His attempt to force this question produced violent opposition in 1891, and ended in a rising headed by General Joaquin Crespo. This revolt, which was accompanied by severe fighting, ended in 1892 in the triumph of the insurgents, Palacios and his followers being forced to leave the country to save their lives. General Crespo became all-powerful; but he did not immediately accept the position of president. The reform of the constitution was agreed to, and in 1894 General Crespo was duly declared elected to the presidency by Congress for a period of four years. One of the clauses of the reformed constitution accords belligerent rights to all persons taking up arms against the state authority, provided they can show that their action is the outcome of political motives. Another clause protects the property of rebels against confiscation. Indeed, a premium on armed insurrection is virtually granted.
In April 1895 the long-standing dispute as to the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela was brought to a crisis by the action of the Venezuelan authorities in arresting Inspectors Barnes and Baker, of the British Guiana police, with a few of their subordinates, on the Cuyuni river, the charge being that they were illegally exercising the functions of British officials in Venezuelan territory. Messrs Barnes and Baker were subsequently released, and in due course made their report on the occurrence. For the moment nothing more was heard of this boundary .question by the public, but General Crespo instructed the Venezuelan minister in Washington to ask for the assistance of the United States in the event of any demand being made by the British Government for an indemnity. Whilst this frontier difficulty was still simmering, an insurrection against General Crespo was fomented by Dr J. P. Rojas Paul, the representative of the Blanco regime, and came to a head in October 1895, risings occurring in the northern and southern sections of the republic. Some desultory fighting took place for three or four months, but the revolt was never popular, and was completely suppressed early in 1896. The Guiana boundary question began now to assume an acute stage, the Venezuelan .minister in Washington having persuaded President Cleveland to take up the cause of Venezuela in vindication of the principles of the Monroe doctrine. On the 18th of December 1895 a message Was sent to the United States Congress by President Cleveland practically stating that any attempt on the part of. the British Government to enforce its claims upon Venezuela as regards the boundary between that country and Guiana without resort to arbitration would be considered as a casus belli by his government. The news of this message caused violent agitation in Carácas and other towns. A league was formed binding merchants not to deal in goods of British origin; patriotic associations were established for the purpose of defending Venezuela against British aggression, and the militia were embodied. The question was subsequently arranged in 1899 by arbitration, and by the payment of a moderate indemnity to the British officers and men who had been captured. Diplomatic relations between the two countries, which had been broken off in consequence of the dispute, were resumed in 1897.
In 1898 General Crespo was succeeded as president by Señor Andrade, who had represented Venezuela in Washington during the most acute stage of the frontier question. Towards the end of the year a revolutionary movement took place with the object of ousting Andrade from power. The insurrection was crushed, but in one of the final skirmishes a chance bullet struck General Crespo, who was in command of the government troops, and he died from the effects of the wound. A subsequent revolt overthrew President Andrade in 1900. General Cipriano Castro then became president. During 1901 and 1902 the internal condition of the country remained disturbed, and fighting went on continually between the government troops and the revolutionists.
The inhabitants of Venezuela have a right to vote for the members of Congress, but in reality this privilege is not exercised by them. Official nominees are as a rule returned without any opposition, the details of the voting having been previously arranged by the local authorities in conformity with instructions from headquarters. In these circumstances the administration of public affairs fell into the hands of an oligarchy, who governed the country to suit their own convenience. President Castro was for eight years a dictator, ruling by corrupt and revolutionary methods, and in defiance of obligations to the foreign creditors of the country. The wrongs inflicted by him on companies and individuals of various nationalities, who had invested capital in industrial enterprises in Venezuela, led to a blockade of the Venezuelan ports in 1903 by English, German and Italian warships. Finding that diplomacy was of no avail to obtain the reparation from Castro that was demanded by their subjects, the three powers unwillingly had recourse to coercion. The president, however, sheltered himself behind the Monroe doctrine and appealed to the government of the United States to intervene. The dispute was finally referred by mutual consent to the Hague Court of Arbitration. The Washington government had indeed no cause to be well disposed to Castro, for he treated the interests of Americans iii Venezuela with the same high-handed contempt for honesty and justice as those of Europeans. The demand of the United States for a revision of what is known as the Olcott Award in connexion with the Orinoco Steamship Company was in 1905 rnet by a refusal to reopen the case. Meanwhile the country, which up to the blockade of 1903 had been seething with revolutions, now became much quieter. In 1906, the president refused to allow M. Taigny, the French minister, to land, on the ground that he had broken the quarantine regulations. In consequence, France broke off diplomatic relations. In the following year, by the decision of the Hague Tribunal, the Venezuela government had to pay the British, German and Italian claims, amounting to £691,160; but there was still £840,600 due to other nationalities, which remained to be settled. The year 1907 was marked by the repudiation of the debt to Belgium, and fresh difficulties with the United States. Finally, in 1908 a dispute arose with Holland on the ground of the harbouring of refugees in Curaçoa. The Dutch Minister was expelled, and Holland replied by the despatch of gunboats, who destroyed the Venezuelan fleet and blockaded the ports. In December General Castro left upon a visit to Europe, nominally for a surgical operation. In his absence a rising against the, dictator took place at Carácas, and his adherents were seized and imprisoned. Juan Vincenti Gomez, the vice-president, now placed himself at the head of affairs and formed an administration. He was installed as president, in June 1910.
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