The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) recalls this Saturday the 22nd anniversary of the struggle of the Venezuelan people for the recovery of democracy and dignity in Venezuela, after the coup d’état of April 11, 2002, against the constitutional government of Commander President Hugo Chávez.

On April 13, 2002, Venezuela was marked by a day when people and defenders of the Bolivarian Revolution took the streets to demand the return of the President, since he was disappeared since April 12, as was reported by the State media months after these events.

This was an historic day of resistance and struggle in the rescue of Constitutional President Hugo Chávez Frías, who reinforced the spirit of integration and unity of the Venezuelan society and the South American region.

“These are historic days! 22 years ago we lived through a coup d’état against the People. A dark April 11, 2002, a day of political eclipse, an April 12 of power dissolution, an April 13 of popular-military uprising and an April 14 of resurrection of the Constitution and of the legitimate powers of the Nation”, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro Moros, recalled this April 11.

The situation

On April 11, 2002, the Venezuelan extreme right wing, together with the private media, called for a protest in Caracas to demand the resignation of the Head of State; however, this demonstration was redirected to the Miraflores Palace, where the people supporting President Hugo Chávez were gathered. 

Once they marched up to the surroundings of the Government House, and with the support of the Metropolitan Police -currently non-existent- the anti-government groups attacked the people gathered and the rest of the residents.

The opposition arranged everything for this coup d’état, before April 11 they organized the so-called “civic strike”, convened since December 10, 2001, which was joined by members of the senior staff of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Fedecamaras, among other economic sectors of the country. 

Coup, media and horror

Both demonstrations met close to the Miraflores Palace as planned by the extreme opposition, and armed infiltrators (snipers) shot at the people, while at the same time all the private television stations promoted disinformation and fear among the people.

The State-owned television station, Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), was withdrawn from the air during the night of April 11. 

After uneasy hours, in the early morning of April 12, they started to spread the rumors about Chávez’s resignation, which was not true.

Later, it was learned that President Chávez was taken by the coup perpetrators to Fuerte Tiuna -at first- and then he was held in Turiamo. From there he managed to write a letter where he affirmed that he had not resigned. Thanks to this message he sent through a military officer who was in charge of him, the country learned the truth. 

While this was happening, the media elites were broadcasting cartoons, and in view of this media silence, the people began to take to the streets to find out and demand to know where the President of the Republic was.

Finally, the coup plotters in Miraflores left the Presidential Palace, led by the dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga, sworn in as “president” on April 12 in the afternoon.

Latin American and Caribbean Union

Countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, among others now ALBA members, supported the return of President Chávez and the reestablishment of the constitutional Government.

It is important to highlight that two years after this event, ALBA was born, a proposal made by Hugo Chávez and the Commander of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, with the purpose of uniting and defending the Latin American and Caribbean region against possible foreign threats.

The Venezuelan case is an example for the Latin American and Caribbean peoples in their struggle against the oligarchies and media that seek to overthrow governments that do not bow to the U.S. imperial line. This is why Commander Chavez and President Maduro have historically stressed in their speeches the importance of strengthening and defending unity, independence and sovereignty in the region in order to defeat fascism.