2002 Venezuelan coup attempt

The Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 was a failed coup d'état on April 11, 2002 that lasted only 47 hours, whereby the head of state President Hugo Chávez was illegally detained, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court dissolved, and the country's Constitution unheeded.

Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras) president Pedro Carmona was installed as interim president. In Caracas, the coup led to a pro-Chávez uprising that the Metropolitan Police attempted to suppress. Key sectors of the military and parts of the anti-Chávez movement refused to back Carmona. The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard eventually retook the Miraflores presidential palace without firing a shot, leading to the collapse of the Carmona government and the re-installation of Chávez as president.

The coup was publicly condemned by Latin American nations (the Rio Group presidents were gathered together in San José, Costa Rica, at the time, and were able to issue a joint communiqué) and international organizations. The United States and Chile quickly acknowledged the de facto pro-US Carmona government, but ended up condemning the coup after it had been defeated.

Background

Further information: [[:Bolivarian Revolution and Hugo Chávez]]

Chávez was first elected president in 1998 by popular mandate. One of his campaign promises was to convene a new constitutional convention, and on December 15, 1999 he put the new Constitution of Venezuela to the voters in a referendum, which passed with 71.78% of the popular vote. Opposition to the Chávez government was particularly strong in the private media, the business community and among the upper and middle classes who feared losing economic and political power as a result of Chávez's reforms. The new policies of subsidising basic food stuffs, redistributing oil revenue and breaking-up large land estates were particularly contentious. Following the 1999 constitutional referendum, Chávez was reelected in 2000 under the terms of the new constitution. His attempts to end the functional independence of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), to bring its oil revenues under state control, led to massive resistance from many PDVSA officials, managers, and employees.

Geopolitically, Venezuela under Chávez has shifted its alignment away from the United States in favor of more sovereignty and cooperation with other Latin American countries through, amongst other organisations, Mercosur. It forged links with Cuba, providing the island with 160,000 barrels of oil a day and assisting the nation's fledgling oil industry. In return, Venezuela received 10,000 doctors and other health care workers, to jump-start Chávez's effort (Barrio Adentro) to reduce infant mortality and the occurrence of treatable diseases. Private media companies and newspapers continued without censorship or state interference, despite their often virulent hostility to the government.

In early 2002, Chávez's attempts to reform the state oil company, PDVSA, by increasing the degree of government control over the company were met with massive resistance from PDVSA officials and managers. The case of the PDVSA management received a great deal of attention from the private media. Tensions between the Chávez government and PDVSA management continued to escalate through March and early April, culminating on April 8, 2002, when Chávez theatrically fired seven top PDVSA executives (and several other managers of lesser status) during a televised address. The fired PDVSA managers received immediate support from the private media and the upper and middle classes.

Events leading up to the coup

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III Bolivar avenue, near to Miraflores

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A still from footage showing pro-Chávez shooters on Puente Llaguno. Both sides still contest at whom shots were fired.

The first hints of disturbance emerged when Venezuela Air Force Colonel Pedro Vicente Soto and National Reserve Captain Pedro Flores Rivero led a small rally protesting the Chávez government's allegedly undemocratic and authoritarian practices. They were sent home in uniform and placed under investigation by a joint civilian and military board.

On April 9, 2002, the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV) — the country's largest trade-union federation, traditionally affiliated with the opposition Democratic Action (Acción Democrática) party, led by Carlos Ortega — called for a two-day strike. Fedecámaras joined the strike/lockout and called on all of its affiliated member businesses to shut down for 48 hours. Two days later, amid rapidly escalating tensions, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 people marched to the PDVSA headquarters in defense of its recently-dismissed management board. Unexpectedly, the organizers decided to re-route the march to Miraflores, the presidential palace, where a pro-Chávez demonstration was taking place. The march was re-routed without consultation with the Police, who legally had to approve the changed route, and in spite of protests from organisers from the pro-Chávez march who feared a confrontation. Twenty people were killed and more than 100 wounded, with victims on both sides.

There is no consensus as to who was responsible for the deaths on April 11, 2002, and this remains one of the most controversial issues in Venezuelan politics today. Several private television channels in Venezuela showed footage of people shooting from the pro-Chávez counter-march being held on Puente Llaguno, an overpass that crosses one of central Caracas's busiest avenues. These shooters were four pro-Chávez political activists identified as Rafael Cabrices, Richard Peñalver, Henry Atencio, and Nicolás Rivera. They were captured by the police and jailed for one year as they awaited trial, but charges were dropped before the trial began. Rafael Cabrices subsequently died from a heart attack on August 30 2005.

