Proclama que dirigió al país el 9 de Diciembre de 1902 el General Cipriano Castro (Proclamation Addressed to the Country by General Cipriano Castro, 9 December 1902)

A decorative lithograph of a presidential proclamation: a large initial P beside an allegorical woman holding a palm branch, the national arms above, and dense cursive text under the headline 'Venezolanos!'. It calls the foreign 'insolent foot' on the sacred soil of the fatherland a barbaric, immoral act, and closes by invoking Carabobo, Pantano de Vargas and Ayacucho. Tells: loaded labels for the act, and borrowed prestige from independence battles.

Date: 1905
Period: Pre-1914
Made by: Government of Venezuela, Ministerio de Relaciones Interiores (lithographic edition of a proclamation by President Cipriano Castro)
Region: Latin America
Country: Venezuela
Medium: Document
Issuer type: State
Regime: Castro Government
Leader: Cipriano Castro
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Themes: War and the military, Empire and colonialism
Event: Venezuelan Crisis of 1902 1903
Techniques: Transfer Name-calling Glittering generalities
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wikimedia Commons (from Fundación Polar, Historia de Venezuela en Imágenes), retrieved September 29, 2026
Rights: Public domain (Venezuelan government print, 1905, before 1931; Commons PD-Venezuela tag on file page)
Government of Venezuela, Ministerio de Relaciones Interiores, via Fundación Polar and Wikimedia Commons

Text on the object

Original (Spanish) · read from the image, not independently checked

PROCLAMA
que dirigió al pais
el 9 de Diciembre de 1902
EL GENERAL CIPRIANO CASTRO
Restaurador de Venezuela, á la sazón Presidente de la República

¡Venezolanos! La planta insolente del Extranjero ha profanado el sagrado suelo de la Patria! Un hecho inaudito en la historia de las Naciones cultas, sin fundamento, sin posible justificación, hecho bárbaro, porque atenta contra los más elementales principios del Derecho de Gentes, hecho inmoral, porque [...] [body text continues in small cursive; largely illegible at the hosted size] [...] Por la Justicia está de nuestra parte, y el Dios de las Naciones que inspiró á Bolívar y á la pléyade de héroes que le secundaron en la magna obra de legarnos, á costa de grandes sacrificios, Patria, Libertad é Independencia [...] [illegible] [...]

¡Venezolanos! El sol de Carabobo vuelve á iluminar los horizontes de la Patria [...] [?] como las de las Queseras del Medio, sacrificios como el de [illegible], aventuras como el del Pantano de Vargas, heroísmo como el de Ribas y héroes como los que forman la constelación de nuestra grande Epopeya. Y hoy que por una feliz coincidencia conmemoramos la fecha clásica de la gran batalla decisiva de la Libertad Sud-Americana, la batalla de Ayacucho, hagamos votos porque nuevos lauros vengan á ilustrar las gloriosas páginas de nuestra historia patria.

Cipriano Castro
Caracas 9 de Diciembre de 1902.

[Footer:] Estados Unidos de Venezuela / Ministerio de Relaciones Interiores / División Política / Caracas 4 de julio de 1905 / 9[4?]° y 47° / Resuelto: En cumplimiento del Decreto sancionado por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela [...] [illegible] [...] la Proclama dirigida al País el 9 de Diciembre de 1902 por el Restaurador de Venezuela, Presidente de la República. / Dios y Federación / El Ministro / [signature illegible]

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

PROCLAMATION addressed to the country on 9 December 1902 by GENERAL CIPRIANO CASTRO, Restorer of Venezuela, then President of the Republic.

Venezuelans! The insolent foot of the Foreigner has profaned the sacred soil of the Fatherland! An unheard-of deed in the history of the cultured Nations, without foundation, without possible justification, a barbaric deed, because it attacks the most elementary principles of the Law of Nations, an immoral deed, because [...] [body text illegible] [...] Justice is on our side, and the God of Nations who inspired Bolívar and the pleiad of heroes who followed him in the great work of bequeathing to us, at the cost of great sacrifices, Fatherland, Liberty and Independence [...] [illegible] [...]

Venezuelans! The sun of Carabobo returns to illuminate the horizons of the Fatherland [...] [?] like those of Queseras del Medio, sacrifices like that of [illegible], adventures like that of Pantano de Vargas, heroism like that of Ribas and heroes like those who form the constellation of our great Epic. And today, by a happy coincidence, we commemorate the classic date of the great decisive battle of South American Liberty, the battle of Ayacucho: let us make vows that new laurels come to illustrate the glorious pages of our national history.

Cipriano Castro. Caracas, 9 December 1902.

[Footer:] United States of Venezuela / Ministry of Interior Relations / Political Division / Caracas, 4 July 1905 / 9[4?]th and 47th / Resolved: In compliance with the Decree sanctioned by the Congress of the United States of Venezuela [...] [illegible] [...] the Proclamation addressed to the Country on 9 December 1902 by the Restorer of Venezuela, President of the Republic. / God and Federation / The Minister / [signature illegible]

Headings, the first sentences, the passage on Bolívar and most of the closing paragraph were read from the 1280 px image; the rest of the body, in small cursive, is marked [illegible], and words marked [?] are uncertain. Spelling and accents follow the printed form (á, é, pais).