. Of these coffee and sugar-cane were introduced by Europeans.
Communications and Commerce
There has been no great development of railway construction in Venezuela, partly on account of political insecurity and partly because of the backward industrial state of the country. In 1908 there were only 13 railway lines with a mileage of about 540 m., including the short lines from Caracas to El Valle and La Guaira to Maiquetia and Macuto, and the La Vela and Coro. The longest of these is the German line from Caracas to Valencia (111 m.), and the next longest the Great Tachira, running from Encontrada on Lake Maracaibo inland to Uraca (71 m.), with a projected extension to San Cristobal. Another line in the Lake Maracaibo region is known as the Great La Ceiba, and runs from a point near the lake to the vicinity of Valera and Trujillo. An important line connects the thriving city of Barquisimeto with the port of Tucacas. The best known of the Venezuelan railways is the short line from La Guaira to Caracas (224 m.), which scales the steep sides of the mountain behind La Guaira and reaches an elevation of 3135 ft. before arriving at Caracas. It is a British enterprise, and is one of the few railways in Venezuela that pay a dividend. The Puerto Cabello and Valencia line (34 m.) is another British undertaking and carries a good traffic. A part of this line is built with a central cog-rail. Probably a return to settled political and industrial conditions in Venezuela will result in a large addition to its railway mileage, as a means of bringing the fertile inland districts into direct communication with the coast.
In steamship lines the republic has almost nothing to show. A regular service is maintained on Lake Maracaibo, one on Lake Valencia, and another on the Orinoco, Apure and Portuguesa rivers, starting from Ciudad Bolivar.
The coast of Venezuela has an aggregate length of 1876 m., and there are 32 ports, large and small, not including those of Lakes Maracaibo and Tacarigua and the Orinoco. The great majority of these have only a limited commerce, restricted to domestic exchanges. The first-class ports are La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Ciudad Bolivar, Maracaibo and Carupano, and the second-class are Sucre, Juan Griego, Guiria, Calm Colorado, Guanta, Tucacas, La Vela and Porlamar. The commerce of these ports, both in the foreign and domestic trade, is small, tariff regulations being onerous, and the people too impoverished to be consumers of much beyond the barest necessaries of life. The total foreign trade in 1908 amounted to $9,778,810 imports and $14,560,830 exports, the values being in U.S. gold. The exports to the United States were valued at $5,550,073 and to France $5,496,627. The principal exports were coffee, cacau, divi-divi, rubber, hides and skins, cattle and asphalt. The imports include manufactured articles of all kinds, hardware and building materials, earthenware and glassware, furniture, drugs and medicines, wines, foodstuffs, coal, petroleum and many other things. The coasting trade is largely made up of products destined for exportation, or imports trans-shipped from the first-class ports to the smaller ones which have no direct relations with foreign countries. In the absence of statistical returns it is impossible to give the values of this branch of trade. The exchanges of domestic products are less important than they should be. The Orinoco trade is carried on almost wholly through Port of Spain, Trinidad, where merchandise and produce is transferred between light draught river boats and foreign ocean-going steamers. The distance from Port of Spain to Ciudad Bolivar is 299 m. and the traffic is carried by foreign-owned steamers. Under the administration of President Cipriano Castro this traffic was suspended for a long time, and trans-shipments were made at La Guaira. Above Ciudad Bolivar transportation is effected by two or three small river steamers and a great number of small craft (lauchas, bungos, balandras, &c.), using sails, oars and punting poles.
