824 



VENEZUELA. 



Ciudad Bolivar, and 338,039 kilograms from 

 Maracaibo. There were 1,253,342 kilograms of 

 rubber exported from Ciudad Bolivar, and 43,211 

 kilograms of tobacco; 18,774 head of cattle from 

 Puerto Cabello and 6,490 from Ciudad Bolivar; 

 ;{.">. Hi!) kilograms of goat- and deer-skins from 

 Ciudad Bolivar, 836,128 kilograms from Puerto 

 Cabello, and 125,866 kilograms from Maracaibo; 

 53,692 kilograms of copra from Puerto Cabello; 

 5,421.550 kilograms of fustic, 1,781,612 kilograms 

 of dividivi, 4,099 kilograms of cinchona bark, 

 36,587 kilograms of copaiba, 42,901 kilograms of 

 fish sounds, and 274,553 kilograms of sugar from 

 Maracaibo; and 1,316 kilograms of gold bullion, 

 valued at $589,000, from Ciudad Bolivar. Feath- 

 ers for millinery are an important article of 

 export. The principal imports are provisions, 

 textiles, hardware, coal, petroleum, timber, and 

 machinery. Coffee is exported to the United 

 States, France, and Germany; cacao to France, 

 Spain, and Germany; hides to the United States; 

 rubber and feathers to Great Britain. 



Navigation. Maracaibo was visited in 1900 

 by 403 vessels in the foreign trade, Puerto Ca- 

 bello by 262, La Guayra by 205, Ciudad Bolivar 

 by 73. 



The merchant marine in 1900 consisted of 18 

 sailing vessels, of 2,836 tons, and 12 steamers, of 

 2,567 tons. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. There are 529 

 miles of railroads. A new line to connect Yari- 

 tagua with Puerto Cabello was contracted for 

 in 1899. 



The telegraphs have a length of 3,882 miles. 



Insurrection. The revolution that was start- 

 ed in the beginning of 1902 for the overthrow of 

 President Castro was headed by M. Matos, the 

 wealthiest of Venezuelans, who purchased the 

 British steamer Ban High, loaded her in Europe 

 with rapid-fire guns for her own armament and 

 field-guns, many thousand rifles, and a vast quan- 

 tity of ammunition for the army. A large force 

 embarked at Trinidad, the steamer was converted 

 into a warship bristling with guns, her name 

 changed to the Bolivar, and after she had sunk 

 the only serviceable vessel of the Venezuelan 

 navy that Castro sent to capture her, Matos 

 could land his expeditions at any part of the 

 Venezuelan coast that he desired and bring all 

 the supplies he wanted from Trinidad. Castro 

 had enemies in various parts of the country ready 

 to join in the insurrection. The forces of Matos 

 consisted of 15,000 men, divided into 25 sections. 

 They occupied the strategic positions where the 

 Government was weak or unpopular, and threat- 

 ened to advance on Caracas from the Cumana 

 district and from the Colombian border. Revo- 

 lutionists rose in bands in many places. When 

 the expedition arrived on Jan. 2 and landed 5,000 

 Mausers the Government force of 560 men at 

 Coro joined the rebel Generals Urbina, Fernandez, 

 and Garcia. Generals Guzman, Monogros, and 

 Platero. of the revolutionary army, had their \\ ay 

 in Carabobo and Guarico. Generals Batalla 

 and Fernandez Cedeno rose against the Gov- 

 ernment, and the latter twice defeated the 

 Government troops in Carabobo. Gen. Vas- 

 auez headed a successful rising at Carupano. 

 The Government troops had difficulty in putting 

 down an insurrection in Maracaibo.' The rebels 

 were victorious near Barquisimeto. A severe 

 engagement was fought without result near 

 Uchire. Contributions were levied on foreigners 

 by the authorities in various places. M:mv 

 prominent men, including ex-ministers Pulido 

 and Urbanejo. were arrested at Caracas. On Feb. 

