Dictatorship of Cipriano Castro
Cipriano Castro and his cabinet in 1902.

The dictatorship of Cipriano Castro (self-proclaimed "Restauración Liberal")[1] is the term used to refer to the military dictatorship in Venezuela under Cipriano Castro that began after he seized power by force in the Restorative Liberal Revolution[2] after invading the country from Colombia with a private army of sixty men.

At the legislative level, the constitutions of 1901 and 1904 were approved, legalising divorce and changing the national flag for the first time in more than forty years.

Defence policy included an increase of up to 22% in the national defence budget. The government was sustained by an effective national army and a centralized, statist administration. It played an important role in ending caudillismo in Venezuela.[3]

Castro's foreign policy included failed support for the liberals in Colombia during the Thousand Days' War with the intention of restoring Gran Colombia, the naval blockade of Venezuela from 1902 to 1903, and the Dutch-Venezuelan crisis of 1908, along with the breakdown of relations with the United States that year. The constitution also prohibited the immigration of black people.

According to historian Elías Pino Iturrieta, it was a personalistic dictatorship plagued by corruption problems that came to dominate the political power elite.[1]

In 1908, Juan Vicente Gómez, Castro's Vice President, conspired to overthrow him in a coup d'état,[4] initiating the period known as Gomecismo.

Background

When former President Joaquín Crespo died in combat and the country fell into political instability, Castro invaded Venezuela from the border with Táchira at the head of about sixty men, with the aim of restoring the influence of Antonio Guzmán Blanco, who died shortly thereafter. This began a period known as the "Andean Hegemony" under the influence of Juan Vicente Gómez.

Cipriano Castro cabinet (1899–1908)

Ministries[5]
OFFICENAMETERM
PresidentCipriano Castro1899–1908
Home AffairsJuan Francisco Castillo1899–1900
Rafael Carrera Malo1900–1901
José Antonio Velutini1901–1902
Rafael López Baralt1902–1903
Leopoldo Baptista1903–1907
Julio Torres Cárdenas1907
Rafael López Baralt1907–1908
Outer RelationsRaimundo Andueza Palacio1899–1900
Eduardo Blanco1900–1901
Jacinto Regino Pachano1901–1902
Diego Bautista Ferrer1902–1903
Alejandro Urbaneja1903
Gustavo Sanabria1903–1905
Alejandro Ibarra1905–1906
José de Jesús Paúl1906–1908
FinanceRamón Tello Mendoza1899–1903
José Cecilio De Castro1903–1906
Francisco de Sales Pérez1906
Gustavo Sanabria1906
Eduardo Celis1906–1907
Arnaldo Morales1906–1907
War and NavyJosé Ignacio Pulido1899–1902
Ramón Guerra1902–1903
José María García Gómez1903
Manuel Salvador Araujo1903–1904
Joaquín Garrido1904–1905
José María García Gómez1905–1906
Diego Bautista Ferrer1906
Manuel Salvador Araujo1906–1907
Diego Bautista Ferrer1907–1908
DevelopmentJosé Manuel Hernández1899
Celestino Peraza1899
Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido1899–1900
Ramón Ayala1900–1901
Felipe Arocha Gallegos1901–1902
Arnaldo Morales1902–1903
José T. Arria1903
Rafael Garbiras Guzmán1903–1904
Arnaldo Morales1904–1905
Diego Bautista Ferrer1905–1906
Arístides Tellería1906
Arnaldo Morales1906
Jesús María Herrera Irigoyen1906–1908
Public WorksVíctor Rodríguez Párraga1899
Juan Otáñez Maucó1899–1902
Rafael María Carabaño1902–1903
Ricardo Castillo Chapellín1903
Alejandro Rivas Vásquez1903–1904
Ricardo Castillo Chapellín1904–1906
Luis Mata Illas1906
Juan Casanova1906–1908
Public InstructionManuel Clemente Urbaneja1899–1900
Félix Quintero1900–1901
Tomás Garbiras1901–1902
Rafael Monserrate1902–1903
Eduardo Blanco1903–1905
Arnaldo Morales1905–1906
Enrique Siso1906
Carlos León1906
Eduardo Blanco1906
Laureano Villanueva1906–1907
José Antonio Baldó1907–1908
Secretary of PresidencyCelestino Peraza1899
Julio Torres Cárdenas1899–1906
Lucio Baldó1906
José Rafael Revenga1906–1907
Rafael Gárbiras Guzmán1907–1908
Leopoldo Baptista1908

Domestic policy

Legislative policy

In October 1900, Cipriano Castro convened a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution for a "new republic", which was approved in 1901.[6] The subsequent 1904 Constitution of Venezuela extended the presidential term from 4 to 6 years, reduced the number of federal states to 13, and legalized divorce.[7]

Defense

In 1901, Castro announced to the National Constituent Assembly that he had increased the army to thirty battalions and augmented the arms reserves to forty thousand European-made rifles. He also decreed the creation of a Naval and Military School to train military personnel.[6]

Cipriano Castro tasked Juan Vicente Gómez with confronting the multiple uprisings against him. The national budget allocated to the war increased to 22%. From 1899 to 1903, there were 372 battles with a total death toll of 20,000.[8]

Economy

Manuel Antonio Matos and several other bankers were forced to march in chains through Caracas.