Agriculture
The principal industries of Venezuela are agricultural and pastoral. Both have suffered heavily from military operations, but still they have remained the basis of Venezuelan wealth and progress. Much the greater part of the republic is fertile and adapted to cultivation. Irrigation, which has not been used to any great extent, is needed in some parts of the country for the best results, but in others, as in the valleys and on the northern slopes of the Maritime Andes, the rainfall is sufficiently well distributed to meet most requirements. The long dry season of the llanos and surrounding slopes, which have not as yet been devoted to cultivation, will require a different system of agriculture with systematic irrigation. In colonial times the llanos were covered with immense herds of cattle and horses and were inhabited by a race of hardy, expert horsemen, the llaneros. Both sides in the War of Independence drew upon these herds, and the llaneros were among the bravest in both armies. The end of the war found the llanos a desert, both herds and herdsmen having nearly disappeared. Successive civil wars prevented their recovery, and these great plains which ought to be one of the chief sources of meat supply for the world are comparatively destitute of stock, and the only source of revenue from this industry is the small number of animals shipped to the West Indies. The breeding of goats and swine is an important industry in some regions. The climatic conditions are not so favourable as in Argentina, but these are counterbalanced to some extent by the great river system of the Orinoco, whose large navigable tributaries cross the plains from end to end, and whose smaller streams from the surrounding highlands provide superior opportunities for water storage and irrigation. On the mesas alfalfa could be substituted for the native grasses and be used for stock when the pasturage of the lower plains is not available. Other industries of the colonial period were the cultivation of indigo and tobacco. The former has nearly disappeared, but the latter is still one of the more important products of the country. The best known tobacco-producing localities are Capadare, Yaritagua, Merida, Cumanacoa, Guanape, Guaribe and Barinas. The best quality is that from the Capadare district, in the state of Falcon, which rivals that of the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba. No effort is made to improve the Venezuelan product, a part of which is exported to Cuba for cigar making. The principal agricultural products are coffee, cacau (cacao), sugar, Indian corn and beans. Coffee was introduced from Martinique in 1784 and its exportation began five years later. It is grown at elevations of 1600 to 3000 ft., and the yield is reported to be a to 2 lb per tree, which is much less than the yield in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An official work (Veloz Goiticoa, Venezuela, Washington, 1904)1904) gives the number of coffee trees in Venezuela as 250,000,000 belonging to 33,000 estates; the output was 42,806 tons in 1907. Several grades are produced in Venezuela, determined by geographical position, altitude and method of curing and preparing for market. The Maracaibo type from the mountain-slopes of Merida, Trujillo and Tachira is perhaps the best known and brings the best price. Cacau (Theobroma cacao) is an indigenous product and is extensively cultivated on the Caribbean slopes. It requires a high temperature (about 80° F.), rich soil and a high degree of humidity for the best development of the tree. The tree has an average height of 12-13 ft., begins bearing five years after planting, requires little attention beyond occasional irrigation, bears two crops a year (June and December), and produces well until it is forty years of age - the yield being from 490 to 600 lb per acre of 100 trees. There are two grades of Venezuelan cacau - the criollo or native, and the trinitario, or Trinidad, the first being superior in quality. The best cacau comes from the vicinity of Caracas and is marketed under that name. The exportation of 1907 was about 14,000 tons. Sugar-cane is not indigenous, but it is cultivated with marked success in the lowlands of Zulia, and at various points on the coast. The industry, however, has not kept pace with its development in other countries and, in great part, still employs antiquated methods and machinery. Its principal product is " papelon," or brown sugar, which is put on the market in the shape of small cylindrical and cubical masses of 14 to 31 lb weight. This quality is the only one consumed in the country, with the exception of a comparatively small quantity of granulated, and of refined sugar in tablets prepared for people of the well-to-do classes. The annual output is about 3000 tons. Cotton was produced in several places in colonial times, but the output has declined to a few thousand pounds. The plant is indigenous and grows well, but, unlike cacau, it requires much manual labour in its cultivation and picking and does not seem to be favoured by the planters. Indian corn is widely grown and provides the staple food of the people, especially in the interior. Beans also are a common food, and are universally produced, especially the black bean. Wheat was introduced by the Spaniards immediately after their occupation of Venezuela, and is grown in the elevated districts of Aragua and the western states, but the production does not exceed home consumption. Rice is a common article of food and is one of the principal imports. Several states are offering bounties to encourage its cultivation at home. Other agricultural products are sweet potatoes, cassava (manioc), yuca, yams, white potatoes, maguey, okra, peanuts, pease, all the vegetables of the hot and temperate climates, oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, plantains, figs, grapes, coco-nuts, pine-apples, strawberries, plums, guavas, breadfruit, mangoes and many others. There are also many fruits found growing wild, like those of the cactus and various palms, and these are largely consumed. The forest products, whose collection and preparation form regular industries, are rubber (called Gaucho or goma), tonka beans, vanilla, copaiba, chique-chique, sarsaparilla, divi-divi, dye-woods, cabinet-woods and fibres. The rubber forests are on the Orinoco and its tributaries of the Guiana highlands.
