[3] Guarding the entrance that connects the lake with the Gulf of Venezuela was the Castle of San Carlos de la Barra.

Three days later, on 20 January, the German protected cruiser SMS Vineta arrived from Puerto Cabello in relief of the damaged Panther.

The Venezuelan garrison, although outgunned, fired back, but by the end of the conflict Fort San Carlos was in ruins and burning.

Shells also hit the nearby port; whether intentional or not, the bombardment killed 25 civilians, prompting the arrest of German and British citizens by Venezuelan authorities.

[citation needed] Subsequently US president Theodore Roosevelt informed the German Ambassador that Admiral George Dewey had orders to keep the Caribbean fleet ready to sail from Puerto Rico to Venezuela at an hour's notice.