VENEZUELA. 



775 



Government troops, and committed other aets 

 that exasperated the party of wealth ami reaped - 

 ability which liad placed him in power. In 

 .laiiuary. 1*1*. tin- ('undress, which had begun 

 impeachment nnn i . di.i^- a^iin-l M<mairas. was 

 broken up by toe inol) and the Liberal Militia, an 

 organisation substituted by the President for the. 

 n uular army wliich lie had disbanded. Paez led 

 a revolt against the dictator, but could not raise 

 enough men to make a Ion-; ti^ht. The hostile 

 political leaders were executed or sent into exile. 

 and for ten years Monagas ruled despotically and 

 corruptly under constitutional forms, the Presi- 

 dency passing in succession to members of his 

 own family. He was overthrown in 1858 by a 

 rebellion headed by Gen. Tovar Castro, who be- 

 came President. In the struggle which ensued 

 between the Federalists or Monaguistas, uphold- 

 ers of a loose confederation, and the advocates of 

 a strong centralized union, Castro was deposed 

 because he identified himself with the Monaguis- 

 tas Gen. Paez was called from his exile in New 

 York to take command of the army, and when 

 Castro's successor, President Gual, feeling strong 

 enough as leader of the Liberal party to stand 

 alone, demanded his resignation, Paez was up- 

 held by the Federal Council, and Gual himself 

 was forced out. Paez was made President with 

 dictatorial powers for the purpose of fighting the 

 rebellion led by Gen. Juan C. Falcon. The 

 rebellion gained ground, and in the spring of 

 1863, when Gen. Antonio Guzman Blanco lay 

 before the capital with a victorious rebel army, 

 Paez made terms, the result of which was that 

 ho retired, and was succeeded by Castro, with 

 Guzman Blanco as Vice-President. The demo- 

 cratic and progressive elements were in the 

 ascendency for the first time since the Liberal 

 administration of Paez in 1843, and Guzman 

 Blanco, the real political leader, had the states- 

 manlike gifts necessary to guide the movement 

 and direct the intellect and energy of the nation 

 into channels of peace and progress. A new 

 Constitution was proclaimed on Marches, 1864, 

 which established the rights of petition and free 

 assembly, popular suffrage, the inviolability of 

 the mails, and the right of imprisoned persons to 

 speedy examination and release in case the charge 

 fails, guaranteed free elections, and declared the 

 autonomy of the States. In 1867 partisan quar- 

 rels brought on a civil war which lasted till 

 December, 1871, when Blanco, as; leader of the 

 Federalists, was proclaimed Provisional Presi- 

 dent or Dictator. Blanco was elected President 

 in 1873, and in 1877 he was re-elected, and also in 

 1881, after suppressing two uprisings in 1879. 

 He was the controlling spirit behind every 

 administration, including that of Gen. Crespo, 

 who was chosen President in 1884. Under his 

 direction an admirable system of compulsory 

 public instruction was organized, a telegraph and 

 postal system was established, and railroads were 

 built connecting Caracas and Valencia with their 

 seaports. An amended Constitution, adopted on 

 April l ,'7, 1881, consolidated the 20 Slates which 

 had constituted the Republic from the beginning, 

 into 8 States, 5 Territories, and 1 Colony. Long 

 tenure of power rendered Blanco vain, self-willed, 

 and arbitrary, and his extortionate greed in 

 accumulating a vast fortune out of the public 

 wealth made him so unpopular that he was over- 



thrown by a popular revolution in 1888. Dr. 

 Pablo Rojas Paul was elected President for the 

 term endiiiL: I 'el, -.'(I, ]S<o. and ho was sue' 

 on March 7, 1890, by Dr. Raimundo Ai.du.-x.a 

 Palacio for the term expiring l-Vb. 20, 1- 



A revised Constitution, adopted on April 16, 

 1891, divides the country into <> Mates, 1 I 

 District, 8 Territories, a'nd 2 Colonies. Tl 

 ate is composed of 27 members, 3 from each 

 State, who are elected for 4 years by the State 

 Legislatures. The Chamber of Deputies num- 

 bers 57 members. 1 for every 35,000 inhabitants, 

 elected also for 4 years by direct suffrage in the 

 individual States. The President holds office for 

 2 years. He is assisted by a cabinet of 6 .Minis- 

 ters and by the Federal Council, consisting of 

 19 members who are chosen every 2 years by 

 Congress. The Federal Council has for its Presi- 

 dent the President of the Republic, who is elected 

 from among its members by the Council after it 

 is constituted in the beginning of each biennial 

 session of Congress, and is not eligible for the 

 next succeeding term, nor can any member of the 

 Council be appointed twice in succession. The 

 National Legislature consists of the two Houses, 

 one of Senators and another of Deputies. These 

 bodies meet every year in the capital, Caracas, on 

 the 20th of February, and their sessions last 70 

 days and may be prolonged for 20 more. Each 

 house may be organized with two-thirds of its 

 total members, and once they have commenced 

 to hold sessions they can continue them with 

 two-thirds of those who opened them, provided 

 the number of members present be equal at least 

 to one-half their full number. Both houses dis- 

 charge their functions separately, having, how- 

 ever, the power to meet in joint session in certain 

 cases, or when one of the two deems it necessary. 

 The election of the Federal Council takes place 

 in the first and third year of each term of office 

 of the legislative body and within the first 15 

 days of its meeting. 



Area and Population. The area of Venezuela 

 was 1,043,900 kilometers before the recent ratifi- 

 cation of the Colombian frontier. The population 

 of the different States and Territories, according 

 to the census of 1891, is as follows : 



Yuruary has lately been incorporated in the 

 State of Bolivar. The capital city, Caracas, had 

 70, 466 inhabitants in 1891. Valencia, the capi- 

 tal of the State of Carabobo, had in I8h8 a popula- 

 tion of 38,654 ; Buquisimeto, 31,470 ; Barcelona, 