Government
The government of Venezuela is that of a. federal republic of nominally independent, self-governing states, administered according to the provisions of the constitution of the 27th of April 1904, modified or revised on the 5th of August 1 9 09. The legislative power is nominally vested in a national Congress of two houses - the Senate and Chamber of Deputies - which meets at Caracas every two yearn on the 23rd of May, the session lasting 9 0 days. The Senate consists of two members from each state, or 40 members, who are elected by the state legislatures for a period of four years. A senator must be a native-born citizen and not less than thirty years of age. The Chamber consists of popular representatives,. elected by direct vote, in the proportion of one deputy for each 35,000 of population, each state being entitled to at least one deputy, or two in case its population exceeds 15,000, the federal district and territories being entitled to representatives on the same terms. A deputy must also be a native-born citizen, not less than twenty-one years of age, and is elected for a.
period of four"years.
The executive power is vested by the constitution in a presi dent, two vice-presidents and a cabinet of ministers. The president and vice-presidents, who must be Venezuelans by birth and more than thirty years old, are elected by an electoral body or council composed of members of the national Congress, one member from each state and the Federal District. This council elects by an absolute majority of votes. The presidential term is four years (it was six years under the constitution of 1904), and the president cannot succeed himself. The powers of the executive, direct and implied, are very broad and permit the exercise of much absolute authority. The president is assisted by a cabinet of seven ministers and the governor of the federal district, their respective departments being interior, foreign relations, finance and public credit, war and marine, fomento (promotion), public works and public instruction. The ministers are required to countersign all acts relating to their respective departments, and are held responsible both before Congress and the courts for their acts. The department of fomento is charged with the supervision of all matters relating to agriculture, stock-raising, mines, industries, commerce, statistics, immigration, public lands, posts, telegraphs and telephones. The department of the interior is also charged with matters relating to the administration of justice, religion and public worship.
The judicial power is vested in a supreme federal court, called the Corte Federal y de Casacion, and such subordinate tribunals as may be created by law. As the laws and procedure are uniform throughout the republic and all decrees and findings have legal effect everywhere, the state judicial organizations may be considered as taking the place of district federal courts, although the constitution does not declare them so. The federal court consists of 7 members, representing as many judicial districts of the republic, who are elected by Congress for periods of six years (Const. 1904), and are eligible for re-election. It is the supreme tribunal of the republic, having original jurisdiction in cases of impeachment, the constitutionality of laws, and controversies between states or officials. It is also. a court of appeal (Casacion) in certain cases, as defined by law. The judicial organization of the states includes in each a supreme court of three members, a superior court, courts of first instance, district courts and municipal courts. The judicial terms in the states are for three years. In the territories there are civil and criminal courts of first instance, and municipal courts. The laws of Venezuela are well codified both as to law and procedure, in civil, criminal and commercial cases.
The state governments are autonomous and consist of legislative assemblies composed of deputies elected by ballot for a period of three years (Const. 1904), which meet in their respective state capitals on the 1st of December for sessions of thirty days, and for each a president and two vice-presidents chosen by the legislative assembly for a term of three years. The states are divided into districts and these into municipios, the executive head of which is a jefe politico. There is a municipal council of seven members in each district, elected by the municipios, and in each municipio a communal junta appointed by the municipal council. The governors of the federal territories are appointees of the president of the republic, and the jefe politico of each territorial municipio is an appointee of the governor. The Federal District is the seat of federal authority, "and consists of a small territory surrounding Caracas and La Guaira, known in the territorial division of 1904 as the West district, and the island of Margarita and some neighbouring islands, known as the East district.
