The management of this representative Venezuelan newspaper, in issue number 214, dated November 15, 1900, in “editorial pieces”, referred to the following under the title “The Earthquake”:
“We held the firm conviction that, once the fields sown with the corpses of our brothers in the last civil war had flourished and been cultivated, we would not have to bring to the attention of our readers the unfortunate news of another catastrophe that could unsettle the feelings of the Venezuelan family. The reality of events has, unfortunately, shattered our beliefs. Under the light of peace, humankind was working for the public and social well-being when nature, blind and brutal at times, decided to drag us back to those calamitous days. A tremor of the earth, felt on October 29th throughout the entire nation, disturbed the tranquility of families, reduced the towns of Guarenas, Guatire, and Macuto to ruins, and although it caused less material and personal damage in other areas, the panic it produced was no less intense. Of all the cities in the Republic, Caracas suffered the most from the catastrophe. The capital, however, is making efforts to return to normal, even though even in the As we write these lines, several seismic tremors continue to be felt. El Cojo Ilustrado joins the national sentiment that deplores the devastation of the catastrophe and wholeheartedly applauds the measures taken by the government and society to aid the surviving victims. As always, its contribution will not be delayed in these moments of anguish and sorrow.” Two key points deserve to be emphasized:
1. The civilian position of the director of the famous newspaper, JM Herrera Irigoyen, when comparing with astonishment and unease the ruins, physical and moral, caused by the earthquake with the ravages of the last civil war carried out by irrational caudillos and machete-wielding men, as nature sometimes is.
2. The beginning of photogravure in Venezuela (although it is equally important to highlight the pioneering work of the editors of the magazine El Zulia Ilustrado). In the case of El Cojo Ilustrado, G. Franco Golding's lens contributed to Venezuelan visual memory with tremendous images of the ruins caused by the earthquake.
