Venezuela and the Guianas 1914
By Jamie Bisher
Venezuela 1914
The
nineteenth century was not kind to Venezuela. By 1830 her 20-year struggle for independence
from Spain
had decimated her population and crippled economy and trade. Caudillos
ruled for the remainder of the century, the most notable being Antonio Guzmán
Blanco whose 18-year dictatorship brought peace and stability to the country,
and modernization and vainglorious monuments to the city.
In 1895, a long simmering border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana almost incited a war between the US and Great Britain. Caudillo General Joaquín Crespo obtained the support of US Secretary of State Richard Olney, who invoked the Monroe Doctrine and demanded that Great Britain submit the dispute to arbitration. British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Lord Salisbury refused, and in December 1895, an enthusiastic US Congress authorized President Grover Cleveland to appoint a boundary commission whose findings would be enforced “by every means.” US newspapers openly talked of war with Great Britain. Lord Salisbury hesitantly submitted the matter to arbitration, where in 1899 the US commission found in favor of the British claim, to the dismay of the Venezuelan government. “Internationally the incident marked the United States as a world power,” noted the State Department history of the incident, “and gave notice that under the Monroe Doctrine it would exercise its claimed prerogatives in the Western Hemisphere.”
The boundary settlement did not end foreign intervention in Venezuela. General Cipriano Castro, a caudillo whose despotism and degeneracy exceeded the norm, whipped up troubles that drew a number of foreign protests, blockades, and even bombardments and landings by the British, German and Italian navies. The US Navy forced a financial settlement in 1902, but five years later the Dutch were provoked to seize a port and sink part of the Venezuelan Navy.
Since 1908, Venezuela had cowered in the shadow of dictator Juan Vicente Gomez. His ruthlessness had propelled him from illiterate cowherd to local caudillo in the Andean state of Tachira to El Presidente. Propagandists reverently cited his shared birthdate with Simon Bolivar, July 24. He exterminated opponents and critics, balanced the books and began exploiting the country’s rich oil deposits. El Benemerito—“the Meritorious One”—professionalized and modernized the army to solidify his power base, and strengthened the navy to avoid the humiliation that occurred when German, British and Italian warships cornered the ill-equipped navy of his predecessor.
Gomez built an impressive intelligence service to keep tabs on political rivals inside and outside the country. His omnipresent secret police was renowned for inconceivable sadism. They assembled an army of shuffling political prisoners in grillos—leg irons—that built an extensive highway system. “For every policeman in Caracas,” said Time magazine, “Dictator Gomez kept twelve spies, male and female, on his payroll.” Venezuela marched to the beat of its’ own drummer, General Gomez, or else.
In 1895, a long simmering border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana almost incited a war between the US and Great Britain. Caudillo General Joaquín Crespo obtained the support of US Secretary of State Richard Olney, who invoked the Monroe Doctrine and demanded that Great Britain submit the dispute to arbitration. British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Lord Salisbury refused, and in December 1895, an enthusiastic US Congress authorized President Grover Cleveland to appoint a boundary commission whose findings would be enforced “by every means.” US newspapers openly talked of war with Great Britain. Lord Salisbury hesitantly submitted the matter to arbitration, where in 1899 the US commission found in favor of the British claim, to the dismay of the Venezuelan government. “Internationally the incident marked the United States as a world power,” noted the State Department history of the incident, “and gave notice that under the Monroe Doctrine it would exercise its claimed prerogatives in the Western Hemisphere.”
The boundary settlement did not end foreign intervention in Venezuela. General Cipriano Castro, a caudillo whose despotism and degeneracy exceeded the norm, whipped up troubles that drew a number of foreign protests, blockades, and even bombardments and landings by the British, German and Italian navies. The US Navy forced a financial settlement in 1902, but five years later the Dutch were provoked to seize a port and sink part of the Venezuelan Navy.
Since 1908, Venezuela had cowered in the shadow of dictator Juan Vicente Gomez. His ruthlessness had propelled him from illiterate cowherd to local caudillo in the Andean state of Tachira to El Presidente. Propagandists reverently cited his shared birthdate with Simon Bolivar, July 24. He exterminated opponents and critics, balanced the books and began exploiting the country’s rich oil deposits. El Benemerito—“the Meritorious One”—professionalized and modernized the army to solidify his power base, and strengthened the navy to avoid the humiliation that occurred when German, British and Italian warships cornered the ill-equipped navy of his predecessor.
Gomez built an impressive intelligence service to keep tabs on political rivals inside and outside the country. His omnipresent secret police was renowned for inconceivable sadism. They assembled an army of shuffling political prisoners in grillos—leg irons—that built an extensive highway system. “For every policeman in Caracas,” said Time magazine, “Dictator Gomez kept twelve spies, male and female, on his payroll.” Venezuela marched to the beat of its’ own drummer, General Gomez, or else.
The Guianas 1914
The Guianas were described as “the most wretched and miserable areas in all Latin America..., unbelievably poor, unbelievably filthy.” It was caustic testimony to the nebulous benefits of British, Dutch and French colonial administration. Ironically a border dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela compelled the United States to adopt a more outward-looking foreign policy just before the turn of the century. The colonies’ geographical and cultural isolation from the rest of Latin America relegated them to places of exile and imprisonment. Nevertheless, the British and French mobilized their Guianas to tap the rich natural resources and small pools of manpower, in the process stirring political awakenings that would lead to the birth of independence movements.
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Copyright 2017, J. Bisher