Below the Gulf | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 25, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 12.

Below the Gulf.

President Castro, on March 9, announced the re-establishment of the blockade of the Orinoco River, which had, of course, been suspended during the continuance of the blockade of the Venezuelan coast by the allied powers; but on the 13th the announcement was made that this blockade had been raised. This was due to pressure from Great Britain, who threatened, through her representative at Washington, to recognize the Venezuelan rebels as belligerents, thus putting them in a position to charter war-vessels, borrow money, and conduct the war on a much larger scale. Great Britain also threatened to deny the Venezuelans the use of British ports in that vicinity for their warships. The government forces report a victory over the rebels and the capture of the rebel position at Coro. The rebels, on the other hand, claim to have utterly defeated the government forces. It seems certain that a battle was fought, at least. In Honduras reports indicate that the newly elected president, Bonilla, is overcoming the forces of the former president. Persons arriving in Gulf ports from Honduras are of the opinion that Bonilla will soon be in control of the government. The forces of the late president were defeated with heavy losses at Ceiba, Honduras, recently. Admiral Coghlan, of the American navy, has been ordered to proceed with the Caribbean squadron to the coast of Honduras to protect American interests there.