Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know by Miguel Tinker Salas

Author:Miguel Tinker Salas
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Central, Social Science, Diplomacy, Human Geography, South America, Americas (North, Political Science, International Relations, Latin America, West Indies), South, History
ISBN: 9780199783281
Publisher: OUP USA
Published: 2015-05-03T23:00:00+00:00

What motivated the coups of 1992?

On the early morning of February 4, 1992, residents of Caracas awoke to the sound of repeated automatic and small arms gunfire. Military coups, especially those that gripped Latin America during the late 1970s, had traditionally been motivated by right-wing interests and sought to protect the privileges of the wealthier classes. But these rebels, claiming to represent the forces of the Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 or MBR 200 (Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement 200), suggested a different agenda. In addition, assertions from this group concerning the unfinished work of liberator Simón Bolívar and his mentor Simón Rodríguez distinguished them from right-wing military forces.

As the events unfolded, it became clear that mid-level army officers, commanders of armored divisions, and paratroopers had attempted to capture President Pérez, place him on trial for corruption, install a civilian/military government, and call for a new constitutional convention. Their plan faced problems from the beginning: rumors circulated about a possible rebellion and authorities took measures to protect the president. Returning from a trip to Davos, Switzerland where he had met with business groups, Pérez first went to La Casona, his residence, where he managed to elude capture. Pérez then drove to Miraflores, the presidential palace, where he again confronted a rebel. Using a tunnel beneath the presidential palace he made it to a television station, from where he addressed the nation, rallied loyal forces in the military, and called for civilian support.

The capture of Pérez had been central to the insurgents’ plans, as he was the unpopular advocate of neoliberal policies that had produced the outcry on February 1989. The plan also included seizing several military installations throughout the city and broadcasting an address to the nation. Rebels managed to detain high-ranking officers and neutralize opposition in Valencia, Maracay, and Maracaibo. Insurgents also had support at garrisons in Mérida, Táchira, and several other states. Led by a young lieutenant coronel named Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, who had been assigned to the Miraflores operation, a contingent of rebel forces remained at the nearby Military Museum after they had failed to control the presidential palace. Without the capture of the presidential palace and with Pérez transmitting on television, support from other military units in Caracas did not materialize and the plan began to unravel.

Facing difficult odds and wanting to avoid further bloodshed, Chávez conceded defeat and surrendered by noon on February 4th. Confronting mutinous troops in Maracay, authorities allowed Chávez to speak to the media and appeal for them to surrender. Proclaiming to lead a Bolivarian movement, Chávez assumed full responsibility for the failure of operations in Caracas, called on his colleagues to surrender and asserted that por ahora (“for now”) the rebels had failed to achieve their objectives. In a society in which people had endured repeated corruption scandals and in which politicians seldom assumed responsibility for their actions, the statement captivated people and thrust Chávez onto the national stage. After their arrest, authorities confined the leaders of the rebellion to the San Carlos detention center in Caracas, the same building that had housed guerrillas during the 1960s.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.