Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-11
CASTRO REFUSED
PERMIT TO STAY
AT MARTINIQUE
FRENCH GOVERNMENT DE-
PORTS VENEZUELAN
FORMER PRESIDENT TRIES TO
RUN BLUFF, BUT LOSES
Evcted Official Claims to Be III, but
Doctors Say DifferentIy-ls Car
red to Steamer on a
Stretcher


MORT DE FRANCE, Martinique,
II April 1O.-Cipriano Castro, former
- president of Venezuela, was ex-
PEELED tonight from the island of Mar
Unique by the French government.
He protested to the last against his
expulsion, but his protests were in vain.
He is now on board the French line
steamship Versailles, bound for st.
Nazaire.
Official notice was served on Castro
this morning of the decision of the
French government that he must leave
the island within nine hours from the
receipt of such notice, and that the
commissary OF police at Fort de France
had been charged with the execution of
| the order.
The president was furious and strove
| throughout the day to find some excuse
that would be satisfactory to the CO.
lonial government whereby he would
not be compelled to obey the order, and
to this end late today he summoned a
lawyer and physician to verify that he
was unable to leave the country.
The governor of Martinique and the
public prosecutor, however, refused an
extension of time, and about o'clock
the commissary of police, accompanied
! by a large force of gendarmes, pro-
ceeded to the hotel where Castro was
stopping to remove him, forcibIy il
necessary, to the steamer
| The affair created a great sensation,
and long before the police appeared
at the hotel crowds had gathered,
which later were Joined by the consuls
| representing the various foreign pow
ers, who showed great interest in the
expulsion of what one of them termed
the common enemy of the peace"
Tries to Avoid Police
Castro. who during his few days at
Fort de France has held very little
communication with anybody, locked
himself in his room in company with
mis- brother Carmelio and his secretary
and for a time refused to reply to the
summons of the police official
The police hesitated to break in the
door and finally decided to submit the
matter again to Governor Forneau, but
the governor absolutely refused to
permit any delay, and he ordered Cas-
tro removed by force of arms. He also
gave orders that the Versailles remain
in port until Castro could be put
| aboard.
1t became necessary for the police
and gendarmes to take rigid measures
| to hold in check the crowds that had
| by this time become riotous outside of
| the hotel.
The former president rallied against
! the French government and the focal
! authorities, denouncing them for fore
| ing upon him the alternative of depor-
| tation or Imprisonment for six months.
He declared he would not bulge and
that it would be necessary to take him
on board the steamer on a stretcher.
This the commissary of police. who
| finally entered Castro's room with an
escort of gendames, prepared to do.
/ but CaStroS lawyer took steps to find
the chief justice, and at the very last
moment the governor and public 'ose-
cutor decided to have another me,. Il
examination made.
Accordingly a medical commission.
! composed of Drs. Bouvier, Costet and
| Barbe, proceeded with the examina@
ton in order to establish definitely if
| Castro's health were such that he
| could make the voyage The consulta-
| tion of the physicians lasted more than
half an hour, and they agreed that the
| life of the former president would not
| be jeopardized by his removal to the
| steamer and the return voyage across
| the ocean.
Castro Is Not III
| Professor Rieoi who was passenger
with Castro on the Guadeloupe on the
| trip from Bordeaux to this port, was
the original authority for the state
ment that during the voyage the
wound resulting from the operation on
! OdStlO III NSIllldly SIlOWH Sl6HS
| of suppuration, but the final examina-
ton of the physicians today seemed to
| indicate the former president is in quite
as healthy a condition as when he left
France on March 26.
At $3.50 o'clock a force of gendarmes
went to Castro's room and he was
placed on mattress, he refusing to
put on his clothes, and was carried ON
a stretcher to the steamer, a distance
of more than a mile. A thousand or
more of the population had assembled
| by this time, and much sympathy was
expressed for the former president
The latter complained of great suffer-
! ing, and every movement of the
| stretcher seemed to give him further
| pain.
He has prepared a protest, which
will be sent to the French government
tomorrow.
| The Versailles left here at o'clock
and measures have been taken to keep
a careful watch on Castro during the
voyage.
The colonial government intends to
put down any sympathetic demonstra
| tion that may be made on shore.
Castro's brother will remain here for
| the present, but it is thought he will
| join Sonora Castro at La Guaira if she
| is permitted to land at that port
| The United States cruiser North
Carolina arrived here at o'clock this
afternoon and is still in the roadstead.