 27 the Venezuelan Congress elected Gen. Castro 



as President for another term of six years to 

 begin on Feb. 20. An invasion from Colombia 

 under Rangel Gardiras was checked near Lafrias. 

 President Castro sent troops to meet the revo- 

 lutionists who laid siege to Barcelona, Carupano, 

 and Cumana and held the port of Tucacas. The 

 revolutionists, who numbered 3,500 men, defeated 

 Gen. Escalante on April 3 near Carupano, where 

 he lost 350 men. On the following day he was 

 attacked and routed near El Pilar. The rebels 

 took Barquisimeto. Gen. Ramon Castillo with 

 2,200 men marched out against them. He was 

 attacked on April 22 near San Antonio, and fa- 

 tally \vounded in the beginning of the engage- 

 ment, upon which the newly levied troops of his 

 force deserted to the enemy and the others re- 

 treated. The Government forced every able- 

 bodied man into the army. Gen. Vincente Gomez, 

 led a third army against the rebels at Carupano, 

 which was attacked on May 6 by sea and by 

 land. He also was wounded and his troops were 

 routed on May 6, losing 115 dead and 210 wound- 

 ed. The Government gunboats shelled the town 

 without the usual notice in spite of the protests- 

 of the foreign residents. A new invasion was 

 aided by the Colombians, and 4,000 men crossed 

 the border. The revolutionists compelled a Nor- 

 wegian steamer to cany troops and munitions 

 from Barancas to Bolivar, and afterward the 

 vessel was attacked and Capt. Meling killed by 

 Government troops. La Guayra was attacked by 

 a band of revolutionists on June 7, and the Gov- 

 ernment forces shelled them from the forts and 

 the warship Miranda, compelling them to retire. 

 Gen. Matos had his army in the field by this 

 time, fully organized and equipped, and he began 

 a systematic advance on Caracas. In June he 

 issued a proclamation in which he announced 

 a provisional Government, with himself as Presi- 

 dent, Pedro Ezequiel Rojas as Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, and Generals Perez and Pedro Duchaine 

 as commanders of the armies in the field. The 

 30 per cent, duty was declared abolished with 

 regard to West Indian imports. He moved with 

 3,000 men to Urica, leaving 3,000 still in the 

 State of Bermudez. Coro was held by Vice- 

 President Ayala with a strong force, but on 

 June 20 he capitulated. Insurgents fought the 

 Government troops in the streets of Barcelona 

 early in August and captured the town, kill- 

 ing Gen. Bravo and 60 men. On both sides 

 8 generals, 23 colonels, and 167 men were 

 killed and many houses were destroyed. Ger- 

 man, Italian. British, and American warship* 

 were at La Guayra and Puerto Cabello, where the 

 revolutionists were active. The commanders were 

 ordered to send vessels to Barcelona, where the 

 insurgents were sacking the stores of foreign mer- 

 chants and did not spare the foreign consulates. 

 Ciudad Bolivar was blockaded by Government 

 vessels. Germany, Great Britain, and France pro- 

 tested against the blockade on the ground that it 

 was ineffective. By Ihe middle of August the 

 revolutionary party obtained possession of Pu- 

 erto Cabello. The Government forces a tier a 

 bombardment took Carupano. Ciudad Bolivar 

 was next bombarded. The Restaurador ad vaneetl 

 into close range before firing, flying the American 

 flng. For this Minister Bowen demanded and 

 received an apology from the Venezuelan <I<>\ em- 

 inent. On Aug. ~2'2 about 700 rebels entered Carn- 

 pano and fought all day with 1,000 Government 

 troops under Gen. Velutini. On Aug. 28 the 

 advance guard of the revolutionary army at- 

 tempted to take Taguay, but was repelled with 

 a loss of 200 men. The rebellion made progress, 

 however. The German railroad was cut. and ttOO 



