ed himself accordingly with issuing
a decree of amnesty for all political offenders except the leaders. When
"reelected," he carried his magnanimity so far as to resign awhile in
favor of the Vice President, stating that, if his retirement were to
bring peace and concord, he would make it permanent. But as he saw to it
that his temporary withdrawal should not have this happy result, he came
back again to his firmer position a few months later.

Venting his wrath upon the Netherlands because its minister had reported
to his Government an outbreak of cholera at La Guaira, the chief seaport
of Venezuela, the dictator laid an embargo on Dutch commerce, seized
its ships, and denounced the Dutch for their alleged failure to check
filibustering from their islands off the coast. When the minister
protested, Castro expelled him. Thereupon the Netherlands instituted a
blockade of the Venezuelan ports. What might have happened if Castro
had remained much longer in charge, may be guessed. Toward the close
of 1908, however, he departed for Europe to undergo a course of medical
treatment. Hardly had he left Venezuelan shores when Juan Vicente Gomez,
the able, astute, and vigorous Vice President, managed to secure his
own election to the presidency and an immediate recognition from
foreign states. Under his direction all of the international tangles of
Venezuela were straightened out.

In 1914 the country adopted its eleventh constitution and thereby
lengthened the presidential term to seven years, shortened that
of members of the lower house of the Congress to four, determined
definitely the number of States in the union, altered the apportionment
of their congressional representation, and enlarged the powers of the
federal Government--or, rather, those of its executive branch! In 1914
Gomez resigned office in favor of the Vice President, and secured an
appointment instead as commander in chief of the army. This procedure
was promptly denounced as a trick to evade the constitutional
prohibition of two consecutive terms. A year later he was unanimously
elected President, though he never formally took the oath of office.

Whatever may be thought of the political ways and means of this
new Guzmin Blanco to maintain himself as a power behind or on the
presidential throne, Gomez gave Venezuela an administration of a sort
very different from that of his immediate predecessor. He suppressed
various government monopolies, removed other obs