The anti-Chávez commercial stations repeatedly showed only a small part of the scene (see still shot), of pro-Chávez supporters firing, claiming they were firing at unarmed demonstrators. However, an amateur cameraman captured footage that revealed the gunmen were not firing at any demonstrators, since the street below was empty except for an armoured police vehicle which had previously been firing at the bridge. This footage was included in the documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Cabrices, Peñalver, Atencio and Rivera argue that they were, in fact, returning fire at unknown snipers firing towards them. A very thorough reconstruction of the events is the basis for the film Llaguno Bridge: Keys to a Massacre which vindicates this version of events.

Several times in the early afternoon, Chávez took to the airwaves in what is termed a cadena (from the Spanish verbal phrase, "estar en cadena"), or a commandeering of the collective public and private media airwaves to broadcast public announcements and addresses. Some of the broadcasts asked protesters to return to their homes, while others featured lengthy pre-recorded discourses led by the president. The last of these cadenas began just minutes after shots were fired at the crowds of protesters and continued throughout the massacre. The private television stations defied the cadena by splitting the screen between the president's address and scenes of bloodshed. Chávez then ordered private outlets to be taken off the air in a forced blackout. The measure managed to block coverage of the crisis in Caracas only, as the private television stations continued to broadcast in the rest of the country and via satellite.

Coup

Chávez's alleged resignation

President Chávez and several ministers were in the presidential palace, which was surrounded by tanks. The evening of April 11, members of the military high command entered the palace, demanding Chávez' resignation. In the early hours of April 12, General-in-Chief Lucas Rincón Romero announced that Chávez had been asked for his resignation, and had accepted.

General Manuel Rosendo, chief of the National Unified Army Command (CUFAN) at the time, reported that he and others chose to disobey the president when he ordered them to apply Plan Ávila, a contingency plan designed to deal with major disturbances.

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Chávez, under arrest in Turiamo, suggests the idea of being exiled to Cuba. The caption reads, "You will consider if I go to Cuba or where I decide: for security, Cuba could be a possibility".

General Rosendo says he presented the newly-deposed Chávez two options: choose to remain in Venezuela on the condition that he stand trial for the April 11 killings, or be exiled. Chávez reportedly responded that he and his family wished to be exiled to Cuba, on the conditions that Rosendo personally guarantee the safety of Chávez's relatives and that Chávez would depart via Maiquetía's Simón Bolívar International Airport.

On the other hand, Chávez himself has stated that he negotiated an agreement to resign only after he realized that many top military leaders opposed his policies. Chávez also agreed to resign only on the condition that his resignation would follow constitutional order: it needed to be tendered before the National Assembly, and Chávez's own vice-president would succeed him. Chávez stated that he was assured by the rebel generals that they would comply with these conditions. There is, however, no recorded or written proof of his actual resignation and many doubt that he ever did at all. He has also stated that shortly after Rincón's announcement, the assurances were abruptly rescinded and he was formally taken into custody.

After his "resignation" had been announced, Chávez was escorted under military guard to Fort Tiuna, where he met with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. Chávez was also met by army officers, who by then had determined that he was indeed not to be sent to Cuba. Instead, Chávez would be taken to La Orchila, a military base off the coast of Venezuela, until rebel leaders could decide Chávez's fate. On April 13, Chávez wrote a note from his captivity in Turiamo stating specifically that he had not resigned.

Carmona's "interim presidency"

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Pedro Carmona Estanga in oath (to date, no one but him knows what was written in that single sheet of paper).

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Diosdado Cabello

Businessman Pedro Carmona, president of Fedecámaras, was installed as "interim President" after Chávez's alleged resignation. While briefly in power, Carmona announced a decree dissolving the National Assembly, the Supreme Court and other institutions. These measures cost Carmona much of his support within the military that had rebelled against Chávez.

Carmona's installation as President generated a widespread uprising in support of Chávez that was suppressed by the Metropolitan Police. It also led to a demonstration outside the Presidential Palace by hundreds of thousands of people. The Presidential Guard, loyal to Chávez and cheered on by the demonstrators, retook the palace and the rebellion collapsed. Since Chávez was being held in a secret location, the presidency was assumed for several hours by Vice President Diosdado Cabello until Chávez was reinstated.

However, it took some time to make this known. At the beginning of the coup, the dissident military had occupied Venezolana de Televisión, the state television channel, and the private media also refused to bring the news. Despite the fact that tens of thousands of people had taken to the streets around the palace, Carmona declared that there had been some disturbances, but things were now under control. Only by 8 o'clock that evening the reinstalled government managed to inform the people through the television channels. Because there were difficulties getting Chávez back, to restore order, two hours later the vice-president was sworn in as interim president on television. Chávez returned the next day.

