Venezuela

by Leonard V. Dalton

There seems reason to suppose that Venezuela has extensive areas producing oil of the type requisite, and therefore her future importance depends largely upon the energy with which she discovers or encourages others to discover where and how the mineral can be most profitably won.

Nor must the possibilities of Guayana be ignored in this general summary, for a considerable proportion of some of the larger exports given in [Appendix B] is shipped through Ciudad Bolivar; these are mainly, of course, forest products and gold, but there are great possibilities of increased output of both these, with the development of more permanent agricultural and pastoral resources in the woods and savannahs of southern Venezuela. The introduction of industrial colonists has, as we have seen, been planned already, and much may come of the wise prosecution of such a scheme.

Under these three heads we have the undeveloped resources of Venezuela, but there remains a long list of products exported, some of which already aggregate a considerable value, while others are capable of great increase. There is no necessity to deal with these various products in detail here, since a glance at the table in [Appendix B] will show their relative importance. The question remains, What is needed that Venezuela’s trade may be free to expand and may be assisted in that expansion by those in authority?

First and foremost, there is the character of the Government itself to be considered. Venezuela, like most of the rest of Latin America, has suffered much at the hands of a military-political class, whose one method of acquiring and retaining power has been that of force; while, once installed in the places of authority, the members of that class have devoted most of their time to acquiring wealth and power for themselves, and little or none to the task for which they have been “elected” (in theory) by the people. To such an extent were the doctrines of this class general that it had been found impossible to persuade good men and true to take control of the national finance, those fitted to do so knowing well that any attempts at reform on their part would at once be thwarted by their self-seeking colleagues in the Ministry, to whom adequate public control of expenditure would be abhorrent.

Nor can the republic be blamed for the existence of this class, whose traditions are merely a slightly exaggerated copy, of those of the early Spanish aristocratic colonists, who deemed it derogatory to work, but thought it no shame to exist upon the forced labour of others; with the break-up of slavery conditions, which occurred before their actual abolition, these men and their descendants, often not of pure Spanish blood, preferred political intrigues and the leadership of revolutions to honest work, and until recent years this caste has held the government in the majority of the Latin-American republics. The belief in the disgrace of labour is not common to any age or any country among men of a certain type, but the class who hold these views have held more power and have been more numerous in South America than in Europe, unless we go back some three or four hundred years to the days when “gentlemen” were supposed to live like the lilies of the field, with an occasional fight at other people’s expense to relieve the monotony of existence.

Early in the history of Venezuela’s independence an abortive attempt was made, in the election of Doctor Vargas to the presidency, to counteract the evil influence of the military politicians of the revolution, but Mariño and his friends, whose names should surely be reviled by every true patriot in Venezuela, made the succeeding chaos inevitable, and it may be doubted if the spirit which revealed itself in the election of Vargas in 1834 attained such prominence again until the time of the Matos revolution, which was an attempt (in 1902) of the people of Venezuela to do away with the military power by defeating it on its own ground. That revolt failed, but it is noteworthy that the supporters of the present régime were prominent among its leaders.

Whether with the growing dislike for military dictatorships there has come the equally necessary love of justice and straight dealing, and real hatred of political jobbery, time alone will show. High hopes have been fostered by the speeches of General Gomez for the greater stability and responsibility of the Governments of the republic, and it remains for the people of Venezuela to see that these hopes are realised. Just and honest government is the first need of the country; given those conditions, its development should, indeed must, be rapid.

Such a Government should divert the revenue of the country from the private pockets, into which too much of it has hitherto gone, to such beneficent ends as the improvement of ways of communication, the cause of popular education, and the establishment of an efficient consular service abroad.

Real roads, with macadam surface, would cause modern methods of transport to supersede the antique pack-mule method, and railways would follow without direct Government intervention. A system of free popular education is in existence, on paper, but in reality the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are as yet absolutely illiterate; yet the individuals are far from dull, and increased learning will doubtless, ere long, leave no chance of return for the rule of inefficiency and disorder. The consular service is already being improved, and it is to be hoped that the effect on foreign commerce will soon be felt for good.

From a geographical point of view Great Britain should be more interested in Venezuela than in any other South American republic. Not only is it almost the nearest part of that continent to our shores, but in British Guiana, Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados, to say nothing of other West Indian islands, we are her next-door neighbours. In spite of these facts the amount of British capital in Venezuela is only some £8,000,000 sterling as compared with £44,000,000 in Uruguay; we are a very poor third in the list of her customers, the next highest, France, buying four times as much as ourselves, and the United States nearly six times. As far as the amount of capital invested is concerned, the comparative stability of the various countries may be urged as a reason, but there seems no reason why we should not foster trade in Venezuela by purchasing more of those of her many products which we need, and since a large proportion of these would be shipped through Trinidad, it might be urged that we should thereby strengthen one of the islands of the Empire.