Venezuela: Two centuries of ploughed sand in the liberator's shadow

“ IN none of the colonies of Spanish America was the struggle for emancipation so stubborn, so heroic, and so tragical, as in Venezuela. In the North of the Continent she was the nucleus of the revolution, gave it both its military power and its political basis, and supplied to it the genius of Bolívar. ”

“ Venezuela has placed herself in the number of free nations, and hastens to give advice of this event to her neighbors so that, if the aspirations of the new world are in accord with hers, they might give her help in the great and very difficult career she has undertaken. 'Virtue and moderation' have been our motto. 'Fraternity, union and generosity' should be yours, so that these great principles combined may accomplish the great work of raising America to the political dignity which so rightly belongs to her. ”

“ Then Venezuela gave to South America Simon Bolivar, and the storm of revolution which swept the Continent shook these northern dependencies into transient wakefulness and energy, until the great day of Boyaca dawned, and New Granada and Venezuela, as Spanish colonies, ceased to be. Fit or unfit as they might have been for self-government at the time, these peoples set out to make histories as independent States, and the Spanish colonial era, having lasted over two and a half centuries, came to an end. ”

“ The Spanish misgovernment left a legacy of bitterness and anarchy that has been the cause of much misery. Political passion runs very high in the country, and its history for a generation between these two parties has been a continual struggle, always more or less warlike. The existence of Venezuela in an independent capacity is due, in a large measure, to the personal ambition of Paez, by whose influence the great Liberator was exiled from his fatherland, and the republic separated from Colombia. ”

“ First and foremost, there is the character of the Government itself to be considered. Venezuela, like most of the rest of Latin America, has suffered much at the hands of a military-political class, whose one method of acquiring and retaining power has been that of force ”

“ Bolivar was instrumental in founding five republics, among them that of his native province of Venezuela, of which he was the first President.
Ten years of one of the grimmest struggles known to history gave freedom to Venezuela and her sister republics; but in the north, as in many other parts of the Continent, freedom has for the past century spelt, not liberty, but licence. Centuries of slavery, in fact if not in name, had rendered the mixed races of South America unfit for self-government. The mass of the people merely exchanged one set of corrupt rulers for another ”

“ Yet "indefinite liberty, absolute democracy, are {74} snares in which all republican hopes come to grief." Liberty without licence, authority without tyranny: such was the ideal of Bolivar. In vain did he struggle single-handed amid ambitious generals and a disordered people; before he died he understood the vanity of his efforts. "Those who have served the cause of the Revolution," he cried, "have ploughed the sand.... If it were possible that a portion of the world should return to its primitive chaos, such would be the last phase of America." ”

“ It disdains to justify itself with petty pleadings; it spurns diplomatic equivocation; it places the claim to independence upon the broad basis of eternal rights, as self-evident as the sun, as broad as the world, as common as the air of heaven. The struggle of the colonies against the usurping government of Great Britain has risen to the proud dimensions of a struggle of man for liberty and equality. Behold, five men are advancing towards the table of the president. First, Thomas Jefferson, whose philosophical spirit grasps the generality of things and events ”

“ Elsewhere in his address, he remarks:
"The government of Venezuela has been, is, and must be Repúblican its foundation must be the sovereignty of the people, the division of powers, civil freedom, the proscription of slavery, the abolition of monarchy and of privileges." ... "Unlimited freedom, absolute democracy, are the rocks upon which Repúblican hopes have been destroyed. Look at the old republics, the modern republics, and the republics now in process of formation; almost all have aimed to establish themselves as absolutely democratic, and almost all have failed in their just desires." ”

“ He seemed unable to assure the liberty of Venezuela, yet he was thinking of giving freedom to Nueva Granada. He sent a proclamation to its inhabitants and directed one of his generals to invade it. He said:
"The day of America has arrived, and no human power can stop the course of nature, guided by the hand of Providence. Join your efforts to those of your brethren. Venezuela goes with me to free you, as you in the past with me gave freedom to Venezuela.... The sun will not end the course of its present period without seeing altars dedicated to liberty throughout your territory." ”