There are two classes of citizens in Venezuela - native-born and naturalized. The first includes the children of Venezuelan parents born in foreign countries; the latter comprises four classes: natives of Spanish-American republics, foreignborn persons, foreigners naturalized through special laws and foreign women married to Venezuelans. The power of granting citizenship to foreigners is vested in the president of the republic, who is also empowered to refuse admission to the country to undesirable foreigners, or to expel those who have violated the special law (April 11, 1903) relating to their conduct in Venezuelan territory. The right of suffrage is exercised by Venezuelan males over 21 years of age, and all electors are eligible to public office except where the constitution declares otherwise. Foreign companies are permitted to transact business in Venezuela, subject to the laws relating to nonresidents and also to the laws of the country governing national companies.
Finance.
The financial situation in Venezuela was for a long time extremely complicated and discreditable, owing to defaults in the payment of public debts, complications arising from the guarantee of interest on railways and other public works, responsibility for damages to private property during civil wars and bad administration. To meet increasing obligations, taxation has been extended and heavily increased. The public revenues are derived from customs taxes and charges on imports and exports, transit taxes, cattle taxes, profits on coinage, receipts from state monopolies, receipts from various public services such as the post office, telegraph, Caracas waterworks, &c., and sundr y taxes, fines and other sources. From 60 to 70% of the revenue is derived from the custom-house, and the next largest source is the transit tax. The official budget returns for 1904-6 show the revenues and expenditures to have been 1904. 1905.1906.
Bolivares. Bolivares. Bolivares. Revenue. 57,57 6 ,74 1 49,3 8 5,379 49,293,067 Expenditure.. 52,925,521 54,718,163 51,874,694 A considerable part of the expenditure since 1903 consists of payments on account of foreign debts which Venezuela was compelled to satisfy. To meet these, taxes were increased wherever possible, thus increasing both sides of the budget beyond its normal for those years.
The public debt of Venezuela dates back to the War of Independence, when loans were raised in Europe for account of the united colonies of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. The separation of the Colombian republic into its three original parts took place in 1830, and in 1834 the foreign debt contracted was divided among the three, Venezuela being charged with 282%, or £2,794,826, of which £906,430 were arrears of interest. Other items were afterwards added to liquidate other obligations than those included in the above, chiefly on account of the internal debt. Several conversions and compositions followed, interest being paid irregularly. In 1880-81 there was a consolidation and conversion of the republic's foreign indebtedness through a new loan of £2,750,000 at 3%, and in 1896 a new loan of 50,000,000 bolivares (£1,980,198) for railway guarantees and other domestic obligations. In August 1904 these loans and arrears of interest brought the foreign debt up to £5,618,725, which in 1905 was converted into a " diplomatic " debt of £5,229,700 (3%). During these years Venezuela had been pursuing the dangerous policy of granting interest guarantees on the construction of railways by foreign corporations, which not only brought the government into conflict with them on account of defaulted payments, but also through disputed interpretations of contracts and alleged arbitrary acts on the part of government officials. In the civil wars the government was also held responsible for damages to these properties and for the mistreatment of foreigners residing in the country. Some of these claims brought Venezuela into conflict with the governments of Great Britain, Germany and Italy in 1903, and Venezuelan ports were blockaded and there was an enforced settlement of the claims (about £104,417), which were to be paid from 30% of the revenues of the La Guaira and Puerto Cabello custom-houses. This settlement was followed by an adjustment of all other claims, payment to be effected through the same channels. In 1908 (July 31) the total debt of Venezuela (according to official returns) consisted of the following items: The currency of Venezuela is on a gold basis, the coinage of silver and nickel is restricted, and the state issues no paper notes. Foreign coins were formerly legal tender in the republic, but this has been changed by the exclusion of foreign silver coins and the acceptance of foreign gold coins as a commodity at a fixed value. Under the currency law of the 31st of March 1879, the thousandth part of a kilogramme of gold was made the monetary unit and was called a bolivar, in honour of the Venezuelan liberator. The denominations provided for by this law are Gold: 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 bolivares. Silver: 5, 2, I bolivares; 50, 20 centimos. Nickel: 122 and 5 centimos. These denominations are still in use except the silver 20-centimos piece, which was replaced by one of 25 centimos in 1891. The silver 5-bolivar piece is usually known as a ” dollar," and is equivalent to 484 pence, or 962 cents U.S. gold. The old " peso " is no longer used except in accounts, and is reckoned at 4 bolivares, being sometimes described as a " soft " dollar. Silver and nickel are legal tender for 50 and 20 bolivares respectively. Paper currency is issued by the banks of Venezuela, Caracas and Maracaibo under the provisions of a general banking law, and their notes, although not legal tender, are everywhere accepted at their face value.
