Gunboat Diplomacy 1895-1905 Great Power Pressure in Venezuela

Gunboat Diplomacy, 1895-1905 Great Power Pressure in Venezuela

 

Much of the pattern of relationships between Venezuela on the one hand and the Big Powers on the other stems from the happenings of the decade 1895-1905. The boundary dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela had a catalytic effect on the delicate balance of power between the United States and Britain. While politically Venezuela accepted American supremacy, she turned to London for loans. When she became unable to pay her debts she exposed herself to the use of force. The internal upheavals that put her in this weak position drove her into an impasse in her relations with Britain and Germany, ending in the blockade. Through the assertion of the rights of intervention the blockade foreshadowed the use and triumph of force in Latin America, where suspicion of America was mingled with fear. Gomez, the dictator who followed Castro, paid off the debts from the revenue from the oil industry. The country was free of exposure to force but became more dependent on world market forces as the oil industry was foreign-owned and exported its products. Venezuela has become the key to the Caribbean as the result and its importance is growing.

 

Miriam Hood

Softcover 210pp George Allen & Urwin 1983

 

Fine

Book Code:  SH1907

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