2002 Venezuelan coup attempt

2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt
Top to bottom, left to right: Venezuelan opposition protesters in Chuao on 11 April, chavistas outside of Miraflores Palace protesting Chávez's removal, the Presidential Honor Guard waving the Venezuelan flag above Miraflores following Chávez's return on 13 April, alleged resignation letter of Chávez.
Date 11–13 April 2002 (2002-04-11 – 2002-04-13); 22 years ago Location  Venezuela Result Coup failed: Chávez reinstated by Venezuelan people and military loyalists Pedro Carmona exiled into Colombia
Belligerents
Government Fifth Republic Movement Pro-government demonstrators Bolivarian Circles	Opposition Anti-government demonstrators
Commanders and leaders
Hugo Chávez (President of Venezuela) Diosdado Cabello José Vicente Rangel Nicolás Maduro Pro-government protests: No organized leadership	Military high command Pedro Carmona
Casualties and losses
19 dead and 150+ injured[1] (Llaguno Overpass events)

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A failed coup d'état on 11 April 2002 saw the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, ousted from office for 47 hours before being restored to power. Chávez was aided in his return to power by popular support and mobilization against the coup by loyal ranks in the military.^[2][3]

By early 2002, Chávez's approval rating had dropped to around 30%,^[4] with many business, Church and media leaders being opposed to Chávez's use of emergency powers to bypass the National Assembly and institute significant government changes, arguing they were increasingly authoritarian.^[1][5] Meanwhile, the growing dissatisfaction with Chávez among those in the military due to his aggressive manner and alliances with Cuba and paramilitaries led multiple officers to call on Chávez to resign.^[6][7] Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations took place on a weekly basis as the country became increasingly divided.^[8] Retired military officers, former politicians, union leaders, and spokespeople for the Catholic Church claimed they had military support to remove Chávez from power,^[8] with an April 6 CIA intelligence report warning that plotters would try to exploit social unrest from upcoming opposition demonstrations for his removal.^[9]

Tensions worsened on 7 April, when PDVSA President Guaicaipuro Lameda Montero and 5 of the 7 members of the board of directors were fired.^[10][11] On 9 April, a general strike was called by the trade union organization National Federation of Trade Unions (Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela, CTV). The proposed strike was in response to Chávez's appointments to prominent posts in Venezuela's national oil company, PDVSA.^[12] Two days later in Caracas, up to one million Venezuelans marched in opposition to Chávez.^[13][14] After stopping at its original end point, the march continued towards the presidential palace, Miraflores, where government supporters and Bolivarian Circles were holding their own rally. Upon the opposition's arrival, the two sides confronted each other. A shootout started at the Llaguno Overpass, near the Miraflores Palace, and by that evening 19 people were dead. Chávez ordered the implementation of Plan Ávila, a military plan to mobilize an emergency force to protect the palace in the event of a coup.^[9] As the plan had resulted in the killing of hundreds of Venezuelans during the Caracazo, military high command refused and demanded he resign.^[15] President Chávez was subsequently arrested by the military.^[16][17][18] Chávez's request for asylum in Cuba was denied, and he was ordered to be tried in a Venezuelan court.^[12]

Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras) president Pedro Carmona was declared interim president. During his brief rule, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court were both dissolved and the country's 1999 Constitution was declared void, pledged a return to the pre-1999 bicameral parliamentary system, parliamentary elections by December, presidential elections where he would not stand.^[19] By the 13th, the coup was on the verge of collapse, as Carmona's attempts to entirely undo Chávez's reforms angered much of the public and key sectors of the military,^[20] while parts of the opposition movement also refused to back Carmona.^[21][22] In Caracas, Chávez supporters surrounded the presidential palace, seized television stations and demanded his return.^[12] Carmona resigned the same night. The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard retook Miraflores without firing a shot, leading to the removal of the Carmona government and the re-installation of Chávez as president.

On January 15, 2004, during a speech before the National Assembly, Chávez would afterwards admit that he deliberately provoked a crisis with his actions, declaring that "what happened with PDVSA was necessary" and "when I grabbed the whistle in an Aló Presidente and started to fire people, I was provoking the crisis".^[23][24]