The metric weights and measures have been officially adopted by Venezuela, but the old Spanish units are still popularly used throughout the country. (A. J. L.) History. - The coast of Venezuela was the first part of the American mainland sighted by Columbus, who, during his third voyage in 1498, entered the Gulf of Paria and sailed along the coast of the' delta of the Orinoco. In the following year a much greater extent of coast was traced out by Alonzo de Ojeda, who was accompanied by the more celebrated Amerigo Vespucci. In 1550 the territory was erected into the captain-generalcy of Caracas, and it remained under Spanish rule till the early part of the 19th century. During this period xxvli. 32 negro slaves were introduced; but less attention was given by the Spaniards to this region than to other parts of Spanish America, which were known to be rich in the precious metals.
In 1810 Venezuela rose against the Spanish yoke, and on the 14th of July 1811 the independence of the territory was proclaimed. A war ensued which lasted for upwards of ten years and the principal events of which are described under Bolivar, a native of Caracas and the leading spirit of the revolt. It was not till the 30th of March 1845 that the independence of the republic was recognized by Spain in the treaty of Madrid. Shortly after the battle of Carabobo (June 24, 1821), by which the power of Spain in this part of the world was broken, Venezuela was united with the federal state of Colombia, which embraced the present Colombia and Ecuador; but the Venezuelans were averse to the Confederation, and an agitation was set on foot in the autumn of 1829 which resulted in the issue of a decree (December 8) by General Paez dissolving the union, and declaring Venezuela a sovereign and independent state. The following years were marked by recurring attempts at revolution, but on the whole Venezuela during the period1830-1846was less disturbed than the neighbouring republic owing to the dominating influence of General Paez, who during the whole of that time exercised practically dictatorial power. In 1849 a successful revolution broke out and Paez was driven out of the country. The author of his expulsion, General Jose Tadeo Monagas, had in 1847 been nominated, like so many of his predecessors, to the presidency by Paez, but he was able to win the support of the army and assert his independence of his patron. Paez raised the standard of revolt, but Monagas was completely victorious. For ten years, amidst continual civil war, Monagas was supreme. The chief political incident of his rule was a decree abolishing slavery in 1854. General Juan Jose Falcon, after some years of civil war and confusion, maintained himself at the head of affairs from 1863 to 1868. In 1864 he divided Venezuela into twenty states and formed them into a Federal republic. The twenty parties whose struggles had caused so much strife and bloodshed were the Unionists, who desired a centralized government, and the Federalists, who preferred a federation of semiautonomous provinces. The latter now triumphed. A revolt headed by Monagas broke out in 1868, and Falcon had to fly the country. In the following year Antonio Guzman Blanco succeeded in making himself dictator, after a long series of battles in which he was victorious over the Unionists.
For two decades after the close of these revolutionary troubles in 1870 the supreme power in Venezuela was, for all practical purposes, in the hands of Guzman Blanco. He evaded the clause in the constitution prohibiting the election of a president for successive terms of office by invariably arranging for the nomination of some adherent of his own as chief of the executive, and then pulling the strings behind this figurehead. The tenure of the presidential office was for two years, and at every alternate election Guzman Blanco was declared to be duly and legally chosen to fill the post of chief magistrate of the republic. In 1889 there was an open revolt against the dictatorial system so long in vogue; and President Rojas Paul, Blanco's locum tenens, was forced to flee the country and take refuge in the Dutch colony of Curacoa. A scene of riot and disorder was enacted in the Venezuelan capital. Statues of Blanco, which had been erected in various places in the city of Caracas, were broken by the mob, and wherever a portrait of the dictator was found it was torn to pieces. No follower of the Blanco regime was safe. An election was held and General Andueza Palacios was nominated president. A movement was set on foot for the reform of the constitution, the principal objects of this agitation being to prolong the presidential term to four years, to give Congress the right to choose the president of the republic, and to amend certain sections concerning the rights of persons taking part in armed insurrection arising out of political issues. All might have gone well for President Palacios had he not supposed that this extension of the presidential period might be made to apply to himself.
