Venezuela

The United States of Venezuela, as constituted to-day, are bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by the United States of Brazil, on the east by the Gulf of Paria, the Atlantic Ocean, and British Guiana, on the west by the republic of Colombia.

The boundary between Brazil and Venezuela was determined by a Joint Commission in 1880 as follows: From Mount Roraima, south and west along the watershed of the Sierra Pacaraima, to Cerro Mashiati, thence southwards along the Sierra Parima, and the Sierras de Curupira, Tapira Peco, and Imeri to the bifurcation of the Rivers Baria and Cauapury on the Rio Negro.

The Colombia-Venezuelan frontier was submitted to arbitration in 1891, and the King of Spain made the award thus: From Los Mogotes or Los Frailes islands to the highest point of the Oca Mountain separating the Valley of Upar, the province of Mairacaibo, and Rio del Hacha, thence along the watershed of the sierras of Perija and Motilones to the source of the Rio de Oro. Thence across the Rivers Catatumbo, Sardinata, and Tarra to the mouth of the La Grita on the Rio Zulia; from that point along the previously recognised line to the junction of the Quebrada de Don Pedro with the Táchira, and up that river to its source. Thence across the range and Páramo of Tama to the River Oira; down this to its junction with the Sarare, and along the latter, through the Laguna de Desparramadero, to the junction with the Arauca, down that river to a point equidistant from Arauca and the meridian of the junction of the Masparro and Apure. Thence in a straight line to Antiguo Apostadero, and down the Meta to the Orinoco. Then down the mid-stream of the Orinoco, reserving a right of way for Venezuelans on the left bank between Atures and the Maipures rapids to the mouth of the Guaviare, up the latter to the junction with the Atabapo; then up this to a point 36 kilometres west of Pimichin, and so across to the Guainia (or Rio Negro), following this down to Cocuhy.

The British Guiana boundary was submitted to arbitration in 1897, and the Paris tribunal, in 1899, awarded as follows: From the coast at Punta Playa in a straight line to the junction of the Barima and Mururuma; thence along mid-stream of the latter to its source. From this point to the junction of the Rio Haiowa and the Amacura, and along mid-stream of the latter to its source in the Sierra Imataca. Then south-west along the spur to the main range of the sierra opposite the source of the Barima; then along the watershed south-east to the source of the Acarabisi and down it to the Cuyuni, westward along this river to its junction with the Wenamu (Venamo) and up the latter to its most westerly course. Thence in a straight line to the summit of Mount Roraima.

The political divisions of the country established in 1856 were adopted, with some slight changes, in the Constitution of November, 1909, when General Gomez assumed the presidency. The divisions for which these were substituted were less convenient for administrative purposes, but were in general form the same—that is to say, States divided into districts, a Federal District and Territories. There are now twenty States with their own Legislatures, the Federal District of Carácas under the Central Government, and two Territories. The population of these is given in Appendix A.

The Federal District includes the country round Carácas, and the coastal region between Naiguatá and Cabo Blanco, with the islands to the north. The States are distributed as follows:—

Zulia (capital, Maracaibo), includes all the lake region; Táchira (capital, San Cristobal), Mérida, and Trujillo are the Andine States; Lara (capital, Barquisimeto), Falcón (Coro), and Yaracuy (San Felipe) include the Segovia highlands and the coastal regions in front; Carabobo (Valencia), Aragua (La Victoria), Miranda (Ocumare), and Sucre (Cumaná) are in the Caribbean hills; Nueva Esparta includes Margarita and the other islands immediately to the north and east (capital, Asunción); Monágas (Maturín), Anzoátegui (Barcelona), Guárico (Calabozo), Cojedes (San Carlos), Portuguesa (Guanare), Zamora (Barinas), and Apure (San Fernando) are wholly or mainly Llano States; and nearly half the territory south of the Orinoco is comprised within the State of Bolivar and governed from the city of the same name. The Delta-Amacuro Territory includes the delta proper and the similar region to the south of it; its capital is Tucupita, on the Caño Macareo: the Amazonas Territory, with its capital on the Orinoco at San Fernando de Atabapo, includes the Upper Orinoco basin and the adjacent districts, an enormous, almost unknown area.

The density of the population in the country as a whole (according to the Anuario Estadístico, 1910, census of 1891) is 2·27 per square kilometre, or 5·88 to the square mile. Some idea of the meaning of these figures may be gathered from a comparison of the population of Monágas, where there are 6·68 inhabitants to the square mile, over an area almost equal to that of Belgium, with that of the latter country, Monágas having 74,500 inhabitants and Belgium nearly 7,500,000. The Federal district stands highest, with 151·94 to the square mile; and, making due allowance for the greater density of the population in the higher lands, the figures decrease in proportion to the distance from this centre. Thus the coast States adjoining the Federal districts, with the island of Margarita, are the most thickly populated, the Segovia highlands, Andine States, and region of Paria next, with the northern lowlands and the Llanos, having a density of population approximately equal to that of the whole country, while the Guayana region and the Delta territory range as low as 0·41 to the square mile. It should be remembered, however, that no exact figures are available for the nomadic tribes who people the remoter districts of Venezuela.

