Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-08-28

Down in Venezuela, the land of revo
~lutions, Ciprianc Castro, general,
president and dictator, is hard put to
it to retain the position he won by
| Wis ct arms. The prevailing order in
Venezuela is dog eat dog, and any day
| there may come word that Castro's
| forces have been seriously defeated,
| that the seat of government has been
shifted from Caracas, and that another
dictator is enthroned. The dispatches
from Venezuela during the last few
days, while contradictory and some
what confusing at this distance, in
dictate that the revolutionists have
made some progress at several i'm
portant points.
President Castro was dictator from
the time he drove President Andrade
from the executive mansion at Cara
cas- by force of arms in 1899 until
February of this year, when he was
elected president of Venezuela in 1897,
~whereupon Gen. Jose Manuel Her
nandez, the defeated candidate, in
augurated a revolution. Andrade
then became virtually a dictator; at
least It is said that he violated the
laws freely. What caused the revolt
of Gen. Castro, the present dictator,
was a decree redividing the republic
into 81 instead of nine states, issued to
save the state of Miranda for the gov
ernment's candidate for governor, or
state president. There were two candi-
dates for election in Miranda-Gen.
Guerra and Gen. Fernandez. Guerra
was the popular choice, Fernandez
was Andrade's. To solve the problem
Andrade decided to make two states
of Miranda and to make the decree
general he divided the entire republic
in the same manner. Los Anges, the
largest of all the states, lying on the
border of Colombia, was divided into
three states, which SO provoked Cas-
tro, who had been elected president of
Los Anges, that he embarked upon
the revolution, which ended in his be-
ing dictator in Andrade's place.
A resident of Caracas, writing in the
Independent-anonymously, for rea-
sons OF prudence,-groups some illum-
mating facts concerning the state of
affairs in this revolution-ridden coun-
try, as follows:-
Revolutions Galore.
-Four revolutions within the last
four years, and the fifth already begun
in which ex-President Andrade bears
a hand.
Forty revolutions within the past
so years.
Castro took possession of the ex-
ecutive mansion by force; remained
dictator for a year; created a con-
stitutional assembly, which issued a
new constitution and created Castro
provisional president.
Since 1921 there have been adopted
II several constitutions-many of
which have come up in a night and
persisted in the heat of a new revolu-
ton, to be followed by another die
tatOrship.
Fifty-million dollar debt to German
capitalists, and no prospect of paying
even the interest; considerable claims
by Spain and France, which latter
power withdrew her minister pleni-
potentiary several years age.
Many of the most intelligent natives
of the country praying for the dawn
Of the day of peace and quiet under
the protectorate.
Even comic papers copying editorials
Of the most respectable journals in
Caracas and elsewhere in Venezuela
veritable Jeremiads over the moral
ruin wrought by hopeless hunger and
persistent seduction.
Two of the pest railroads in South
America are within the bounds of
Venezuela, and are forced to run their
machinery and running stock at a
daily loss, with the hope of preserving
at least a part. These are only speci-
mems of all foreign enterprises here.
Meantime, and all the time, writes
this resident of Caracas, in Venezuela
there is a division, much divided of
political parties-in fact, a chaos of