In 1813, two extraordinary military campaigns were launched from the Venezuelan periphery, aiming at reinstating Venezuelan independence, which had been gained in 1811 and then lost in 1812 to hands of Spanish General Domingo de Monteverde. One of those campaigns, the Admirable Campaign, was led by Venezuelan Liberator Simón Bolívar, who fought his way across the harrowing terrain of the Venezuelan Andes on his journey from Colombia to Caracas between May and August 1813.
However, less is heard of the equally exciting and impressive military campaign known as the Chacachacare Expedition, led by Santiago Mariño from the islet of Chacachacare in Trinidad. Mariño, aided by 45 men and a heroic woman, carried out a strategic operation from Trinidad that resulted in the liberation of Guiria (currently in the state of Sucre in Eastern Venezuela) on the 13th of January 1813; thus, inaugurating our Second Republic.
The Chacachacare Expedition did not lack romanticism. Indeed, it had all the ingredients needed for a riveting Netflix series.
Firstly, 45 men signed the Chacachacare Proclamation in which they swore to “conquer or die” for the liberation of Venezuela. They would go on to be known as the “Immortal Forty-Five.” Many of these men in fact such as: Juan Bautista Arismendi, José Francisco Bermúdez and Curaçao-born Manuel Piar, went on to become quite relevant in Venezuelan history years later.
However, the truth is that it took more people than just those 45 brave men to make this enterprise successful. Among those who did not sign the Proclamation but played an important role was Jean Baptiste Bideau. Originally from St. Lucia, Bideau was the right-hand man of Santiago Mariño when it came to planning and recruiting soldiers and sailors for the expedition. In addition, he provided his own schooner, “Botón de Rosa” for the cause. In 1816, Bideau would become even more relevant in Venezuelan history, for he saved the life of Liberator Simón Bolívar.
Another exceptional person in this story, who did not sign the Proclamation either, was Doña Concepción Mariño, sister of Santiago Mariño, and rightful owner of the Chacachacare estate where the whole expedition was planned and exercised. Also known as the Magnanimous Señora, Concepción Mariño could be defined in modern military terms as a Logistics Commander. She led – to the smallest detail – the acquisition of arms, military equipment and boats, as well as their inconspicuous transport from Port-of-Spain to Chacachacare, in spite of the ominous surveillance by the British authorities.
In reality, considering all the contribution and passion both by Jean Baptiste Bideau and Concepción Mariño, the “Immortal Forty-Five” should really be the “Immortal Forty-Seven.”
In his book, “The Gateway to South America,” the late Trinbagonian historian Gaylord Kelshall explains how both Santiago and Concepción, as teen-agers, were inspired by Venezuelan Generalísimo Francisco de Miranda in 1806, who they met when he journeyed to Chacachacare with his entourage to visit the siblings’ parents, right after Miranda’s failure to liberate Venezuela in Ocumare. Ever since, Santiago and Concepción made their minds to tribute their young lives to the cause of Venezuelan independence.
So far so good, but what about British authorities ruling Trinidad at the time? In 1812 and 1813, the British Government’s position towards Venezuelan independence from Spain was ambiguous to say the least. Ultimately, it all depended on the governor general who would be in charge.
During the planning and execution of the Chacachacare Expedition, which lasted three months, the Governor General of Trinidad was Hector William Munro. Although he particularly detested Venezuelan patriots operating in Trinidad, he lacked the sophistication and precision of intelligence-gathering of his predecessor, Thomas Picton. Therefore, it was fairly easy for Santiago and Concepción to deceive Munro’s schemes.
Furthermore, Santiago was particularly charismatic and likeable. Years earlier, Santiago had joined the Island’s Militia in Trinidad, where he gained many friends and established useful contacts. Such was the extent of Santiago’s popularity in the Militia that practically the whole corps was collaborating with the Chacachacare Expedition, although in disguise.