“ Slavery is a child of darkness; an ignorant people becomes a blind instrument of its own destruction. It takes license for freedom, treachery for patriotism, vengeance for justice." ... "Liberty is a rich food, but of difficult digestion. Our weak fellow citizens must greatly strengthen their spirit before they are able to digest the wholesome and nutritious bread of liberty." ... "The most perfect system of government is the one which produces the greatest possible happiness, the greatest degree of social safety, and the greatest political stability." ”

“ Neither Miranda nor his youthful coadjutor, Simon Bolivar, soon to become famous in the annals of Spanish American history, approved of this plunge into democracy. Ardent as their patriotism was, they knew that the country needed centralized control and not experiments in confederation or theoretical liberty. They speedily found out, also, that they could not count on the support of the people at large. Then, almost as if Nature herself disapproved of the whole proceeding, a frightful earthquake in the following year shook many a Venezuelan town into ruins. Everywhere the royalists took heart. ”

“ It is abundantly notorious, that I only aspire to retirement and tranquillity, after a life so greatly agitated as mine has been; but I hold a moral responsibility which requires the sacrifice of my most sanguine desires. The experience of twelve years of revolution in Venezuela, Cundinamarca, Chile, and the united provinces of Rio de la Plata have given me a knowledge of the evils attending the untimely convocation of congresses, while the enemy yet exists in the country; independence must first be secured; we must afterwards think of the solid establishment of liberty. ”

“ Upon the organization of Colombia, as a result of the union of Nueva Granada and Venezuela, Bolívar was made president, and in that capacity he signed the constitution of 1821. In his communication to the Congress of Rosario de Cúcuta, he reiterated his desire to resign the command. On this occasion, his declaration could not be more emphatic.
"A man like me is a dangerous citizen in a popular government. He is an immediate threat to the national sovereignty. I want to be a cit in order to secure my own freedom and the freedom of everybody else. ”

“ There the Venezuelans honor him as the protecting genius of their country. They have blotted from the memory of man the ingratitude of their forefathers. They live in constant veneration of the great man, and consider him as the creator and protector of their country, and the greatest source of inspiration to live austerely and united within Venezuela, since they cannot form a part of that greater country, the dream of which went with Bolívar to his tomb. ”

“ It was early in life to be in the thick of politics, and in trouble to the extent of having to fly my country to save my liberty, perhaps my life.
Every nation, someone remarks, has the government it deserves, and Venezuela certainly has the one it deserves and that suits it best. We call it a republic, not only because it is not one, but also because a thing must have a name ”

“ Ay, in South America the word 'republic' loses the significance of liberty that it bears in other lands. It is natural a people condemned to lifelong poverty, for no fault of their own in most cases, should be ever ready to listen to the call to arms as a summons to a holiday. So you see it is easy to raise an army of this sort, and it is small wonder Venezuela has been bothered with so many outbreaks against its peace and progress. But here we are close upon the spacious abode of the coffee planter, who is the principal man of this vicinity, unless there happens to be another of his class. ”

“ South America is waiting for the great hand, for the great liberator of the land from the faults and follies of its own sons, and when he comes he will find a country rich to overflowing in unrealised possibilities. The curse of these countries seems to be in the love of the Spanish American for political intrigue, which periodically bears fruit in the bogus political “liberator,” throbbing with meretricious and self-seeking ambition which he bombastically labels “Patriotism.”
Cathedral and Plaza
Caracas, Venezuela
Copyright, 1901, by Detroit Photographic Co. ”

“ At the behest of some self-constituted chieftain, who has strutted in front of a mirror until he imagines himself a second Simon Bolivar, they rise in rebellion, because it gives them a chance to prey on the country, and, if their revolt is successful, to continue and extend their preying. But some day a real man will rise up among them and lead them out of their blackness and butchery into peace and prosperity, and Venezuela, with her wild wastes of wealth, will become great beyond the imaginings of her discoverers. ”

“ Venezuela is notoriously in the front rank of political corruption in South America, and La Guayra is its greatest single fleecing-place. From the instant he enters this chief port the stranger is hounded at every turn by grasping, insolent officials and political favorites permitted to indulge in the most absurd extortions, a spirit which pervades the entire population down to the last impudent, rascally street-urchin. ”