His attempt to force this question produced violent opposition in 1891, and ended in a rising headed by General Joaquin Crespo. This revolt, which was accompanied by severe fighting, ended in 1892 in the triumph of the insurgents, Palacios and his followers being forced to leave the country to save their lives. General Crespo became all-powerful; but he did not immediately accept the position of president. The reform of the constitution was agreed to, and in 1894 General Crespo was duly declared elected to the presidency by Congress for a period of four years. One of the clauses of the reformed constitution accords belligerent rights to all persons taking up arms against the state authority, provided they can show that their action is the outcome of political motives. Another clause protects the property of rebels against confiscation. Indeed, a premium on armed insurrection is virtually granted.
In April 1895 the long-standing dispute as to the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela was brought to a crisis by the action of the Venezuelan authorities in arresting Inspectors Barnes and Baker, of the British Guiana police, with a few of their subordinates, on the Cuyuni river, the charge being that they were illegally exercising the functions of British officials in Venezuelan territory. Messrs Barnes and Baker were subsequently released, and in due course made their report on the occurrence. For the moment nothing more was heard of this boundary question by the public, but General Crespo instructed the Venezuelan minister in Washington to ask for the assistance of the United States in the event of any demand being made by the British Government for an indemnity. Whilst this frontier difficulty was still simmering, an insurrection against General Crespo was fomented by Dr J. P. Rojas Paul, the representative of the Blanco regime, and came to a head in October 1895, risings occurring in the northern and southern sections of the republic. Some desultory fighting took place for three or four months, but the revolt was never popular, and was completely suppressed early in 1896. The Guiana boundary question began now to assume an acute stage, the Venezuelan minister in Washington having persuaded President Cleveland to take up the cause of Venezuela in vindication of the principles of the Monroe doctrine. On the 18th of December 1895 a message was sent to the United States Congress by President Cleveland practically stating that any attempt on the part of the British Government to enforce its claims upon Venezuela as regards the boundary between that country and Guiana without resort to arbitration would be considered as a casus belli by his government. The news of this message caused violent agitation in Caracas and other towns. A league was formed binding merchants not to deal in goods of British origin; patriotic associations were established for the purpose of defending Venezuela against British aggression, and the militia were embodied. The question was subsequently arranged in 1899 by arbitration, and by the payment of a moderate indemnity to the British officers and men who had been captured. Diplomatic relations between the two countries, which had been broken off in consequence of the dispute, were resumed in 1897.
In 1898 General Crespo was succeeded as president by Senor Andrade, who had represented Venezuela in Washington during the most acute stage of the frontier question. Towards the end of the year a revolutionary movement took place with the object of ousting Andrade from power. The insurrection was crushed, but in one of the final skirmishes a chance bullet struck General Crespo, who was in command of the government troops, and he died from the effects of the wound. A subsequent revolt overthrew President Andrade in 1900. General Cipriano Castro then became president. During 1901 and 1902 the internal condition of the country remained disturbed, and fighting went on continually between the government troops and the revolutionists.