To give an idea of the extent of the network of support developed by the Mariñoses in Trinidad, it should be noted that the personal secretary of Governor Munro, Manuel Valdez, was also one of the “Immortal Forty-Five.” Add to that the input of French Republicans populating Trinidad since the establishment of Spain’s "Cédula of Population," in the late 18th Century, and you would have a further advantage for the "Chacachacare Expedition."
In her book, “Women from the Independence,” Venezuelan writer and researcher Carmen Clemente Travieso describes how in the early afternoon of January 11th, 1813, the “Immortal Forty-Five,” along with the Magnanimous Señora Concepción Mariño and servants from the Chacachacare estate, gathered to eat a delectable barbecue and to sign and read the Chacachacare Proclamation. Both actions would certainly soothe the nerves and anxieties of the warriors who had promised to either liberate Venezuela or die.
At five o’clock in the afternoon, on January 11th, 1813, the expedition led by Santiago Mariño departed from Chacachacare’s La Tinta Bay towards Guiria, sailing through the Gulf of Paria. And by three in the morning, on January 13th, Santiago Mariño had successfully landed in Guiria. Before sunrise, the “Immortal Forty-Five” had defeated a force of 300 strong Spanish soldiers led by Royalist Lieutenant Juan Gavazo.
From this moment – and until August 1813 – this contingent of Patriots sealed the liberation of Eastern Venezuela, with Guiria, Maturín, Cumaná and Barcelona as key bastions in the campaign. The triumph of Mariño combined with the equally successful Admiral Campaign of Liberator Simón Bolívar in Western Venezuela, resulting in a new Venezuelan liberation.
The strategic importance of Trinidad – particularly Chacachacare – for the independence of Venezuela 210 years ago was paramount. Nonetheless, as reflected by history, especially the history of the Mariño family, the links between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela go way beyond the strategic aspect. It is really embedded in the culture and the common vision of both brotherly and sisterly nations.
By Venezuelan Ambassador to Trinidad
and Tobago Álvaro Sánchez Cordero
Dear Editor,
The Paradise Frontier is based on the engraved stones with the established Treaty of Concordia in 1648. The treaty is one of the most important symbols of values laid down between the Dutch and French parts of the island. It is supported by columns of stones at the major entree points at the borders. The treaty is also an important tourist attraction for the island and future educational advancement in modern historical events.
This article entitled “The Paradise Frontier” provides strong supporting documentary evidence of the treaty existence in 1648 between the founding fathers on behalf of the people of the Dutch and French parts of the island over 400 years.
The ancestors used the stones to inscribe the Treaty of Concordia so that it will not be removed and destroyed by anyone in the future. The Treaty of Concordia is one of the oldest treaties in the western world. It is truly a tourist attraction for visitors, and a masterpiece of history preserved and inscribed on statues at the borders. St. Maarten should celebrate a treaty day for one of the oldest monuments in history, and a public holiday to bring historians from all parts of the world to celebrate it. The treaty is not a frame of mind, it has existed for real between the borders of Dutch and French parts.
The Frontier Treaty must be part of the World Heritage Sites. This is why it is constructed by pillars and engraved in cement wording. There should be no other treaty superseding this one. Finally, the Treaty of Concordia must be amended and upgraded to be used in schools as part of the social studies curriculum. It should also be included in the world heritage sites as a famous protected historical monument. No other treaty must supersede this one.
Joseph Harvey
Dear Editor,
To begin with, slavery was inhumane, unlawful, dreadful and senseless.
In 1776 David Hartley present a motion in the UK House of Commons stating that the slave trade was against the laws of God and the rights of men. Slaves were branded as “Chattels”, a legal term for the ownership of goods. The slave masters didn’t regard the treatment of slaves as human beings but as cargoes. A slave had no legal rights. Slaves couldn’t learn to read. Slaves could not be freed. Slavery was a profitable business. Between 1665 and 1667 a slave was sold for 25 English pounds currency, or 1 ton of sugar. 1 ton is equal to 2.240 lbs. of sugar. 25 English pounds currency was a lot of money in those days.