The Constitution of the Republic is modelled upon that of the United States of America; the President, elected by a college of fourteen members of Congress for a term of four years, is the head of the nation; under him are the three great departments of the administration—executive, legislative, and judicial, these being again regarded as National, Federal, and Municipal, according to their powers. Each State of the Union has its own Legislature and President, who is a Federal officer, while the territories are governed directly by the national Executive.

The national Executive exercises its functions through the following departments: Ministry of the Interior, for Home Affairs; Ministry of Hacienda (Finance); Ministry of War and Marine; Ministry of Fomento (National Development, Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry); Public Works Department; Ministry of Education; the special province of each being sufficiently indicated by the name. There is also a Government Council of ten members appointed to advise the President, who has his State Secretary and Chaplain; the presiding officer of this Council takes charge during the absence, or in case of the death, of the President. The executives of the State Governments are similarly constituted, but here both President and Government Councillors are Federal officers, while the District Jefaturas Civiles are also supported at Federal charges. It should be explained that there are Jefes Civiles (Commissioners of Police and Chief Magistrates) for each district, while under these as municipal officers are the Jefes Civiles of rural districts and towns (municipios).

The legislative power is vested in the National and State Legislatures and the Municipal Councils. The Congress of the United States of Venezuela consists of two Chambers—one of Senators and the other of Deputies. The Deputies (1 to 35,000 of the population, or portion of this number greater than half) are elected by the citizens of each State and serve a term of four years; they must be Venezuelan by birth and over twenty-one years of age. Two Senators are elected by each State Legislative Assembly, and they also remain in office for four years; the Constitution requires all to be Venezuelan by birth and over thirty years of age. In case of dispute a joint session is provided for, and Bills finally sanctioned by both Chambers become law, and are thereupon communicated to the President as head of the Executive for publication in the Gaceta Oficial and administration by his officers.

Justice is administered by the Corte Federal y de Casacion, whose members are appointed by Congress, and by lower courts and tribunals throughout the country; the territorial judges are national functionaries, but judicial powers in the State are wielded by Federal officers, while the municipal courts are the same throughout the country.

The law prohibits foreigners from taking any part in politics, but in other matters they have equal rights with Venezuelans, as regards personal liberty, free correspondence, safety of life and limb, &c. There are three principal general codes—civil, criminal, and commercial, the last named including special regulations for foreign companies. A new revised mining code was sanctioned on June 29, 1910.

The laws make marriage a civil contract with or without a religious ceremony, but in the country districts the people seem to prefer no ceremony at all to one not conducted by a priest; and as the latter are few and their fees often exorbitant, it results that more than two-thirds of the births in any year are (most unjustly) recorded as illegitimate.

While sanitation and hygiene have not as yet received sufficient attention to reduce the death rate in what appears to be a naturally healthy country to its possible level (see p. 36), a large number of officials are employed in the departments of public health, and the authorities are now in possession of data which have made them thoroughly alive to the needs of the country in this particular. Arrangements have already been made with a British firm for an up-to-date system of sanitation of the capital. There were, in 1908, 52 philanthropic institutions in the republic under Government control, consisting of the following: 27 hospitals, 2 leper asylums, 2 lunatic asylums, 9 homes for blind and aged persons, and 12 orphanages. The number of inmates at the close of that year was 3,244, but, as might be expected, the remoter regions of the country are absolutely unprovided for, and many parts of the central and western regions are as yet without establishments for public assistance.

In a similar manner provision is made, more or less adequately, for education in the central area, and, in fact, throughout the old province of Venezuela; but outside this the number of establishments decreases to nil in the Amazonas territory, while in the 40,000 square miles of the Delta there are only 2 municipal schools. There are in the republic 1,404 elementary schools with 48,869 pupils, 102 institutions for secondary education with 2,189 pupils; and for higher and technical education there are 31 institutions with 2,441 students, including 2 Universities (Carácas and Mérida), 1 school of engineering, 6 seminaries of philosophy and divinity, 8 schools of fine arts, and 14 of arts and crafts. Of all these establishments rather less than nine-tenths are supported by public money, though more than half of the secondary schools are private. The proportion of males to females is in general about as 10 is to 8; but there is no provision for women in the Universities, and save for the schools of fine arts the proportion of females to males in the higher departments is below the average for all classes of instruction.

