The following video clip comes from "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", a documentary on the 2002 attempted coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez:
On April 11, 2002 anti-Chavez demonstrators diverted their march from PDVSA headquarters to the presidential palace where some of them clashed with Chavez sympathizers. That violent confrontation was the spark for the attempted coup that was reportedly carried out by “parts of the military and business class along with support from some opposition political groups, private media outlets and senior Catholic Church officials.”
The next day Chávez was detained while businessman Pedro Carmona emerged as the de facto president. Carmona subsequently issued a decree that dissolved the national legislature and Supreme Court, voided the 1999 Constitution and suspended numerous public officials elected during the Chávez administration.
The Carmona Decree backfired and helped rally support among multitudes of Chávez backers who took to the streets of Caracas on April 13th. Military commanders turned against Carmona's “unconstitutional” abuse of power and thus united behind Chávez.
By sunrise on April 14th Chávez was back in the presidential residence and the coup had officially failed.
The events of ten years ago continue to divide Venezuelans today. Via his twitter account, Chávez commemorated the failed coup by noting the “mighty test faced by the Venezuelan people.” On the other hand, a lawyer representing several of the victims killed during the clashes on April 11, 2002 decried the “absolute impunity” in the Venezuelan justice system.
Earlier this month Peruvians commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the autogolpe carried out by then-President Alberto Fujimori. With the backing of the military Fujimori shutdown Congress, suspended the constitution, and purged the judiciary.
Much like the failed 2002 coup in Venezuela, Fujimori’s “self-coup” has its backers and detractors. “The breaking of democracy created a series of problems with corruption, treason against the country and the impunity of a political class who allied with (Fujimori),” said current president Ollanta Humala. Yet a recent poll showed that nearly half of Peruvians agree with Fujimori’s alibi at the time alleging that the autogolpe was necessary.
Video Source – YouTube via AfricansArise
Online Sources – BBC Mundo, Univision.com, Europa Press, AFP, ABC.es, Terra Peru, The Latin Americanist
thanks for this blog. It's well done, and useful.
ReplyDeleteMark, Manitoba, Canada.