In late 1899, President Cipriano Castro exerted pressure on Venezuela's leading bankers to finance his new government's projects. When prominent financiers including Manuel Antonio Matos, the main shareholder of the Bank of Venezuela, refused to grant the requested loan, they were arrested. The bankers were later released after agreeing to provide the financial support demanded by the Castro administration.[9]

Electoral policy

During Castro's dictatorship, the system of direct voting was dismantled.[10]

Health

Tuberculosis was a primary public health issue that significantly affected Venezuela. Historical records from the era indicate that during the dictatorship of Cipriano Castro, the mortality rate was approximately 700 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants in cities with populations of fewer than 50,000 residents.[11]

Education

In 1904, Castro ordered the closure of the University of Zulia (LUZ).[12] Subsequently, in 1905, the University of the Andes (ULA) was restricted to offering only the schools of Political Sciences and Ecclesiastical Sciences under the Public Instruction Code.[13]

Media policy

Castro's government carried out a harsh crackdown on critical and independent press outlets.[14]

Immigration

In 1906, the Constitution was amended to prohibit the immigration of black people to Venezuela, the first time racist policies were added to the Constitution.[15]

Foreign policy

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt requested congressional authorization to invade Venezuela, prompting Castro to sever diplomatic relations with the United States.[16]

1908 coup d'état

Vice President Juan Vicente Gómez established secret communications with the U.S. government, seeking support for a planned conspiracy against Castro.[17]

When Castro traveled to Berlin for health-related reasons, Gómez, who was acting president in Castro's absence, orchestrated a coup d'état with the assistance of Francisco Linares Alcántara Estévez, whom he later appointed to his cabinet.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ abPino Iturrieta, Elías. "Gobierno de Cipriano Castro". Fundación Empresas Polar (in Spanish). Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela.
  2. ^Ewell, Judith (1991), Bethell, Leslie (ed.), "Venezuela since 1930", The Cambridge History of Latin America, vol. 8: Latin America since 1930: Spanish South America, Cambridge University Press, pp. 727–790, doi:10.1017/chol9780521266529.014, ISBN 978-0-521-26652-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  3. ^"Relaciones civiles-militares en el siglo XX venezolano". Red de Seguridad y Defensa de América Latina (in Spanish).
  4. ^Pino Iturrieta, Elías. "Cipriano Castro". Fundación Empresas Polar (in Spanish). Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela.
  5. ^"Gaceta Oficial de Venezuela" Period 1899–1908
  6. ^ abHernández Droulers, Jimeno José (2019-07-31). "El discurso del dictador". El Universal (in Spanish).
  7. ^del Valle Rodríguez, Glorys (2013). "Análisis del procedimiento en los juicios de divorcio en el código de procedimiento civil y la Ley Orgánica para la protección de niños, niñas y adolescentes en Venezuela"(PDF). Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (in Spanish).
  8. ^Gómez, Carlos Alarico (2007). El poder andino: de Cipriano Castro a Medina Angarita (in Spanish). El Nacional. ISBN 978-980-388-373-7. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  9. ^HERNÁNDEZ DROULERS, JIMENO JOSÉ (2018-09-05). "Los banqueros presos". El Universal (in Spanish).
  10. ^Straka, Tomás (2024-01-24). "Entre el miedo y la libertad: Votar antes de la democracia". Prodavinci (in Spanish).
  11. ^"José Ignacio Baldó: Insigne Medico Sanitarista"(PDF). Universidad Central de Venezuela (in Spanish). Archived from the original(PDF) on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  12. ^"Historia I: desde los orígenes hasta su cierre en 1904". Universidad del Zulia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  13. ^Ortega, Wilmen. "Los estudiantes universitarios frente al Gobierno de Juan Vicente Gómez (1908 – 1914)". Tiempo y Espacio (in Spanish).
  14. ^Álvarez, Alfredo (2020-01-01). "116 AÑOS RESISTIENDO LA CENSURA". El Impulso (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  15. ^Hernández, Tanya Katerí. "La subordinación racial en Latinoamérica: el papel del Estado, el derecho consuetudinario y la nueva respuesta de los derechos civiles"(PDF) (in Spanish). Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales.
  16. ^Manuel Felipe Sierra. "Gómez despide a Castro". Revista En El Tapete (in Spanish).
  17. ^Velásquez, Ramón J."Gobierno de Juan Vicente Gómez". Fundación Empresas Polar (in Spanish). Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela.
  18. ^"Linares Alcántara, Francisco". Fundación Empresas Polar (in Spanish). Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela.
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