The currency of Venezuela is established upon a gold standard, with the result that there is none of the depreciated coinage which constitutes one of the curses of the neighbouring State of Colombia. The monetary unit is the bolivar, equivalent to the French franc, the London rate of exchange being generally 25.25; this is divided into 100 centimos, and the system is therefore in theory extremely simple; since, however, there is in practice a multiplicity of terms and coins, it is a matter of time for the visiting foreigner to become sufficiently familiar with both to carry on business with promptitude and confidence. The coins issued by the Government of Venezuela are of gold, silver, and nickel, in the following values: gold, 100 bolivars, 25 bolivars, and 20 bolivars; silver, 5, 2½, and 2 bolivars, 1, ½, ¼, and ⅕ bolivar, the limit of legal payments in silver being restricted to sums under 50 bolivars; nickel, 12½ centimos and 5 centimos, with which sums may be paid not exceeding 20 bolivars. The three principal banks, i.e., the Banco de Venezuela, Banco Carácas, and Banco de Maracaibo, have the right at present to issue notes, but these, though current at par in the region where the banks are situated, are often refused in more remote districts. The following gold coins are also current in practice; American gold pieces of 20, 10, and 5 dollars, the dollar being reckoned as 5 bolivars; old Spanish onzas; and those issued by different Latin-American States both before and after secession from Spain, at the nominal value of 80 bolivars, but in both cases there is a premium on gold coin which renders the 20-dollar piece worth 104 bolivars and the onza 82 bolivars. Finally, the English sovereign is readily accepted in Carácas, the premium varying from 4 to 10 per cent. according to circumstances.

As an outcome of this condition of affairs the ordinary traveller in Venezuela has, for the purpose of petty commerce, to be acquainted with three methods of reckoning. In La Guaira and Carácas and other towns affected by commerce with the United States and the West Indies dollars and centavos represent respectively 5 bolivars and 5 centimos, and English-speaking Venezuelans always use American monetary terms; in the towns, however, the bolivar is often voluntarily used as the unit in speaking, and will always be so used on request. In the country the old Spanish nomenclature is everywhere employed, having the real as the unit, equivalent to 25 centimos, with its subdivisions the medio (12½ centimos) and the cuartillo (6¼ centimos). In Maracaibo and the Andine States, for large sums, the onza is employed as a unit, or more commonly the morrocota (20-dollar gold piece). Finally, in commerce on a large scale and for all accounts, pesos and centavos are employed, representing respectively 4 bolivars and 4 centimos; there are no coins corresponding to these sums, and in writing the dollar sign is used, a practice bound to lead to some confusion when the sign is occasionally used in the correct way. Thus, a tradesman will present a bill for $12.50—i.e., 12½ pesos or 50 bolivars, the proper market price for the article supplied, and will receive from a new-comer (who may think the figure dear, but remembers that he is buying goods imported under a heavy tariff) the sum of $12½, which gives an unscrupulous seller an extra profit of 12.50 bolivars. Throughout the country, however, people know the Venezuelan terms, and can be asked to explain any account, verbal or otherwise, in bolivars or centimos.

The metric system is in general use throughout the civilised parts of the country.

As in all Spanish and most American cities, the towns of Venezuela are regularly laid out, with a plaza or square as centre, from which roads diverge towards the four cardinal points. Round the plaza are generally the Government offices, the church, and other principal buildings or private houses; the ground within the square is either occupied by gardens or trees or (in the smaller towns and villages) is grass-covered. Away from the centre the streets show little sign of arrangement in the buildings, old Spanish houses of imposing design standing out here and there, conspicuous among the smaller, more modern edifices.

The doors of the houses open directly on to the pavement, if there is one, and a wall with a few windows, and sometimes none, is all that meets the eye of the passer-by. Inside, however, in all the older and better-built modern residences the short passage opens into a patio, generally full of palms, trees, and flowers, and having a fountain in the centre. Round the patio there is a covered veranda with doors opening into living-rooms and bedrooms on the different sides. From beautiful and elegant courts like this there is every grade to the bare yard, with perhaps only one or two banana-plants. At the back are the kitchens, and in general a second patio, without trees or shrubs, and having stalls for the horses or mules on one side; there are generally several pigs and numerous chickens running about here.

In the country places the furniture of the houses is very simple: a few chairs, some or all of which may be home-made and of hide stretched over wooden frames of all shapes, tables, and one or two stands for glasses, &c., complete the inventory for the ordinary rooms; pictures are rare and not infrequently are limited to lithograph calendars and coloured advertisements received from the more advanced business houses.

The stranger is not as a rule invited to join the family circle, but if he is admitted, on account of introductions from mutual friends, he will find the traditions of Spanish hospitality carried out to the full, and all that the house affords is at his disposal. The elaborate lace edging of the linen, particularly of the pillow-cases, is another characteristic shared in common with other Spanish peoples.