Slavery was one of the worst sufferings endured by the negro population over the past 400 years. Slaves were brought from Africa to harvest sugar cane and other crops on the plantations in the West Indies. The voyages were long and dangerous. A slave ship had a crew of 40 to 60 men on board. The hull or hole of the ship measured 90.8 cm x 122.6cm or 48” x 35.7”. Slaves were packed like sardines in the hull, the hole of the ship on journeys from Africa to the West Indies. Many slaves were suffocated, while others were fastened to the deck of the ship. The treatment of slaves was brutal and dreadful.
The Dutch took their independence from Spain in 1621, shortly after they formed the Dutch West Indian Company. The company went bankrupt in 1652. Between 1623 and 1650 the Dutch and French joined forces with the English to defeat the Carib Indians in St. Christopher. The Caribs were farmers and fishermen. They were also a very enterprising group of people. They were slaughtered and wiped out by the settlers over the years.
St. Christopher was the mother colony of the West Indies. Most of the other islands were settled from there. In 1781 the Dutch suffered their biggest loss in the slave trade. Admiral George Rodney and his troops operating from St. Christopher attacked the Dutch forces on Statia, capturing 250 ships, a frigate, and auctioned all the stores with munition goods on the island.
In 1791 there was a rebellion uprising on the plantations in Haiti. This sparked the uprising of slaves in the Confederated States in America. Thirteen colonies adapted the Articles of Confederation between 1820-1860 referred to as the Rogue States. Because of the uprising on the plantations in Haiti, slaves in the 13 breakaway states in America were freed. This also provides equal opportunity and prosperity for blacks in the United States today.
Piracy played a great role in the slave trade. Pirates were given fancy names such as buccaneers, privateers, pirates, envoys and missionaries. The truth is they were all bandits and criminals, robbing and stealing gold and silver, jewels and other precious items from these small islands. In 1588, 1655 and 1670 Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Henry Morgan, three vicious pirates attacked the Spanish flagship, breaking Spain’s power and prestige in the Caribbean and Europe. These men were the most feared and vicious pirates patrolling the Caribbean waters. From the flagship they took gold and silver, jewels, cargoes, crew and slaves.
Accepting apology: First of all, this is my view. Apology must be sincere and trustworthy. The person(s) apologizing must pay for retribution and crime against humanity. An oath to parliament that no form of slavery will never happen again. Slave labor on all plantations must be compensated for. All items of history, including monuments, must be return to the island.
Finally, God bless Haiti for its role and bravery during the rebellion of slaves on the plantations, and its stance for injustice for liberating slavery in 1791.
Joseph Harvey – All rights reserved
Dear Editor,
I hereby write to you in my capacity as Director of the Pointe Blanche prison and House of Detention in response to your Letter to the Editor in The Daily Herald newspaper of January 6, 2023.
It cannot be denied that the attention that the Pointe Blanche prison has received from the Ministry of Justice over the last three years has been far greater than in any period prior to that. There are independent reports available that attest to this; as such, I believe that among your fellow inmate population, you will find many persons who agree. There has been and continues to be steady progress at the prison. However, if you are of the opinion that the pace of the developments is not moving fast enough, that is a discussion that I am more than willing to have with the association, as I am able to provide insights that the inmates nor the association may not be aware of.
For security reasons, the management and staff of the prison are not always at liberty to disclose information on the developments surrounding the facility. As a result of this, inmates can easily arrive at the wrong conclusion as is the case with many of the assumptions made in the letter published. For instance, the general statement made, “There are many areas in our local ‘Pointe Blanche’ prison in St. Maarten that lack the attention it needs,” is a view that I do not share as it does not align with the developments taking place on the ground.
As Prison Director, I am responsible for the entire prison, as such, every aspect of the prison has my full attention and by extension that of the Ministry of Justice. Any claims to the contrary are false and absolutely incorrect.
In order to provide clarity on the current situation of the prison to the association, I will address the points that have been raised in your letter, as some of these were either deliberate misrepresentations of the situation, false, or based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the facts. Moving forward, I will not continue this dialogue in the public sphere as these matters should be handled internally.