The inhabitants of Venezuela have a right to vote for the members of Congress, but in reality this privilege is not exercised by them. Official nominees are as a rule returned without any opposition, the details of the voting having been previously arranged by the local authorities in conformity with instructions from headquarters. In these circumstances the administration of public affairs fell into the hands of an oligarchy, who governed the country to suit their own convenience. President Castro was for eight years a dictator, ruling by corrupt and revolutionary methods, and in defiance of obligations to the foreign creditors. of the country. The wrongs inflicted by him on companies and individuals of various nationalities, who had invested capital in industrial enterprises in Venezuela, led to a blockade of the Venezuelan ports in 1903 by English, German and Italian warships. Finding that diplomacy was of no avail to obtain the reparation from Castro that was demanded by their subjects, the three powers unwillingly had recourse to coercion. The president, however, sheltered himself behind the Monroe doctrine and appealed to the government of the United States to intervene. The dispute was finally referred by mutual consent to the Hague Court of Arbitration. The Washington government had indeed no cause to be well disposed to Castro, for he treated the interests of Americans in Venezuela with the same highhanded contempt for honesty and justice as those of Europeans. The demand of the United. States for a revision of what is known as the Olcott Award in connexion with the Orinoco Steamship Company was in 1905 met by a refusal to reopen the case. Meanwhile the country, which up to the blockade of 1903 had been seething with revolutions, now became much quieter. In 1906, the president refused to allow M. Taigny, the French minister, to land, on the ground that he had broken the quarantine regulations. In consequence, France broke off diplomatic relations. In the following year, by the decision of the Hague Tribunal, the Venezuela government had to pay the British, German and Italian claims, amounting to £691,160; but there was still £840,000 due to other nationalities, which remained to be settled. The year 1907 was marked by the repudiation of the debt to Belgium, and fresh difficulties with the United States. Finally, in 1908 a dispute arose with Holland on the ground of the harbouring of refugees in Curacoa. The Dutch Minister was expelled, and Holland replied by the despatch of gunboats, who destroyed the Venezuelan fleet and blockaded the ports. In December General Castro left upon a visit to Europe, nominally for a surgical operation. In his absence a rising against the dictator took place at Caracas, and his adherents were seized and imprisoned. Juan Vincenti Gomez, the vicepresident, now placed himself at the head of affairs and formed an administration. He was installed as president in June 1910.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-C. E. Akers, History of South America (New York, 1906); E. Andre, A Naturalist in the Guianas (London, 1904); A. F. Bandelier, The Gilded Man (New York, 18 93); William Barry, Venezuela (London, 1886); M. B. and C. W.. Beebe, Our Search for a Wilderness (1910); A. Codazzi, Resumen de la Geografia de Venezuela (Paris, 1841); R. H. Davis, Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America (London, 1896); J. C. Dawson, The South American Republics, vol ii. (New York, 1905); Dr A. Ernst, Les Produits de Venezuela (Bremen, 1874); A. von Humboldt and Aime Bonpland, Personal Narrative of Travel to the Equinoctial Regions of America (3 vols., London); M. Landaeta Rosales, Gran Recopilacion Geogrcifica Estadistica i Historica de Venezuela (1889); P. E. Martin, Through Five Republics of South America (London, 1905); Bartolome Mitre (condensed translation by William Pilling), The Emancipation of South America (London, 1893); G. Orsi de Mombello, Venezuela y sus riquezas (Caracas, 1890); H. J. Mozans, Up the Orinico and down the Magdalena (New York, 1910); F. Pimentel y Roth, Resumen cronologica de las leyes y decretas del credito publico de Venezuela, desde el ano de 1826 hasta el de 1872-1873; W. L. Scruggs, The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics (2nd ed., Boston, 1905); W. L. Scruggs and J. J. Storrow, The Brief for Venezuela [Boundary dispute] (London, 1896); J. M. Spence, The Land of Bolivar: Adventures in Venezuela (2 vols., London, 1878); J. Strickland, Documents and Maps of the Boundary Question between Venezuela and British Guiana (London, 1896); S. P. Triana, Down the Orinoco in a Canoe (London, 1902); N. Veloz Goiticoa, Venezuela: Geographical Sketch, Natural Resources, Laws, &c. [[[Bur]]. of American Republics] (Washington, 1904); F, Vizcarrondo Rojas, Resena Geografica de Venezuela (Caracas, 1895); R. G. Watson, Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period (2 vols., London, 1884); W. E. Wood, Venezuela: Two Years on the Spanish Main (London); and the Anuario estadistico de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela (Caracas); Diplomatic and Consular Reports.
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Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Venezuela'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/v/venezuela.html. 1910.
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