“ The United States’ partnership with nations in the hemisphere is founded on shared values and democratic governance, but we cannot take it for granted. Many still live under the oppression of tyranny.
The corrupt and hostile regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela clings to a false dream and antiquated vision for the region that has already failed its citizens. It does not represent the vision of millions of Venezuelans – or in any way comport with the norms of our Latin American, Canadian, or Caribbean partners. ”

“ As we restore American leadership throughout the world, we are once again standing up for freedom in our hemisphere. That is why my Administration reversed the failing policies of the previous administration on Cuba. We are supporting the hopes of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to restore democracy. The United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people. ”

“ One of the most serious challenges our countries face is the specter of socialism. It’s the wrecker of nations and destroyer of societies.
Events in Venezuela remind us all that socialism and communism are not about justice, they are not about equality, they are not about lifting up the poor, and they are certainly not about the good of the nation. Socialism and communism are about one thing only: power for the ruling class.
Today, I repeat a message for the world that I have delivered at home: America will never be a socialist country. ”

“ More than 2 million people have fled the anguish inflicted by the socialist Maduro regime and its Cuban sponsors.
Not long ago, Venezuela was one of the richest countries on Earth. Today, socialism has bankrupted the oil-rich nation and driven its people into abject poverty.
Virtually everywhere socialism or communism has been tried, it has produced suffering, corruption, and decay. Socialism’s thirst for power leads to expansion, incursion, and oppression. All nations of the world should resist socialism and the misery that it brings to everyone. ”

“ Such has been the fate of Venezuela since the time of Bolivar, whom its people hail as the Liberator, as the Washington of South America.
But pitiful as has been the country’s lot, unfortunate as it is to-day, the future is not without hope. Only one thing is necessary to change the present lamentable condition of affairs, and convert Venezuela into a great and happy country. That one thing is a man—a ruler of strong arm and stout heart, who is a patriot in deed as well as in name ”

“ For, obviously, there exists no living human, not to mention Venezuelan being, capable of doubting the Kaiser's decision upon any subject, much less a claim. Since Venezuela had the audacity to delay and dispute payment a great opportunity had arrived. Out went the demand, and hard upon it came the invincible Armada.
John Hay, Secretary of State, taking note of this affair, pointed out that the United States had an ancient rule, by which they set great store, to the effect that no excuse would do for invading American soil. ”

“ January 23.—The United States leaves France free to act as she sees fit in the Venezuelan case. French warships are reported under way to Venezuela.
The Powers are all using their influence to bring about a reconciliation between France and Germany over the Moroccan dispute.
The steamship Valencia, from San Francisco, is driven ashore on the coast of Vancouver Island. Grave fear is felt for the ninety-four passengers and crew of sixty, as the storm is too severe for any vessel to go to the rescue.
Fighting continues in the provinces of Southern Russia, where the rebels are holding their own. ”

“ In November 2021, Russia Today reported in an article that a string of recent US internal documents revealed how the United States meddled in the electoral process in Venezuela. Documents showed that US intelligence fronts weaponized social media to promote Venezuela's right-wing opposition, and assist their election to parliament, thus laying the foundations for Washington's appointment of Juan Guaido as the country's leader. ”

“ I have been in every country in South America and have studied all of them and there is no possibility of doubt that Venezuela is beyond comparison the richest in its natural resources. With the setting up of a firm and civilized government, which must come in the end, under an American protectorate if by no other means, all of the fairy stories that were told of it centuries ago will come true, and its development will eclipse all of the dreams that have been realized in our own country. ”

“ In the same manner that the Himalaya “resumes,” so to speak, the Flora of all the climates of the Old World, does the Cordillera of the Andes, and, notably, that portion of the chain situated between Peru and Venezuela, present all the vegetable types of the New World, disposed upon its plateaux and its slopes as upon a gigantic flight of steps. In the lower region, the plants of Tropical America, favoured by a marshy soil, deck themselves out in their most gorgeous attire. ”

“ The high mountains are so near the sea that there is only a narrow strip of land at the foot and on this narrow strip the city is built. The sea is nearly always rough and the weather always hot. How people can endure such extreme heat all the time is a mystery.
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All along this coast strip of Venezuela are plantations generally covered with cocoa trees. From the beans of this tree are made cocoa and chocolate. Coffee is also a staple crop. At the piers will be noticed bags of coffee and cocoa beans, great quantities of rubber and piles of hides. ”

