The Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908 was a dispute that broke out between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

after the Venezuelan president, Cipriano Castro, cut off trade with the Dutch island of Curaçao. Venezuela expelled the Dutch ambassador, prompting a Dutch dispatch of three warships: , , and . 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. She and another ship, ''23 de Mayo'', were interned in harbor of

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

. A few days later, on 19 December 1908, Vice President

Juan Vicente Gómez Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, Politician and ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He was president on three occasions during this time, ruling through puppe ...

seized power in Caracas during the absence of President Castro, who had left for

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

for a surgical operation, installing himself as de facto president. Gómez reverted Castro's measures in the following days, and the Netherlands proceeded to withdraw its warships.

Footnotes

1908 in international relations 1908 in the Netherlands 1908 in Venezuela Maritime incidents in 1908 Maritime incidents in Venezuela Military operations involving the Netherlands Military operations involving Venezuela Netherlands–Venezuela relations {{Venezuela-hist-stub