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2002 Venezuelan coup attempt

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File:Chavezsurvivescoup.JPG
Hugo Chávez, surrounded by resolute supporters, makes a dramatic return to power on April 13, 2002 after the collapse of the first Latin American coup of the 21st century.

The Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002 was a failed military coup d'état on April 11 2002. It saw the brief overthrow and arrest of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the installation of a businessman, Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras) president Pedro Carmona, as interim President for 47 hours. In Caracas, the coup led to riots and 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.[citation needed] The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard eventually retook the Miraflores presidential palace without firing a shot, leading to the collapse of the Carmona government.

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, which had acknowledged the de facto Carmona government, did not condemn the coup until after Chávez had been restored to power.[1]

Upon news of Chávez's return, Condoleezza Rice (then U.S. President Bush's national security adviser) said: "We do hope that Chávez recognises 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."[2]

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,[citation needed] 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 would suffer through the loss of economic and political power resulting from Chávez's reforms.[citation needed] The new policies of subsidising basic food stuffs, redistributing oil revenue and breaking large land ownerships 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. Resistance was widely reported by the country's privately owned TV stations, but covered less extensively by the government-owned stations (probably because it didn't happen).

Geopolitically, Venezuela under Chávez has shifted its alignment away from the United States in favor of Cuba. It forged links with Fidel Castro, providing Havana 160,000 barrels of oil a day and assisting the island nation's fledgling oil industry. In return, Venezuela received Cuban sports' expertise and some 10,000 doctors and other health care workers, officially to jumpstart Chávez's effort (Barrio Adentro) to reduce infant mortality and the occurrence of treatable diseases. Some believed that a significant number of these doctors and sports trainers were Cuban G2 security agents, although no evidence surfaced to back this claim.[citation needed] Nevertheless, private media companies and newspapers continued without censorship or state interference.

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 middle class.

Events leading up to the coup

File:Puentellaguno.jpg
A still from footage showing pro-Chávez shooters firing from Puente Llaguno to an empty street. This shooting was shown on commercial television networks in Venezuela, claiming they were shooting on the anti-Chavez demonstrators. Notice that the street they are shooting at is left out of the footage.(The graffiti on the wall says, "Peña is from the CIA," presumably referring to Alfredo Peña, an outspoken Chávez critic and the mayor of Caracas at the time of the coup attempt.)

The first hints of disturbance emerged when Air force Colonel Pedro Vicente Soto and National Guard 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 lockout. Fedecámaras joined the strike 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. After shots erupted between demonstrators, the Metropolitan Police (under the control of the Opposition mayor of Caracas), and the National Guard (under Chávez's command), 20 people were killed and more than one hundred 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 countermarch being held on Puente Llaguno, an overpass that crosses one of central Caracas's busiest avenues. The 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.[3] Irish filmmakers later released footage purporting to show that there were no protesters actually under the bridge, an argument disputed by private media analysts whose arguments are disputed in turn. Cabrices, Peñalver, Atencio, and Rivera argue that they were, in fact, returning fire at unknown snipers firing towards them.

Several times in the early afternoon, Chávez took to the airwaves in what is termed a cadena (Sp. verbal phrase, "estar en cadena"), or a comandeering 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 TV stations, in an effort to continue broadcasting news of the unfolding violence around Miraflores, defied the cadena by splitting the screen between the president's address and scenes of bloodshed. Chávez then ordered defiant 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 TV stations continued to broadcast in the rest of the country and via satellite.[4]

Coup

Chávez's forced resignation

File:Anselmi rincon tierralta.jpg
"La cual aceptó" (which he accepted) were the words of General-in-Chief Lucas Rincón Romero when saying that president Hugo Chávez accepted the 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. Since Rincón remains close to Chávez and later, in fact, became the Minister of the Interior and Justice, some Venezuelans argue that the resignation was real and that there was no coup. On the other hand, most of the rest of the government representatives were trying to inform the country that the president had been kidnapped, a version of events that was rejected by some members of the opposition via media.

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 Avila, a contingency plan designed to deal with major disturbances. General Rosendo, and others within the chain of command, feared placing heavily armed troops around Miraflores would have given rise to a far worse massacre than the one witnessed.

File:Hugo Chávez under arrest in Turiamo (2002) .jpg
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.[5] 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. Based on these assurances, he instructed Rincón to announce his resignation publicly. 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

File:Miraflor1.gif
Loyalist troops at Miraflores celebrate the successful reinstatement of Chávez.

Businessman Pedro Carmona, president of Fedecámaras, was installed as interim President after Chávez's alleged resignation.

