Gunboats, Corruption, and Claims

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Gunboats, Corruption, and Claims Foreign Intervention in Venezuela, 1899-1908

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Brian S. McBeth

Book Code: GM1356

ISBN: 0-313-31356-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31356-1

DOI:

320 pages, tables

Greenwood Press

Publication: 4/30/2001

List Price: $131.95 (UK Sterling Price: £75.00)

Availability: Print on demand

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Series Title: Contributions in Latin American Studies

Series Number: 20

Reviews:

This deeply researched, densely argued work is for Latin American and diplomatic specialists.
—Choice November 2001
This work will occupy a notable place in the literature on the Castro-Gomez period. It will serve as a standard reference for a number of important episodes during this period, especially those relating to foreign investment, diplomacy, the Libertadora rebellion and the transition from Castro to Gomez. The meticulous research in British and Venezuelan archival sources will provide tremendous assistance to researchers working on this period of Venezuelan history.
—Cambridge University Press 2003
[A] well-researched and highly interesting book.
—Iberoamericana December 2003
Gunboats, Corruption, and Claims is a good study of the topic...well worth reading.
—South Eastern Latin Americanist Summer/Fall 2002
...this book offers an informative, succinct, and judicious account of important episodes in the relation between the Catholic Church and Maya religious practices in Guatemala.
—American Historical Review December 2002
One might embrace McBeth's thesis as a welcome corrective to recent historiography that sometimes strains to portray weak states as active and honorable players on the international stage.
—The Journal of Military History April 2002

Description: The Cipriano Castro administration, which ruled Venezuela from 1899 to 1908, was characterized by a series of internal and external political crises which seemed capable of toppling it at any moment. In 1901, a number of foreign countries provided financial backing to Castro's former allies, united under the leadership of Manuel Antonio Matos, who almost brought the government down. In the midst of this civil war, Germany, the United Kingdom and later Italy instituted what came to be known as the "peaceful blockade" of Venezuela to force the government to honor its foreign debts. The claims and counter-claims stemming from the conflict would eventually force the three foreign countries to sever diplomatic relations in the ensuing years. Far from its portrayal as a nationalist champion, the Castro administration was, in McBeth's findings, more focused on the accumulation of personal wealth than on defense of Venezuelan interests. Castro would pay dearly for his misdeeds, losing power in a 1908 coup to Juan Vicente Gómez and remaining in exile until his death in 1924. The conflict would prove to be a watershed in relations with Latin America, as the United States modified its own foreign policy in response and the European powers became more aware of the limit of their political influence in the region.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Táchira comes of Age
Castro Invades
Foreign Capital & Intervention
Matos and Foreign Companies
Matos Launches his Revolution
The "Peaceful Blockade"
Castro: Xenophobe or Blackmailer?
Diplomatic Relations Deteriorate
Castro Starts to Lose His Grip
Castro's World Collapses
A New Government in Venezuela
La Rehabilitación
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

LC Card Number: 00-035357

LCC Class: F2325

Dewey Class: 987


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