Magisterio y ejemplo de un Vasco del siglo XVIII

In Magisterio y ejemplo de un Vasco del siglo XVIII Hispano-Americanists will find new evidence for the general belief that one of the causes of the wars of emancipation in Latin America was the widespread corruption of the Spanish authorities. The very prolific Venezuelan writer Mario Briceño Perozo (Social Origins, Trilla, etc.) brings us now a minute account of the contraband activities in which the royal officials of Venezuela were engaged at the end of the 18th century. In spite of their sworn loyalty to the crown (p. 42) the alcaldes could ignore royal decrees (pp. 50-59) in pursuit of bribery or in protection of smuggling. The unscrupulous colonial bureaucracy had perfected a most complicated system to avoid detection, prosecution, sentencing, or incarceration. This system included lengthy and time-consuming appeals, ‘open’ hiding in the house of other authorities, and moving outside the jurisdiction of the magistrates (pp. 91, 140). Although sometimes tiresome because of the printing of all names and titles from the original source (p. 89), this work is generally interesting and accurate, a good source for the study of the economic history of Latin America, especially in Venezuela.