VENEZUELAN INFAMIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7583, 23 December 1902, Page 2

VENEZUELAN INFAMIES.

LIFE UNDER UNITED STATES AND BRITISH SANCTION. ' (By "DESFERTADOR S " in the Daily Mail.") ' Since the time of the great Bolivar — a name almost unknown in Great Britain — there 'has been no peace in all that great territory which the Liberator rescued from the infamous rule of tie Spaniards. Coming down to later times, one finds, a systematio continuation of •bloodshed-, rapine, and every description of criminality. Recently. 1 asked an old Venezuelan Showmany years bad elapsed! since there had been representation, in Venezuela according to the Constitution of the country, and he replied: "Sijfc there has been no legitimate representation in Venezuela for the last forty years. I remember when it was suppressed at the point of the bayonet." The Constitution of Venezuela says, inter alia, that the President must be elected by the people. Thafe is a very reasonable proposal. But what are we to say when a highway-robber comes into the capital at the head of a -horde of bandits and says : "I am the President"? Yet. that is exactly what the present President of Venezuela did. Castro simply 'hunted his predecessor out of office and took possession by force of arms. CASTRO THE MULE-DRIVER. , Castro originally came irom a small hamlet in the Andes, where he probably drove mules or carried sacks of coffee for a living. The situation became tedious to him, and it occurred; to 'him to seize the Presidency. The thought 'bred the action. From that point we see him on the highroad to the Presidency. Starting with some seventy follower* (some of whom in a oivilised country would; -have been convicts according to the criminal law) he continued an almost unbroken career of victory, which culminated at Tocuyito, where t)he victor left over 1500 dead and wounded for five , days on the field of battle, the wounded rotting with gangrene and •dying of 'hunger- and exposure for want of attenddance. Meanwhile Castro continued a course of victory until he arrived,, within striking distance of Caracas. Then "he sent word to the existing President Andrade to clear out, and Andrade cleared out accordingly, lncidently, he. left only a few cents in the Treasury, but that is only a detail. Castro then took possession and issued a gloriouß manifesto announcing new men, new ideas, new everything ; yet within twenty -four hours ihe started the old infamy of gaoling without trial or sentence every man whose conduct 'displeased 'him. From that time began the miseries which now curse Venezuela. Castro brought into Caracas a ruffian crowd, of Andinos (as the inhabitants of the Andes. are called) and installed himself in the Government officer. His officers and soldiers swaggered about the public parks and streets with knives Shd revolvers stuck in their belts j shot civilians on the slightest pretext ; ordered drinks and never paid for them in hotels ; called for meals in the restaurants, >and pulled 1 oub^heir daggers or revolvers when the owners asked for payment; insulted ladies in the street, and all, be it remembered, without the slightest fear of arrest, because they belonged to Castro's party. At Yellow House, the- (recognised centre of Government, a number of camp followers were installed by his officers, and were -to be seen daily lounging on the steps in the sun. With such a beginning Castro com-, ■mencedl his infamous career of mur-der and robbery, and with the official sanction of the Foreign Ministers carried fire and sword through the length and breadth, of Venezuela. Few, indeed, c€ his infamies reach the outside world, b&causa tie local Press dare not say a word except by express sanction of the Government. The New York Press wilfully surpressed information so that foreign populations may not know what is going on, and the London Press has not yet discovered South America. CASTRO'S GANG. From the time of his invasion up till now Castro, with a gang of cut-throats at his side, has spread ruin in every direction through Venezuela. It is a common occurrence for 'his bandits, with the full cognisance of their President, to enter into a town, rob the (Stores and private houses, violate the women, murder every man who dares even to protest againet these infamies, set fire to the town, and then go marching on with the Venezuelan flag at their lead. No one dares breathe a word in Caracas against Castro.' The hotels, restaurants, every street corner, every place of public resort are full of spies, and for the slightest word men are hurried off to goal without trial v>t sentence and kept in prison just as long as Castro or his friends think fit. Actually there are hundreds and hundreds of men in 'the gaols of Venezuela to-day who have been prisoners for one and two years without ever having been brought 'before any court, of justice or accused of any offence. Some of the prisons are damp and horribly unwholesome, and the wretches immured in. them die little by little every day with their iron manacles eating into their flesh. And the English Government knows this and the American Government upholds it. ' Of Castro personally one can only speak as of a common ruffian. The enormous revenues exacted from Venezuelan merchants through the Custom-houses are turned into gold, and a large portion goes directly into Castro's possession and is by him sent away to 'his private account on the Continent. So it has happened that Castro, who arrived in Caracas a s few years back without money to pay for ihis bed and board, is now worth at least five million dollars. Those few words explain/most "of the revolutions which now occur in South and Central America. The vagabond of to-day may become the millionaire of to-morrow, no matter who suffers. To account for the deficit in the revenue of tJhe nation^ a fictitious balance--sheet is issued debiting public works, roads, bridges, etc., with hundreds of thousands of dollars ; but these public works are a myth, and the supposed expenditure upon them -is merely a cloak to cover the robbery of public moneys. THE SECRET OF MISRULE. The abate of affairs in Venezuela to-day . is a blasphemy on civilisation, and not only has Oastro spread like a gangrene over Venezuela, but he lias been to a very large extent the cause of the present civil war in the Adjoining Republic of Colombia. Castro'i! men, Castro's money and Castro's gunboats helped largely to carry on the revolution against the Colombian Government, and a Venezuelan gunboat, the Bolivar, actually bombarded Savanilla, a Colombian port, without any declaration of war. I was in Caracas when Castro, President of the 'Republic of Venezuela, gave audience at Yellow House the Colombian General Uribe, the acknowledged leader of the revolution against the Colombian Government, despite the fact that the two nations were friendly. The Venezuelan Press naturally kepb silent over the incident. Behind, and tacitly supporting all this violence, corruption and abuse, wo find tin© silent power of the United -States. The Venezuelans themselves, even when committing their infamies, . say, "It does not matter; the United States will not allow anyone" to interfere with us." They aa-e quite right. So the game goes on in South America, and Great Britain cringes before the situatiom while the United States holds out a threatening fist and talks of ithe Monroe Doctrine to all foreign Powers. Commerce is paralysed, foreigners abused, maltreated and often murdered, whole to\^ns delivered up to the 'horrors of fire, sword, rape and all the brutalities of a 'licentious soldiery, the gaols crowded with innocent

persons, men snatched up in the streets by press-gangs, justice at a standstill, the superior Courts giving their decisions according to the orders of an official ap- , pointed by Castro. Murderers are walking unmolested through the streets because they are Castro's friends; criminals are set free without ever being brought to the bar of justice ; the Ohief Justice was sent to gaol on Castro's personal order for daring to call attention to certain abuses connected with prisons — and all because the United States says that the Powers must not interfere with the (alleged) Republics of South Amerioa. That ds to-day the great secret of misrule in Venezuela.