Medical
It was indicated in the letter that medical staff is not on call to assist during “off-the-clock” emergencies. That statement is incorrect. The prison’s medical staff is on call 24/7 and responds to emergencies in the promptest manner. In addition, all prescriptions are prescribed by a prison general practitioner with prescription authority.
I will not discuss an individual’s medical situation as that is confidential information. The well-being of all inmates including the individual inmate mentioned in the letter, is of great importance to the management and staff, and it is our duty to attend to all inmates with medical inquiries.
Rehabilitation
One of the focal points of the improvements in the prison in 2022 was the development and enhancing of the overall day-time program for the inmates and providing more rehabilitation programs. This includes but is not limited to reintroducing educational and sport programs as well as expanding the labor possibilities for the inmates.
Firstly, the GED program has been reintroduced and made available to all inmates. I take this opportunity to commend the 11 inmates who have taken advantage of the education program facilitated by CLIMB foundation and congratulate the 4 inmates who were successful in attaining their official GED diploma. The 6-month Prison Education Program (PEP) pilot was
implemented to assess the new and improved computer-based learning method. The inmate can log in to their personal account, and with the guidance of the GED teacher, the inmates can work on GED subjects such as Math, Language, Social Studies and Science. In December 2022, an end-of-term ceremony was held for the inmates of which two inmates received an official GED diploma, after which two additional inmates, sat their GED exams in January 2023, and were successful in attaining their GED diplomas to be received soon. This is a great milestone that should not go unmentioned. Currently, the educational services are being tendered for 2023-2025, and the prison strives to continue the educational courses in February 2023. As such, I encourage those who are part of the program to continue and other inmates to join.
The Family Fun Days have been reintroduced and take place every 3 months. The purpose of this day is to maintain close relationships with inmates’ relatives and loved ones. Inmates who have shown positive behavior over the months are eligible to participate in this event as a privilege earned. This has also been well received by the inmates.
A complete renovation and refurbishment of the gym took place in 2022 after the request to do so for many years went unanswered. With the upgrade of the gym, much more focus has been put into sporting activities in general for the inmates.
The sewing room is also operational and can provide a group of 12 to 15 inmates with structural sewing lessons.
Labor opportunities have also been increased. Inmates now have the possibility to work in the kitchen, the library, or on the cleaning or maintenance team. There are many projects that the inmate maintenance team has been able to work on in 2022. The prison’s intention is to increase the number of inmates that can participate in such activities.
Management of the prison is also working on the tendering process to rebuild the prison workshop where additional skills were taught to inmates. The tender documents for this have been completed and will be processed for review and approval to begin the tendering process.
In the last quarter of 2022, in collaboration with the Probation Services (SJIB), an anger management course was given to a group of inmates. This course was successfully completed by all inmates who participated. In 2023, it is the prison’s intention to collaborate more intensely with the probation office to offer such courses that will positively contribute to the inmates’ reintegration.
The prison will also be exploring the possibilities of restorative justice. This project is still in the early stages, however, it is worth mentioning, as restorative justice between offenders and victims and/or relatives of victims can have a great impact on reducing reoffending rates.
Thus, there are initiatives in the prison that are focused on rehabilitation and there are others underway. However, in order for any of these initiatives to be successful it is important to have a positive attitude toward what is currently being offered and to actively participate.
Verlof and Labor (time off)
The procedure to request a “leave of absence” in order for an inmate to attend a funeral or visit a medical specialist is done according to an established procedure. Every inmate has the opportunity to submit a formal request for a “leave of absence” to the prison director. Once a request has been submitted formally, an assessment is done about the possible safety risks involved in granting the “leave of absence”. This regards not only potential safety risks for the community and the prison guards, but also for the inmate him- or herself. Based on the assessment, a formal decision is made by the Ministry of Justice.
