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XXVII
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XXVII . 32negro slaves were introduced; but less See also:attention was given by the Spaniards to this region than to other parts of See also:Spanish See also:America, which were known to be See also:rich in the See also:precious metals.
In r810 See also:Venezuela See also:rose against the Spanish yoke, and on the 14th of See also:July r81I the See also:independence of the territory was proclaimed. A See also:war ensued which lasted for upwards of ten years and the See also:principal events of which are described under BoLIven (q.v.), a native of See also:Caracas and the leading spirit of the revolt. It was not till the 3oth of See also: The See also:chief See also:political incident of his See also:rule was a decree abolishing See also:slavery in 1854. General Juan Jose See also:Falcon, after some years of civil war and confusion, maintained himself at the See also: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 See also:government, and the Federalists, who preferred a federation of semi-autonomous provinces. The latter now triumphed. A revolt headed by Monagas broke out in 1868, and Falcon had, to See also:fly the country. In the following See also:year See also:Antonio Guzman Blanco succeeded in making himself See also:dictator, after a See also:long. See also:series of battles in which he was victorious over the Unionists. . For two decades after the See also:close of these revolutionary troubles in 187o the supreme power in Venezuela was, for all See also:practical purposes, in the hands of Guzman Blanco. Ile evaded the clause in the constitution prohibiting the See also:election of a See also:president for successive terms of See also: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 See also: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 See also:post of chief See also:magistrate of the republic. In 1889 there was an open revolt against the dictatorial See also:system so long in See also:vogue; and President Rojas See also:Paul, Blanco's locum, tenons, was forced to flee the country and take See also:refuge in the Dutch See also:colony of Curacoa. A See also:scene of See also:riot and disorder was enacted in the Venezuelan See also:capital Statues of Blanco, which had, been erected in various places in the See also:city of Caracas, were broken by the See also: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 See also:movement was set on foot for the reform of the constitution, the principal See also:objects of this agitation being to prolong the presidential See also:term to four years, to give See also: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 See also:extension of the presidential, period_ might be made to apply to. himself. II arranged by the See also:local authorities in conformity with instructions from headquarters. In these circumstances the See also:administration of public affairs See also:fell into the hands' of an See also:oligarchy, who governed the country to suit their own convenience. President See also:Castro was for eight years a dictator, ruling bycorrupt and revolutionary methods, and in See also:defiance of obligations to the See also:foreign creditors of the country. The wrongs inflicted by' him on companies and individuals of various nationalities, who had invested capital in See also:industrial enterprises in Venezuela, led to a See also:blockade of the Venezuelan ports in 1903 by See also:English, See also:German and See also:Italian warships: Finding that See also:diplomacy was of no avail to obtain the reparation from Castro that was demanded by their subjects, His See also: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 See also:triumph of the insurgents, Palacios and his followers being forced to leave the country to See also: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 refornied constitution' accords belligerent rights to all persons taking up arms against the state authority, provided they can show that their See also:action is the outcome of political motives. Another clause protects the See also:property of rebels against See also:confiscation. Indeed, a See also:premium on armed insurrection is virtually granted. In See also:April 1895 the long-See also:standing dispute as to the boundary between See also:British See also:Guiana and Venezuela was brought to a crisis by the action of the Venezuelan authorities he arresting Inspectors See also:Barnes and See also:Baker, of the British Guiana See also:police, with a few of their subordinates, on the Cuyuni See also:river, the See also: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 See also:report on the occurrence. For the moment nothing more was heard of this boundary .question by the public, but General Crespo instructed the Venezuelan See also:minister in See also:Washington to ask for the assistance of the United States in the event of any demand being made by the British Government for an See also: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 See also:October 1895, risings occurring in the See also:northern and See also:southern sections of the republic. Some desultory fighting took See also:place for three or four months, but the revolt was never popular, and was completely suppressed See also:early in 1896. The Guiana boundary question began now to assume an acute See also:stage, the Venezuelan ,minister in Washington having persuaded President See also:Cleveland to take up the cause of Venezuela in vindication of the principles of the See also:Monroe See also:doctrine. On the 18th of December 1895 a See also: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 See also:arbitration would be considered as a casus See also:belli by his government. The See also:news of this message caused violent agitation in Caracas and other towns. A See also:league was formed binding merchants not to See also:deal in goods of British origin; patriotic associations were established for the purpose of defending Venezuela against British aggression, and the See also:militia were embodied. The question was subsequently arranged in 1899 by arbitration, and by the See also:payment of a moderate indemnity to the British See also:officers and men who had been captured. See also: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 See also:object of ousting Andrade from power. The insurrection was crushed, but in one of the final skirmishes a See also:chance See also:bullet struck General Crespo, who was in command of the government troops, and he died from the effects of the See also:wound. ' A subsequent revolt overthrew President Andrade in 1900. General Cipriano Castro then became president. During 1901 and 1902 the See also:internal See also: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 See also:vote for the -members of Congress, but in reality this See also:privilege is not exercised by them. See also:Official nominees are as a rule returned without any opposition, the details of the voting having been previouslythe three See also:powers unwillingly had recourse to See also: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 See also:Hague See also:Court of Arbitration. The Washington government had indeed no cause to be well disposed to Castro, for he treated the interests of Americans it Venezuela with the same high-handed contempt for honesty and See also:justice as those of Europeans. The demand of the United States for a revision of what is known as the Olcott See also:Award in connexion with the See also:Orinoco Steamship See also:Company was in 1905 met by a refusal to reopen the' See also: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 See also:French minister, to See also:land, on the ground that he had broken the See also:quarantine regulations. In consequence, See also: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 691,16o; 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 See also:debt to See also:Belgium, and fresh difficulties with the United States. Finally, in 1908 a dispute arose with See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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