“ That there is good reason to suppose that the region contains vast mineral wealth can hardly be denied, in view of the widespread indications of gold, so general that it is almost a daily occurrence to see men, women, and boys setting out with pan, pick, and shovel, carried on a donkey’s back, to try their fortune at some fresh alluvial discovery. A big rush of men took place to the Venamo Valley, on the borders of Guiana, in December of last year, and the field there is now being opened up, some sixty or seventy miles southward of Callao, and accessible by water only. ”

“ It is hardly necessary to speak of the valuable timber-trees of which the forests are largely composed, and the quantity of natural vegetable products of the region is as yet only to be surmised from the casual specimens brought in by natives or travellers.
Nor is there lack of mineral resources; the lajas which so often occur both in the savannahs and as bare patches in the midst of the forest frequently show indications of metallic ores, and below Pericos, on the Orinoca, copper is said to be visible in the river banks. ”

“ The dark-red, fine-grained wood is said to be excellent for shipbuilding purposes. Mahogany or caoba, the palo de arco, whose wood is very like mahogany in colour, and a big tree called in Venezuela rosewood, which it resembles, are among the timber trees of the region known to us in Europe. The huge ceibas, with their buttress-like roots, have a soft, easily worked wood, excellent for the dug-out canoes of the Indians, and the equally large mucurutu or cannon-ball tree furnishes a beautiful but hard and fine-grained timber. ”

“ The beautiful Lake of Valencia, with its many islands, lies partly in Aragua and partly in the neighbouring State of Carabobo. The dry, sandy shores are mainly utilised for cotton-growing, an industry which, like many others in Venezuela, has never received the attention which it deserves, because an ample return on capital can be had in a multitude of enterprises for a minimum expenditure of labour and forethought.
In Carabobo we begin to leave the more densely populated region of the Centro, and find something of the wildness of virgin territory away from the towns. ”

“ Up the Torbes Valley and across the páramo of El Zumbador (8,000 feet) , a day’s ride brings one to La Grita (I shall have to refer to páramos again later on) . Near the watershed a road branches off to the east to Pregonero, capital of the Uribante district, in a valley whose products range from potatoes and wheat at the top to coffee and sugar at the bottom; out on the plains, too, there are big cattle-ranches whence comes much of the meat consumed in the Andine towns. The district needs roads for its development, and at present is rather an isolated, unvisited region. ”

“ North-west of Carache is an almost unexplored area, extending down the flanks of the Sierra del Empalado to the lake shore, one day, perhaps, to be visited and developed, but as yet hardly known save to those who cut dividive in the forests.
There must be great possibilities for such a region as that of the Andes, where much territory remains unexplored, while it includes, as it were, all the climates of the globe. Many plants have already been acclimatised, and of those whose cultivation is already carried on on a larger scale much more might be made ”

“ A great opportunity—The Panama Canal—The Llanos—Petroleum-fields—Liquid fuel—Position of Venezuela—Guayana—Possibilities—Colonisation—Government—The military-political class—The disgrace of labour—Better conditions—Vargas—The “Matos” revolution—General Gomez—Hopes to be realised—Honesty and justice—Development—Roads—Railways—Education—Consular service—Great Britain’s trade with Venezuela—A poor third—British capital—The people’s responsibility—An opportunity. ”

“ Whether with the growing dislike for military dictatorships there has come the equally necessary love of justice and straight dealing, and real hatred of political jobbery, time alone will show. High hopes have been fostered by the speeches of General Gomez for the greater stability and responsibility of the Governments of the republic, and it remains for the people of Venezuela to see that these hopes [266] are realised. Just and honest government is the first need of the country; given those conditions, its development should, indeed must, be rapid. ”

“ The long stability of the Araucanian nation, the homogeneity of its population, the lasting nature of its political charter, the conservative character of its institutions, the slow and steady development of Chili until the war of the Pacific and the revolution of 1891, fully realised the prophecies of Bolivar. "Peru includes two elements inimical to all just and liberal government—gold and slavery. The first corrupts everything; the second is corrupt in itself. The soul of a serf rarely succeeds in taking liberty sanely. It rushes furiously into tumult, or lives humiliated in chains. ”