While briefly in power, Carmona announced a number of decrees. These measures cost Carmona much of his support within the military that had rebelled against Chávez; some Venezuelans were concerned that Chávez had authoritarian tendencies found these moves even more threatening.

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.

Aftermath

Allegations of U.S. involvement

Chávez has repeatedly stated that he believes that the Bush Administration and the CIA orchestrated the coup. In September 2003, he refused to travel to the United States to address the United Nations, saying that he had received intelligence information that the United States government had prepared an assassination attempt against him. The Guardian published a statement by Wayne Madsen – a writer (at the time) for left-wing publications and a former Navy analyst and critic of the George W. Bush administration – alleging U.S. Navy involvement.[6] It was later alleged that Bush administration officials Elliott Abrams, who Chávez had accused of supervising the planning of the operation, and Otto Reich, ex-US ambassador to Venezuela, were aware that something was about to take place. [7][8] It is not surprising that U.S. officials knew of the level of unrest that existed in Venezuela, considering the days of massive public protests against Chávez leading up to the events of April 11; however, an invesigation conducted by the U.S. Inspector General, at the request of U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT, stated that "U.S. officials acted appropriately and did nothing to encourage an April coup against Venezuela's president".[9][10]

According to a report in the New York Times, 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 Cuba with preferential rates on oil. He also said that the administration had received reports that "foreign paramilitary forces" — whom they suspected of being Cubans — were involved in the bloody suppression of anti-Chávez demonstrators (none of this has ever been proven).[11] The United States did not condemn the coup until it became clear that Chávez would be reinstated.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

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. After Chávez announced there would be no reprisals for those involved in the coup, Ortega and several of his co-conspirators came out of hiding in Venezuela.

Irish documentary

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

A television crew from Ireland (Radio Telefís Éireann), which happened to be recording a documentary about Chávez at the time, recorded images of the events that contradicted explanations given by anti-Chávez campaigners, the 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.[15][16] Several organizations argue the events are correctly portrayed in the documentary, [17] and that Gustavo Cisneros was involved with the coup.[18]

Others consider that the film omitts 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.[19][20][21]

Oliver Stone Film Rumors

On Sunday, 21 May 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.[22] 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.[23] He also said that both Stone and Daily had called Venezuela on Sunday to discuss the plans and the announcement.[24]

On Tuesday, 23 May 2006, both Oliver Stone and John Daly denied that they had plans to make a film about Chávez and said that they had never engaged in such discussions. Oliver 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.[24]

Notes

  1. ^ Official U.S. Government Statements — Venezuela. Retrieved 10 April 2006.
  2. ^ Bellos, Alex. (The Guardian 15 April 2002) Chavez rises from very peculiar coup Retrieved 20 July 2006
  3. ^ "Obituary - Rafael Cabrices,defender of Puente Llaguno, dies 60". venezuelasolidarity.org.uk. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  4. ^ U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. March 31, 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002 Accessed 4 Aug 2006.
  5. ^ Harnecker, Marta. (Z Communications, 09 Jan 2003)."Lessons of the April Coup: Harnecker interviews Chavez". Retrieved 18 Oct 2005.
  6. ^ Campbell, Duncan. (The Guardian, 29 April 2006). American navy 'helped Venezuelan coup'. Retrieved 21 Jun 2006]
  7. ^ The Observer — Venezuela coup linked to Bush team. Retrieved 17 Nov 2005.
  8. ^ VHeadline.com — Otto Reich: Mastermind of the April 2002 coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez. Retrieved 17 Nov 2005.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ Marquis, Christopher. (New York Times, 17 Apr 2002). "U.S. Cautioned Leader of Plot Against Chávez". Retrieved 17 Nov 2005.
  12. ^ CNN.com — Fall & Rise of Hugo Chavez. Retrieved 17 Nov 2005.
  13. ^ Sentencia de los Militares. Template:Es icon Retrieved 17 Nov 2005.
  14. ^ Template:Harvard reference.
  15. ^ "Statement by the Makers Of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"". www.chavezthefilm.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  16. ^ "Wolfgang Schalk". imdb.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  17. ^ "Statement in Support of the Documentary Film "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"". www.venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  18. ^ "Women Protest US Award to Venezuelan Coup Leader Gustavo Cisneros". www.venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  19. ^ "Letter to the BBC and RTE". El Gusano de Luz. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  20. ^ "X-Rays Of A Lie" (PDF). El Gusano de la Luz. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  21. ^ "Radiografía de una Mentira (2004)". imdb.com. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  22. ^ Template:Harvard reference.
  23. ^ Template:Es icon Template:Harvard reference.
  24. ^ a b Template:Harvard reference.
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