Background
Cipriano Castro was born in Tachira on 12 October 1858.
government official politician president
Cipriano Castro was born in Tachira on 12 October 1858.
He began his political career in the mid-1880s as a conservative supporter of the movement headed by José Manuel Hernández which led to the founding of the Liberal Nationalist Party. He became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1890.
In the mid-1890s Castro was driven into exile in Colombia. There he formed a close alliance with another politico-military leader from the state of Táchira, Juan Vicente Gómez. Finally, on May 23, 1899, forces led by Castro and Gómez invaded Táchira from Colombia to start the “Restoring Liberal Revolution.” By October 1899 Cipriano Castro was president of Venezuela.
Many who had at first supported Castro soon turned against him. José Manuel Hernández, after serving only six days in his cabinet, left Caracas, revolted, and was quickly defeated. The business community of Caracas was outraged when Castro jailed most of the city’s leading bankers when they refused to give his government a forced loan. General Manuel Antonio Matos organized a revolt of all those opposed to Castro. He was one of the bankers whom Castro had jailed and was a brother-in-law of Antonio Guzmán Blanco. His so-called Liberating Revolution broke out in April 1902 with the support of virtually all of the old-style caudillos from the llanos and the coastal regions who had dom¬inated national politics since before the Federal Wars of 1859-1863. It took the Castro forces, led by Juan Vicente Gómez, more than a year to completely liquidate the uprising. This was the last really serious effort of the old caudillos to overthrow the Venezuelan government. Establishment of a professional army ended that type of revolutionary movement in Venezuela.
By 1908 Castro had severe health problems and finally decided to go to Europe for medical treatment.
Castro had no reservations about leaving the government in the hands of Vice President Gómez, trusting him implicitly. However, about a month after Castro left the country, Gómez seized full power, was proclaimed provisional president, and ordered Castro not to return.
Castro spent the last 16 years of his life in exile, most of the time in the United States and in the West Indies. His various efforts to organize filibustering expeditions to return to power were without success.
Cipriano Castro had several serious conflicts with foreign powers. Very early, the Venezuelans lost a border conflict with Colombia, and in 1902 there was a blockade of Venezuelan ports by British, German, and Italian ships over debts allegedly owed to those three powers. When U.S. intervention brought an end to the blockade and submission of the issue to the Hague Court, Venezuela came out very badly in the court’s decision. By 1908 diplomatic relations with the United States, France, and The Netherlands had been virtually suspended.
Castro’s regime was not only very tyrannical, but also profligate. The president and most of those around him—with the notable exception of his vice president, Juan Vicente Gómez—lived “not wisely but too well.”
