Dictatorship of Cipriano Castro
The dictatorship of Cipriano Castro 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 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.
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.
In 1908, Juan Vicente Gómez, Castro's Vice President, conspired to overthrow him in a coup d'état, 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.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. 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.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.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.
Economy
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.Electoral policy
During Castro's dictatorship, the system of direct voting was dismantled.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.Education
In 1904, Castro ordered the closure of the University of Zulia. Subsequently, in 1905, the University of the Andes was restricted to offering only the schools of Political Sciences and Ecclesiastical Sciences under the Public Instruction Code.Media policy
Castro's government carried out a harsh crackdown on critical and independent press outlets.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.Foreign policy
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt requested congressional authorization to invade Venezuela, prompting Castro to sever diplomatic relations with the United States.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.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, whom he later appointed to his cabinet.