Plan Ávila
Plan Ávila was a military contingency plan by the Venezuelan Army meant to restore order in Caracas during episodes of widespread civil unrest. The activation of Plan Ávila was ordered by current Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on April 11, 2002. Saying that sending out soldiers to confront a civilian demonstration could result in a massacre, high-ranking members within the Armed Forces refused to carry out the Plan when ordered to do so by Chávez.[1] This was a key event in the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002.[2]
Plan Avila had previously been ordered once before, under the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez. On August 27, 2002, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights[3] found that the implementation of Plan Ávila by Carlos Andrés Pérez in response to the 1989 riots known as the Caracazo had resulted in massive human rights violations, and ordered the Venezuelan government to review its military contingency planning to conform to International Human Rights standards.