Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908

The Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908 was a dispute that broke out between the Netherlands and Venezuela after the Venezuelan president, Cipriano Castro, cut off trade with the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.

Dutch–Venezuelan Crisis
The Dutch warship Jacob van Heemskerck
Date 26 November – 23 December 1908[1] Location Venezuela Result Dutch victory
Belligerents
Venezuela	Netherlands
Commanders and leaders
Cipriano Castro	Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Strength
	1 pantserschip (coastal defence ship) 2 protected cruisers

Venezuela expelled the Dutch ambassador, prompting a Dutch dispatch of three warships: Jacob van Heemskerck, Gelderland, and Friesland.^{[disputed – discuss]} The Dutch warships had orders to intercept every ship that was sailing under the Venezuelan flag. On 12 December, Gelderland captured the Venezuelan coast guard ship Alix (Alejo in Spanish) off Puerto Cabello.^[2] She and another ship, 23 de Mayo, were interned in harbor of Willemstad.

A few days later, on 19 December 1908, Vice President Juan Vicente Gómez seized power in Caracas during the absence of President Castro, who had left for Berlin for a surgical operation, installing himself as de facto president.^[3] Gómez reverted Castro's measures in the following days, and the Netherlands proceeded to withdraw its warships.^[4]

Footnotes

1. "Politieke geschiedenis: Bijna-oorlog met Venezuela (in Dutch)". Historisch Nieuwsblad.
2. The New York Times, 14 December 1908, "Dutch at war with Venezuela"].
3. McBeth, B. S. (2001). Gunboats, Corruption, and Claims: Foreign Intervention in Venezuela, 1899–1900. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. pp. 213–214. ISBN 9780313313561.
4. "Politieke geschiedenis: Bijna-oorlog met Venezuela (in Dutch)". Historisch Nieuwsblad.