General Carlos Soublette was elected President in 1843, in which year France formally recognised the republic, while Spain followed in March, 1845. A further honour was done to the Liberator by renaming Angostura Ciudad Bolivar on May 31, 1845.
The foreign trade of Venezuela had tripled since 1830, the debt had been reduced from 9,372,448.44 pesos to 2,085,595.72 pesos, and General Urdaneta was in London, endeavouring to raise a loan to enable the Government to free the slaves. The country was, therefore, in a fair way of prosperity, but opposition to the centralist form of government was not decreasing. It would seem, notwithstanding, that under wise rulers this grievance could have been redressed without the first of that series of revolutions which, beginning not many years later, made Venezuela a byword in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
In 1847 General José Tadeo Monágas was elected President, and commenced his period of office by sentencing Guzman, the editor of El Venezolano, to death, subsequently commuting the penalty to banishment. For this act of tyranny he was censured by Congress in the following year, and retaliated by dissolving the Assembly with armed force, not without bloodshed. As a not unnatural result, Páez attempted to start an insurrection against him in Calabozo, but was forced to fly to Colombia, and a similar rising in Maracaibo died out. The death penalty for political offences was abolished by Congress, but Páez, on landing in Coro in an attempt to continue his revolt, was overpowered and capitulated; he broke his terms, however, and was imprisoned in the fortress of Cumaná.
THE UNIVERSITY: CARÁCAS.
By the end of 1850 Tadeo Monágas, having acquired power as a member of the Oligarca, avowed himself a Liberal at the end of his presidency. General José Gregorio Monágas was elected to succeed him, a man of whom Tejera says that he was affable in temper, of a generous spirit, and capable of noble actions. In 1854 he promulgated the decree abolishing slavery within Venezuelan territory, March 24th.
The year 1855 saw J. T. Monágas re-elected. In this term the country was divided into provinces identical with the States of to-day, though in some cases the names differed. In 1857 it was reported that Guayana had been sold by the President, and this rumour, with his repeated abuses of power, led to the revolution of Valencia under General Julian Castro, Governor of Carabobo, March 5, 1858.
This was the first serious internal dissension in Venezuela, but here we have only the revolt of the people against a tyrant, not the attempt of an individual to make himself master of the country on selfish grounds. Taking as their motto Union de los partidos, y olvido de lo pasado, the revolutionaries forced Monágas to take refuge in the French Legation, Julian Castro being acclaimed Provisional President. Unfortunately, despite the motto, one of his earliest acts was to imprison Monágas, in direct violation of the promises given to the French and British Legations, which led to an imbroglio with the two countries.
Meanwhile the seat of government was removed to Valencia, though Carácas again became the capital after a few weeks, when, following the success of Julian Castro’s rising, he being a Conservative, the Liberals, with Zamora and Falcón as leaders, landed in Coro on July 24th. Castro was shortly afterwards captured and imprisoned, but the Conservatives proclaimed Pedro Gual President, with Manuel Felipe Tovar as Vice-President. Battles were fought between the Centralists and Federalists in the streets of Carácas, and at Santa Ines and San Carlos, but finally Falcón was defeated on March 17, 1860, and Tovar elected as constitutional President. Throughout 1861, however, Páez was actively working against him, and finally, in 1862, was declared dictator.
In 1863, after a conference between the dictator’s secretary and General Guzman Blanco, leader of the Federals of the Centro, the “convenio de Coche” allowed the National Assembly to nominate Falcón President and Guzman Blanco Vice-President, while Páez left for the United States. After the elections public works of some magnitude were authorised and a £1,500,000 European loan. Finally, on March 28, 1864, the new Federal Constitution was adopted, whereby the United States of Venezuela came into being, consisting of twenty sovereign States, with a Federal two-chamber Legislature, an Executive of President and six ministers, and judicial power in the hands of a high Federal court holding jurisdiction in international affairs. The death penalty was abolished, with imprisonment for debt, the rights of meeting and of a free press were established, and in other respects the Constitution took the general form which it has to-day.