Maize forms the staple grain of the country, though in the east especially cassava is an equally important foodstuff, and sometimes entirely replaces corn, for a large proportion of the people. The maize flour is generally made with water into cakes (arepa), rather like curling-stones in shape, about 4 inches in diameter, which are lightly baked and brought to the table warm: a variation of these, generally considered somewhat of a luxury, are known as bollas, which are sausage-shaped rolls of fine maize flour. In the Andes dark-coloured bread (pan de trigo) of native wheat flour is generally eaten, and in every large town white bread made from imported flour can be had. The cassava root has its poisonous juices extracted in a long straw tube which contracts in diameter as it is extended in length, thus providing the necessary pressure; the dry material is ground to the consistency of oatmeal, and made into large flat cakes, which, when baked, are often two feet across and extremely hard. The broken cake as placed on the table is often soaked in water to soften it. Cassava bread, like arepa, is of more than one quality, according to the fineness to which the material is ground.

In the coast regions carne seca (dried beef) forms an important item in general diet, while carne de chivo (goat’s flesh) is a staple in Coro. Fresh meat is of course the rule in the towns, and fowls are everywhere abundant; the sancoche de gallina, a kind of rich stew made of chicken with herbs and oil, is very good if properly prepared. For other articles of diet, yams and frijoles (beans) are the commonest vegetables, with potatoes in the Andes, while fruit preserves and similar sweets are found everywhere. Last, but not least, the cheeses of the Llanos and foothills (of which queso de mano is perhaps the best) and the ubiquitous papelon (brown unrefined sugar) are an important item in the country fare.

A refreshing and sustaining drink known as guarapo also consists of raw sugar and water, and this with the aguardiente, distilled from the fermented syrup, and coffee are to be seen everywhere. Cacao is less common, but is naturally largely drunk in the neighbourhood of the plantations. A light beer is made at the Carácas and Maracaibo breweries, and there is a multitude of sweet non-alcoholic drinks manufactured from fruits.

The meals are in general as follows: Café, coffee, with or without solid food, on first rising; almuerzo, like the déjeuner of Europe, at midday; and comida or dinner, at sunset. As far as order and number of meals are concerned, Carácas is like the rest of the country, but the remarks above made relative to food apply in the main only to the provinces.

As for food, so for clothing, Carácas and the large towns need no special mention, since the imported weaving material here is mainly European or American. The country towns, however, frequently depend, not only for workmanship but also for materials, on the products of the country. The poorer people wear simple white or blue garments, with broad-brimmed straw hats, and generally go barefoot or wear leather sandals (alpargatas). Everywhere, however, both men and women turn out on feast days in their finest and gaudiest apparel.

A country protected as regards great world powers by the Monroe Doctrine and their own international jealousy, and surrounded by States where the density of population is even less than in its own underpeopled lands, has naturally no need of great and expensive establishments for national defence, and the army and navy are merely of a size sufficient for the settlement of possible petty disputes with neighbours. The land force consists of 5,632 officers and men, and the navy employs only 457 combatants. These figures represent men under national control only, though there are also a small number of militiamen and Federal Guards distributed through the States, paid by the Ministry of War and Marine. This department controls also the pilots and lighthouses round the coast, and is responsible for the execution of the surveys for the military maps of Venezuela. The total expenditure in all branches for 1908-9 was Bs. 9,113,534.86, or about £361,000.

The insignia of the republic, as adopted in 1836 and modified by decree of July 29, 1863, consist of a flag and coat of arms. The flag is a tricolour of yellow, blue, and red, in equal bands, one above the other in the order mentioned, and having in the blue seven white stars, representing the seven original provinces of Venezuela, grouped in a circle of six round the seventh. The shield has three quarterings; the right red with a sheaf of corn, as many ears being indicated as there are States; the left yellow, with a group of arms and flags, crowned with a laurel as a token of triumph; the third, occupying the whole of the bottom part of the shield, is blue, and bears a white horse rampant, symbolising independence and liberty. Above the shield there are two horns of plenty, and below an olive-branch and a palm-leaf, tied with blue and yellow ribbons, which are inscribed Dios y Federación in the centre, 5 de julio de 1811 and Independencia on the left; and the date of the Constitution of the United States of Venezuela (13 de Abril 1864) and Libertad on the right.

There is one decoration in Venezuela, given to prominent men in the country and, in its lower classes, to foreigners whom the nation delights to honour. This is the Busto de Bolivar, the medal showing the head of the liberator and the ribbon the national colours.

There are in all 237 periodicals published in the country, including, besides the official gazettes of the capitals, one or more of general interest in every State, and a considerable number devoted to scientific, literary, masonic, and other special subjects. The State of Lara had in 1908, according to the Venezuelan Year-Book, the largest number of periodical publications in the Union.