The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-12-25
ASKS PRESIDENT
FOR HELPING HAND
Mother of Venezuelan Political
Prisoner Sends Plea TO
Roosevelt.
CASTRO TURNS DEAF EAR.
Terrible Condition of CaptIvrs III
Fortresses Is DiscloselRy
a Special Inves-
tlgation.


SPECIAL Correspondence Of The Republic.
Naracaibo. Venezuela, Dec. J. l!+.-A
grave condition of affairs exists in Nene-
zuela due to the administration of Presi-
dent Castro. His relentless course III
political cases is Illustrated in an instance
which has by this time been presented to
President Roosevelt through a letter of
appeal written by the mother of Il political
prisoner in the dungeon of Fort san Car
los al Maracaibo.
This letter was dated Maracabo. No
vember 6. 1901 was addi essed to President
Roosevelt and Was transmitted to him by
a high Venezuelan church dignitaiy. The
name of the writer is, not given iif this
article. 10 protect her from President Cas-
tro The letter reads in part:
Il come as a last resort to implore Your
pity l am a widowed mother to whom
there remains Dut one sen, ali the others
having parished either thrc ugh hardshipS
or disease. or remained upon the fields OF
carnage of my unhappy country. The sur
Vivor is a political prisoner since more
than two years ago. when he was ar
rested. as have been many Others. without
a shadow of right or cause, by the sole
wEim of a tyrant-
THE MOTHERS DISCOVERY
For more than two years ! have
knocked at every door; / have begged
President Castro TO receive and hear me
Ilat might e1uedNOT ~ convince filIll
that my wretched son was not guilty. l
humbled myself. and he has not deigned
to answer my prayers, but has had me
thrust forth by his lackeys. The little that
remained to me / sold that l might again
Ind my son. and after many endeavors
after months Of privatlon and fatigue
i discovered, thanks TO the kind heart
OF 1ailer, that my son was chained like
a criminal in one of the easements OF the
Fort Of San Carlos. AT Maracaibo ito
which he had been condemned without
triaO; that he Is not allowed to write to
me: that he was suffering from fever. or
from hunger, when the fever left him
that. in a word, he was being treated as
had never even the Spaniards treated their
More than 1850 unfortunates belonging to
all classes OF Venezuelan society share his
fate. because they have tried 10 cast off
the yoke of the opprsSsor.
Nov. having neither justice nor mercy
to expect from the dictator. Castro who
has for the last five years terrorfzed
Venezuela. in the name of the mothers
wives. daughters and sisters of his vic
TINS 1 ask If that which you have done
in behalf of the .Arnentans and Slacedo-
mans so far away tand In whose favor
other nations have likewise intervened.
you may not also do for unfortunate
Christians. of whom no one thinks and
who are suffering a constant martyrdom
al yoIlr very doors?
Should you deem. Mr.. President. that
am exasgerating. that my sorrows have
distorted my reason and that the suffer
IUkS u ElV lDNtu tilsS nave leu lIiS illlO
error 10 the facts, you have but TO re-
quire your Minister at Caracas TO verify
my statements. and you Will see that they
are unhappily but too well founded.
Il beg. Mr.. President, in The name of
Cod. that you will cause such cruelties.
such infamfes. TO cease. In the name of
your own children. for you are yourself
father. and can thus appreciate my own
suferings. do not reject my prayer, but
rather heed it and thus call down tho
blessings of heaven on your family and
your country.
RESULT OF AN INVESTIGATION.
From the facts gathered by special
correspondent of The st. Louis Republic,
both from Puerto Catello and Naracaibo
it would seem that the unhappy mother
who penned the letter was only superb
cially acquainted with the tragic situa-
ton of her son.
The unfortunate young man. who is
descended from an old Venezuelan. family.
was born to wealth. owned several planta-
tons. and was educated in the United
States and il Europe, where ne imbIhed
ideas of liberty and Independence which
emboldened him so far as to give public
utterance to his thoughts and establish
comparison between his own Republic
and the Republics OF the United States
and Of France
One night he was arrested upon the
street and taken to the police station His
family heard no more of hirn-no word no
sign-a silence as deep and solemn as the
grave, for in Caracas. as In Spain, at the
time Of the Inquisition. when a man is
denounced. no rnattsr how unjustty. he
disappears. and no one knows what has
becc me of him or whether he be living or
dead. Thus. from Caracas he was-taken.
without even the seublance Of a trial, to
of San Carlos at Maracaibu,- where he
was chained by The, feet to another po-
Nttcal prisoner an old man.
From that day he has brelthed the air
of a casemate where the temperature is
never less than los degrees. wheresthe at
mosrhere Is heavy and damp as that of
q cave. and where, to make matters worse
If possible, the sea occasionally dashes its
waves on the wretcbed inmates who sleep
o,h,s on the bar bare ground In space large
are hudded promfsct ously day and night
without proper and sufficient food. with
out physicians or medicines without
much as visit of a priest. seeing nothing
OF the outside world save the stars and
hearing no sound but the rronotonous
beating of the surf and the cry Of the
sentinel.
Six months of such an existence for one
ACCUSTOMED to the comforts of family life.
he bore 1t all uncon1plainingiy. even en-
deavoring to console his chainmete-the
wretched father of four children. But
there carne day when. through the ad-
vent of new prisoner. he learned that
the new prisoner had seen his mother
only few days before his arrest. She in
formed this man that the affianeed of her
son had died The sad news changed him
completely. He became rnorose and tao
fturn, and at the end of three months he
had lost his mind
At times he was maniac, with no idea
but that of flight, when he would throw
himself in frenzy upon the companion of
his misery and endesvor to strangle him
under the impression that he was trying
to prevent his escape, and on one occasion
would no doubt have succeeded except for
the timely Interference of other prisoners.
The eyewitnesses of this narrowing
spectacle pronounced II the most heart
rending imaginable, while his mother
wholly ignorant Of his sad fate. lives but
in the hope Of once again folding him In
fer arms and by her endearments COM
pensate him for his soirows and his suf-
ferings.
found the cream OF Caracas society-the
Rolandos. the Ortega MARTINEZ and hum
dred others. for months awaiting the day
of their trial. Further on. in a special
classmates IS imprisoned General Ramon
Guerra. Minister under President Crespo.
arrested in 1901. and. though nearly blind
and more than 60 years old chained like
the others and not allowed to conmuni-
Before l left Maracaibo ! saw an old
man crippled with rheumatism, and a
young man extenuated with disease,
chained together. as usual. and while this
latter is being douched by his companions
to relieve him of the heat Of the fever
that Is consuming him, the former is COW
cred as much as possible that his rheT-
matism may become no worse What a
speclac1e!
Continuing the visit. saw chained to-
Eether two who are personal enemies
WHIP have maintained their rancor in the
depth of their captivity and refuse to ex-
change word. In another corner, fetid
and miasmatic. two unfortunates are
linked together. a paralytic on the thresh-
old. of dissolution and a young man of per-
haps 20. in whom constant motion is i'm
perative. And all this is not haphszard.
hut premeditated, arranged and deter
mined at Castro's palace at Caracas
At the fortress OF Puerto CahelIo there