Aftermath

Allegations of U.S. involvement

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Inspector General, at the request of U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, stated that "U.S. officials acted appropriately and did nothing to encourage an April coup against Venezuela's president". However, Chavez has asserted numerous times that U.S government officials knew about plans for a coup, approved of them and assumed they would be successful . Chávez also further alleged that "two military officers from the United States" were present in the headquarters of coup plotters.

According to a report in The New York Times, US Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich warned Congressional aides that there was more at stake in Venezuela than the success or failure of Chávez. He accused Chávez of meddling with the historically government-owned state oil company, providing a haven for Colombian guerrillas, and bailing out the Cuban dictatorship with preferential rates on oil. Reich, a Cuban American and anti-Fidel Castro activist with a background in covert political and propaganda operations against left-wing groups in Latin America, also announced that the administration had received reports that "foreign paramilitary forces", whom they claimed were Cuban, were involved in the bloody suppression of anti-Chávez demonstrators. No proof was offered. Eva Gollinger published an article and several official documents claiming that a number of US agencies, including the CIA, had previous knowledge of the coup. She maintains that the USAID was being used by the CIA in the coup.

Upon news of Chávez's return, Condoleezza Rice, then National Security Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush, said: "We do hope that Chávez recognizes that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time." Rice gave no opinion on the plotters.

Criminal penalties for coup participants

Under the 1999 Constitution, military officers are entitled to a pre-trial hearing before the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice to rule on whether they should be charged with a crime. In such a hearing on August 14, 2002, the Tribunal ruled by an 11-9 margin (with two justices recused) that four high-ranking military officers charged with rebellion should not stand trial, arguing that what took place was not a "coup" but a "vacuum of power" that had been generated by the announcement of Chávez's resignation made by Gen. Lucas Rincón Romero. On March 12, 2004, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled that the recusals were unconstitutional, the hearing was invalid, and the military officers (by then retired) may stand trial.

On November 18, 2004, leading state prosecutor Danilo Anderson was assassinated, shortly before he was scheduled to bring charges against 400 people who allegedly participated in the coup. Meanwhile Carmona and several other participants in the events of 11 April went into exile.

Irish documentary

Main article: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (documentary)

A television crew from Ireland, which happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez at the time, recorded some images of the coup events. The crew claimed their footage flatly contradicted explanations given by anti-Chávez plotters, the Venezuelan private media, the United States Department of State, and then White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. The documentary features footage shot after the short coup that was based largely in the presidential palace with members of both rival governments and their supporters.

The film has won awards at many film festival screenings where it was shown. It has been widely debated among both supporters and critics of the Venezuelan government. The film creators state that there had been threats to the Amnesty International Film Festival if they showed the documentary. Director Wolfgang Schalk had attempted to stop screenings of the film. Several organizations argue the events are correctly portrayed in the documentary. Others consider that the film omits and misrepresents important events. Members of the Venezuelan opposition claim that it has been widely used by the Venezuelan government for propaganda purposes and have created documentaries of their own as a response.

Oliver Stone film rumors

On Sunday May 21, 2006, during his weekly Aló Presidente television show, Hugo Chávez stated that Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone and British producer John Daly were planning to make a movie about the April 2002 coup. He said that the Venezuelan government had given them permission to make the announcement at the Cannes Film Festival. Chávez said that Daly had flown to Caracas several months earlier and that he had met with Daly for half an hour at the presidential residence. He also said that both Stone and Daly had called Venezuela on Sunday to discuss the plans and the announcement.

On Tuesday May 23, 2006, both Stone and Daly denied that they had plans to make a film about Chávez and said that they had never engaged in such discussions. Stone said, "Rumors that I am directing a film about the 2002 coup in Venezuela are untrue and unfounded" in an e-mail statement sent to the Associated Press from his publicist.

External links

• "El Universal". eluniversal.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30. El Universal in English: Venezuela's daily newspaper.
• U.S. Department of State and Office of Inspector General. A Review of U.S. Policy toward Venezuela, November 2001 - April 2002. Accessed 26 May 2006. A full-text PDF report of the U.S. Inspector General report of U.S. involvement.
• U.S. Embassy, Caracas, Venezuela. State Dept. Issues Report on U.S. Actions During Venezuelan Coup: (Inspector General finds U.S. officials acted properly during coup). Accessed 26 May 2006. A summary from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela of the report on U.S. actions during the events of April, 2002.
• "The US and the Coup in Venezuela". www.thirdworldtraveler.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30. Includes six articles arguing that the US assisted in the coup.
• "The Proof Is In The Documents: The CIA Was Involved In The Coup Against Venezuelan President Chavez". venezuelafoia.info. Retrieved 2006-06-30. CIA briefings from before, during, and after the coup, released under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. The 6 April brief states: "Dissident military factions... are stepping up efforts to organize a coup, possibly as early as this month."