The granting of conditional release (voorwaardelijke invrijheidsstelling (VI)) and early conditional release are regulated in Articles 1:30-1:40 of the Criminal Code. In general, an inmate can be eligible for VI after two-thirds of the detention sentence. However, a verdict must
be irrevocable. Early VI can be granted in a situation whereby cell capacity is urgently needed. Electronic Monitoring (wearing an ankle bracelet) can be imposed as a special condition of VI. An inmate does, however, not automatically have a right to be released on early VI with an ankle bracelet. The behavior of an inmate during detention is an important factor in the decision-making about VI. In 2015, the new Criminal Code came into effect. The provision of the new Criminal Code removed the need for the Ministerial Regulation Electronic Monitoring. This law in which the “early release on ankle bracelet with 18 months detention left” was regulated, was revoked in October 2015.
Communication with family/friends
All inmates have a right to communicate with family members and/or their loved ones. For this reason, every inmate has scheduled days and times that they can make phone calls. The officer records all names of the inmates who wish to make phone calls daily. Inmates who register for phone calls are never restricted from making these calls unless for safety reasons. There may also be occasional limitations due to technical issues that the prison is presented with by using a land-based telephone system.
Due to the difficulties encountered by using a land-based telephone system, the prison has decided to move over to a VOIP inmate telephone system that does not require the old land-based connection system. In recent weeks, a suitable inmate telephone system has been selected and the prison has received the first sample. The sample will be tested by the prison management and the telecommunication provider in the coming days. It is the intention to have the new inmate telephone system up and running within the first quarter of 2023.
Food and menu
The food provided by the prison’s kitchen is prepared by a certified chef who is skilled in producing nutritious meals based on a well-balanced diet. All dietary constraints of each inmate are considered such as allergies, intolerances, kosher, diabetes and more. In addition, on occasions, as you may know, requests are made to the prison director for the purchasing of food from establishments outside of the prison to be delivered to prisoners. This however is contingent on good behavior and is a privilege earned.
Prosecutorial misconduct
The Centraal College voor de Reclassering (also known as Parole Board or CCR) currently consists of four independent members with legal and social backgrounds. The CCR advises the Minister of Justice about the issuing of (early) VI, denial or suspension of VI and the revoking of VI. The Board has an important advisory role. The Minister of Justice, however, has the discretion to deviate from the advice in certain exceptional situations. The Prosecutor is not a member of the Parole Board as the letter stated.
Prison Guards
I have taken note of your concern for the well-being of our prison guards and would hope that this is reflected in your interactions with them. Over the course of years, the prison has dealt with many challenges in regard to structural staff shortage, which in turn leads to a higher workload resulting in an increase in the number of sick reports and absenteeism. A positive development in the area of personnel is the prison officer’s training program that started in September 2022, in collaboration with the Dutch Custodial Agency in the Netherlands (DJI).
All prison guards have been offered the opportunity to join the training that covers different areas: integrity, self-defense, security, aggression regulation, prison law and more. This is a great
step that the prison is immensely proud of, as it has been more than a decade since the prison officers have gotten the opportunity to enhance their skills and develop their knowledge in their field of profession. It is of great importance that prison officers, current and new, are up to date with their knowledge and skills so that they can handle every situation with utmost skill and precision.
Since your Letter to the Editor was sent, a virtual meeting between the Inmates Association and the Honorable Minister of Justice took place on January 9, in which all your concerns were discussed. Additionally, in response to your communication, through this letter, I have sought to clarify and correct where needed the points that you have raised. Your calls have not gone unheard.
We have been in dialogue periodically prior to your letter to the media, and I believe we should continue to do so. However, in doing so, it is important that we remain respectful and refrain from making statements that can be misconstrued as a thinly veiled threat. This is counterproductive to our common goal to see general conditions in the prison improve.
As your letter was shared in the media, a copy of this letter will also be shared through the media.
Respectfully,
Steven Carty
Prison Director
Pointe Blanche Prison & House of Detention
Dear Editor,
After all, it is time the government helps to stop the noise from the sewage covers on Middle Region main road.
It’s about four months the noise has been irritating citizens of Middle Region, especially those living near the main road.
The vehicles often pass on the covers and we know government knows and is doing nothing about this situation.
Cuthbert Bannis
