First Venezuelan coup attempt, 1992
The attempted coup d'état in Venezuela was carried out by a group of soldiers on February 4, 1992 against then-president Carlos Andrés Pérez. The coup attempt did not achieve its objectives and the rebels surrendered. Among the rebel officers who commanded this maneuver were mainly four army lieutenant colonels: Hugo Chávez Frías, Francisco Arias Cárdenas, Yoel Acosta Chirinos, Jesús Miguel Ortiz Contreras and Jesús Urdaneta.
This event radically transformed Venezuelan political life, incorporating new actors on the scene: of these four protagonists, the first was president of the republic from 1999 to 2013; However, Arias has also dabbled in politics: he was elected governor of Zulia state, presidential candidate in 2000 –competing with his own former partner Hugo Chávez–, he has been appointed Venezuelan ambassador to the UN, an activist in the formation of the PSUV and since 2012 he is again governor of Zulia state. Acosta has kept a low profile, while Urdaneta has become a critic of the policies carried out by the Chávez government.
All the participants in this action were taken to prison for their role in the event, their case being subsequently dismissed and they were released two years later, during the presidency of Rafael Caldera.
Background
Venezuela had enjoyed a period of economic and social stability that was notable in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s. This stability was based on the large inflow of foreign currency from the sale of oil and on political alignment with the United States, the country's main trading partner. Various circumstances produced an international fall in prices during the 1980s and the governments of Luis Herrera Campíns and Jaime Lusinchi proved incapable of diversifying the Venezuelan economy, heavily dependent on oil. Additionally, unsuccessful internal policies carried out by both governments were deteriorating the quality of life of the population: the formerly successful oil rentier model began to collapse and faced with a new world reality, Venezuela began to travel a long road of crisis. economic.
Carlos Andrés Pérez, who in his first government (1974-1979) achieved great economic growth, returns to the political scene ten years later, carrying this endorsement: this earned him victory in the 1988 elections, with considerable majority that hoped to solve the strong economic crisis. However, Pérez, with policies diametrically opposed to those of his first government, applies a program of macroeconomic adjustments advocated by the International Monetary Fund (the so-called Great Turnaround ).
This program included, among other aspects, the release of prices controlled by the previous administration, mainly for gasoline, but its immediate application only supposedly deepened the problems of the majority of the population. make you wait: in Caracas, in 1989 there were intense riots, large-scale looting, protests and a subsequent military repression, known as the Caracazo. In addition to the economic crisis, these events demonstrated the existence of a latent but very strong social crisis: this was the seed of the 1992 coup attempt. During that year of 1992, the possibility of a coup d'état was publicly rumored [citation required].
Ideological background
Several participants in the coup were part of the Party of the Venezuelan Revolution, founded by ex-guerrilla Douglas Bravo, who conceived the strategy of infiltrating the Venezuelan Armed Forces as a requirement for taking power in Venezuela.
Coup d'état
In the attempted military coup, 5 lieutenant colonels participated as visible heads of the movement, followed by 14 majors, 54 captains, 67 second lieutenants, 65 non-commissioned officers, 101 troop sergeants and 2056 enlisted soldiers", The participants, belonging to 10 battalions, they were part of the military garrisons of the states of Aragua, Carabobo, Miranda, Zulia and the Federal District, and were directed by the young officers headed by Hugo Chávez Frías and Francisco Arias Cárdenas, as well as Yoel Acosta Chirinos, Jesus Urdaneta and Jesus Miguel Ortiz Contreras. This group was part of an organization known as Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 (MBR-200), with a revolutionary political ideology, mixed with the thought of Simón Bolívar.
The military mobilization began on February 3, when Pérez was returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Thanks to the timely action of the head and supervisor of the presidential Civil Guard, DISIP commissioners Hernán Fernández and Ángel E. Sierra Sánchez, and the head of the general investigation division, Jesús Barrientos, respectively, had made advances on an alleged rumor of insubordination, work that was handed over to the army commander, General Heinz Azpurua, from the military members, as well as from the Defense Minister, Fernando Ochoa Antich, who had the support of three more DISIP officials, Colonel Gerardo Dudamel, and the aide-de-camp On duty, President Pérez managed to successfully take refuge in the Miraflores Palace through the actions of all these people (members of the Presidential Civil Escort). At the proposal of General Ochoa Antich to the President of the Republic, and thanks to Vice Admiral Mario Iván Carratú, head of the military house, of Hernán Fernández and Jesús Barrientos (former head of the Civil Escort group in the first term of President Pérez), the president Pérez manages to reach the Venevisión television station, from where he went to the country on two occasions to report on the situation.
The assault on the presidential palace began at 12 midnight on February 4. At the same time, soldiers under the command of Miguel Rodríguez Torres assaulted the presidential residence (La Casona) and other important cities in the country. The fighting was intense in some cases.
After the attempt to take over the capital city, Caracas, failed, the insurgents surrendered after the garrisons in the interior of the country were recovered by the forces of the constitutional government. Chávez was arrested and deprived of his liberty by the DISIP security forces, although shortly before he was given the opportunity to address the country in a speech broadcast to the media, in which he assumed responsibility for the uprising and ordered the insurgents to who were still fighting in Aragua and Valencia to surrender to avoid further bloodshed, while asking their supporters to lay down their arms. The Presidential Civil Escort achieved the objective.
Consequences
With the public image of Pérez discredited by the economic reforms undertaken, discredit promoted by leftist visions, after the economic proposal of Pérez had a liberal vision, the social outbreak of the Caracazo, other politicians began to challenge his authority, putting in question endangers the democratic system in the country that gave way to Chavismo in 1998.
Pérez decreed the suspension of constitutional guarantees, which had to be discussed by congress the next day. At this meeting, Rafael Caldera broke the unanimity that existed among the parliamentarians, who supported the executive branch, to criticize the situation in the country and dismiss the interpretation of assassination that Pérez defended. This speech served to increase his popularity, which allowed him to win the following presidential elections.
The population did not express their support for the government, nor did they take to the streets to support the coup d'état as the coup military requested. The television address in which Hugo Chávez Frías announced his surrender served to increase his popularity among many Venezuelans, especially those with low incomes, who were especially affected by the economic measures. The official figure is 32 deaths.
A second coup attempt on November 27 of the same year; during which the coup leaders came to take over the facilities of the state television channel Venezolana de Televisión, bombing some public buildings, such as the Miraflores Palace, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the La Carlota airport. The attempt was defeated but once again it contributed to improving the already discredited image of the president. Most of the military coup leaders fled to Peru, with whom the Venezuelan government broke diplomatic relations after the self-coup in Peru in 1992, where they were received by Alberto Fujimori as political prisoners in April.
The soldiers involved were tried and found guilty of rebellion. Some were dismissed, others discharged, and the rest imprisoned, to later be finally dismissed by the Caldera government on March 27, 1994. This was done to have an alliance with left-wing political groups that supported the coup and thus maintain their position. government. Among those dismissed was Hugo Chávez.
Television and cinematographic works
- Venezuelan film director Carlos Azpurúa created the film "Amaneció de golpe", based on the events of the coup attempt.
- In the television series El Comandante, the attempted coup d'etat is recreated in the first chapter.