The current of Venezuelan affairs has been often affected by disputes with the Dutch and English concerning the boundary between Vene zuela and Guiana. When the snecreded to the title of Spain, in 1821, the boundary be tween Venezuela and Guiana was somewhere be tween the Essequibo and the Orinoco. Spain clainiN1 to the former river, while prospectors and adventurers of all nationalities roamed through the intervening region. English and Dutch settlers had established themiselves through out the region drained by the lower Essequibo, bringing that section practically under the Brit ish lovernment. The rest of the region between the two rivers appears to have contained very few permanent settlements. In 1839-40 a Brit ish agent, Schomburg,k, traversed this country and mapped it, laying down a boundary line which gave to Guiana the larger part of the ter ritory. Venezuela promptly protested, and in 1844 England disclaimed any responsibility for, or official character in, the Ssbmmbsrgk line. Six years later, the agitation having been maintained by the Venezuelan agents, a truce was entered into by which both parties agreed to keep out of the disputed area and„ as Venezuela understood it, recognized the de facto line which had been first laid down in 1768, when the Dutch were driven out of their attempted settlements on the Orinoco and limited to the region beyond the Moroco Rive•. The truce lasted until 1879-80, when each party accused the other of violating the agreement. In 1887 England occupied the main mouth of the Orinoco and fortified her posi tion there. Venezuela promptly broke off all diplomatic relations. Realizing the hopelessness of contending with Great Britain in arms, the Venezuelan Government decided to resort to pub lic opinion. An agent was sent to the United States, who spread abroad pamphlets and state ments, and interviewed newspaper men and poli ticians, and in December, 1S94, President Cleve land recognized the widespread public interest in the dispute by an allusion to it in his annual mes sage to Congress. A year late•, the British Gov ernment having notified the United States that it had nothing to arbitrate with Venezuela, a special message, sharp in its tone with regard to Great Britain, was sent by Cleveland to Congress, leading that body to appropriate funds ($100, 000) for a eommission to investigate "the true divisional line between Venezuela and British Guiana." In November, 1896, before the com mission had reported, Great Britain yielded to the demand of the United States for arbitration. Eventually. in February, 1897, an agreement was reached and a treaty of arbitration duly signed. The arbitration tribunal made its award on October 3, 1899. drawing a line between the claims of the two neighbors. of whom Venezuela was apparently the less satisfied. Consult the Report of the Venezuelan Boundary Commission (Washington, 1897), especially the Official His tory of the dispute; British Blue Books and United States Congressional documents fur 1894-99.
Internally the close of 1897 witnessed the be ginning of a period of political turmoil in Ven ezuela. In September of that year General Ignacio Andrade was chosen President, to be in augurated in the following February, and im mediately after the election a plot against him, engineered by Senior Hernandez, was discovered. A revolt followed, but it was crushed. In the summer of 1899 General Cipriano Castro led a revolt, defeated the Government troops in a series of sharp engagements, and in October entered Caritas at the head of an army and proclaimed himself provisional President. Andrade fled and the revolutionary Government was securely estab lished, but hostilities were continued throughout 1900. In :March, 1901, Castro was elected Presi dent by the Venezuelan Congress to fill out An drade's unexpired term. With the renewal of the Liberal revolt in Colombia, in the success of which Castro was interested, disturbances in creased in Western Venezuela and there was more or less actual fighting between Venezuela and Colombian troops, although war was not officially declared. In Venezuela itself innumerable in
surrections, directed by the Conservative leader, Alatos, from his retreat in Trinidad, occurred in every part of the country, and it was probably only these troubles at home that deterred Castro from declaring war on Colombia. During the first ten months of 1902 the rebels fought on with varying success. In September the Castro Government appeared to be on the point of fall ing, but after a three days' battle near Victoria on October 13th the revolutionists were signally defeated and their army dispersed. Almost im mediately the international complications which had been threatening for several years reached e crisis. For some time France, Germany, Great Britain, and other countries had been pressing for the satisfaction of certain claims, resulting from a great variety of causes, including losses to the property of foreign residents through the successive revolutions, and the non-payment of principal and interest on debts contracted for public works. in the latter category German capitalists were the chief losers. During the summer a settlement was arranged with France. But the British and German governments be came more importunate in their demands, and reached an agreement to act together, and to take means to collect their debts forcibly if they were not at once satisfied. By December 7th plans for a joint naval demonstration had been per fected and the British and German ministers filed the ultimatums of their governments and left Carficas. On December 9th the allied naval forces seized a number of Venezuelan gunboats, and on the following day the allies instituted what they termed a 'peaceful blockade' of the Venezuelan ports. On December llth Italy been ITIC a party to the blockade. On December 13th the allies bombarded Puerto Cabello, and Castro, con vinced of the hopelessness of resistance, re quested Herbert \V. Bowen, the American Min istPr. to begin negotiations for a settlement. On December 17th SIr. Balfour, the British Premier, declared himself in agreement with the contention of the United States that there could be no such thing as a 'peaceful blockade.' and that a state of war therefore actually existed. Three days later an effective blockade was proclaimed. Ger many, Great Britain, and Italy then joined in a request that President Roosevelt act as arbitra tor. This he declined, with a eounter-proposition that the dispute be submitted to the internation al Court of Arbitration at The Hague. This proposal was finally acceded to, Castro signifying his assent on the last day of 1902. Subsequent negotiations at Wasbington perfected the details of the arrangement.
lifnmocaLkpuv. Bates, Central and South America (London, 1SS2) ; Barry, Venezuela (ib., 1880) ; Karsten, Geologic de l'anvicnne Colombie bolivarigune ( Berlin, 1880) ; Landaeta Rosales, Gran recopilacion geogr4 Jim estadisti ca e histdr•ica de Venezuela (Carfiva,. 1889) ; Child, The Spanish American Republics (New York, 1S91) ; Vizearrondo Rojas, Rcsciia gcogra flea de Venezuela (Carfieas, 1S95) ; Bureau of American Republics, Venezuela (Washington, 1892, 1895) ; Curtis, l'enezuda (New York, 1896) ; Scruggs, The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics (Boston, 1900) ; Sievers, Venezuela and die deutschen. Intcresscn (Halle, 1903) ; British Foreign Office Diplomatic and Consular Reports (London) ; Biggs, history of Miranda's Revolution (ib., 1809); Dutoneh•ay Holstein, Memoirs of Bolivar (ib., 1830) ; Flinter. Revolu tion of Canicas (ib., 1829) ; Report of the Vene zuelan Boundary Commission (Washington, 1897).