that fugitive Presidents of Venezuela were wont to take refuge when
the political atmosphere of that republic grew uncomfortable for them.
Most of these gentlemen thoughtfully brought with them as much of the
national till as they were able to lay their hands on, to comfort them
in their exile. Spanish-American republics seem to produce
Dictator-Presidents very freely. When I was in Venezuela in 1907
Cipriano Castro had grasped supreme power, and governed the country as
an autocrat. Castro, who was an uneducated half-caste, ruled by
corruption and terror; he repudiated all the national obligations,
quarrelled with the United States and with every European Power, and
disposed of his political opponents by the simple expedient of placing
them against a wall with a file of soldiers with loaded rifles in
front of them. For eight years this ignorant, bloodthirsty savage
enjoyed absolute power, until he was forced in 1908 to flee to Europe.
I do not know whether he followed the national custom by taking most
of the exchequer with him. A typical sample of Castro's administrative
powers was to be seen at La Guayra, the wretched, poverty-stricken
seaport of Caracas. Dominating the squalid little place was a huge and
imposing fort with heavy guns, over which the gaudy Venezuelan
tricolour of yellow, blue, and red fluttered bravely. This fort was an
elaborate sham, built of coloured plaster, and the guns were of
painted wood only; but Castro thought that it was calculated to
frighten the foreigner, and it possibly flattered the national vanity
as well.

A most remarkable example of a Dictator-Tyrant was Juan Rosas, who,
for seventeen years, from 1835 to 1852, ruled the Argentine Republic
as an unchallenged despot. Rosas was born in 1793, and began life as a
gaucho. He seized supreme power in 1835, and is credited with having
put twenty-five thousand people to death. The "Nero of South America"