Caracazo: Difference between revisions

*Caracazo*
Caracazo
	Top, left, right: Venezuelans cheering during the rioting; the looting of stores in Caracas; and police responding to a scene
Date	27 February 1989 – 8 March 1989; (9 days)
Location	Caracas
Caused by	Austerity measures
Methods	Protests; Riots; Looting;
Resulted in	Civilian casualties; $120 million of damage (2017 USD); Political instability;
Parties
Protesters	Government of Venezuela
Casualties
Death(s)	277 (officially) ; 2,000+ (extraofficially)
Injuries	2,000+

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A group of rioters attempting to push over a bus during the rioting

The Caracazo is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting^[5] that started on 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, spreading to Caracas and surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousands by some accounts, mostly at the hands of security forces and the military.^[2]^[6]^[7] The riots and the protests began mainly in response to the government's economic reforms and the resulting increase in the price of gasoline and transportation.^[5]

Etymology

The term "Caracazo", stems from the city's name, Caracas, and "-azo", which stems from another historic event, the Bogotazo, was a massive riot in Bogotá, recognized as having a crucial role in Colombia's history.^[8] "Caracazo" is technically defined as the "Caracas smash" or "the big one in Caracas" based on Spanish dialect.

Background

A fall in oil prices in the mid-1980s caused an economic crisis to take hold in Venezuela, and the country had accrued significant levels of debt. Nevertheless, the administration of President Jaime Lusinchi was able to restructure the country's debt repayments and offset an economic crisis but allow for the continuation of the government's policies of social spending and state-sponsored subsidies.^[9]

Lusinchi's political party, the Democratic Action, was able to remain in power following the 1988 election of Carlos Andrés Pérez as president. Pérez based his campaign in his legacy of abundance during his first presidential period^[10] and initially rejected liberalization policies;^[11] he received 53% of the vote, while the others gained at least 40%. At the time his election, Venezuela's international reserves were only $300 million USD; Pérez decided to respond to the debt, public spending, economic restrictions and rentier state by liberalizing the economy.^[10] He announced a technocratic cabinet and a group of economic policies recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fix macroeconomic imbalances known as El Gran Viraje [es] (Template:Lang-en), called by detractors as El Paquetazo Económico (Template:Lang-en). Among the policies there was the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase of public transportation fares by thirty percent.^[12]^[13]^[14]

Measures taken by Pérez included privatizing state companies, tax reform, reducing customs duties, and diminishing the role of the state in the economy. He also took measures to decentralize and modernize the Venezuelan political system by the direct election of state governors, who had previously been appointed by the president. The most controversial part of the economic reform package was the reduction of the gasoline subsidies, which had long maintained domestic gasoline prices far beneath international levels and even the production costs. The economic adjustment program was announced by the government on 16 February and on the weekend of 25–26 February 1989, gasoline prices rose 100 per cent and the fuel price increase in turn needed an increase in public transportation fares of 30 per cent officially, and more in practice as some carriers refused to limit their prices to the official rate.^[14] The increase was supposed to be implemented on 1 March 1989, but bus drivers decided to apply the price rise on 27 February, a day before payday in Venezuela.^[12]^[13]^[14]

According to retired Venezuelan General Carlos Julio Peñaloza Zambrano, Cuban agents might have entered Venezuela during Carlos Andrés Pérez's inauguration ceremony, which was attended by Fidel Castro, and may have waited for unrest to occur in Venezuela so they could exacerbate political tensions.^[15]

Protests and rioting

The protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, a town in Miranda State about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices.^[2]^[16] A lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the Caracas Metropolitan Police [es] was on a labour strike, led the protests and rioting quickly spread to the capital and other towns across the country.^[2]^[17]

Despite initial debate within the government over how to manage the situation, a heavy-handed approach was implemented as a state of emergency and martial law were imposed.^[2] On February 28, Pérez suspended a number of articles of the Constitution, including Article 60 (right to individual liberty and security), Article 62 (inviolability of the home), Article 66 (freedom of expression), Article 71 (right to gather publicly and privately), and Article 115 (right to peaceful protest).^[18] The rights were not completely restored until March 22, and in the interim, there was no official decree or resolution to define how government authority would be exercised in the absence of those constitutional rights.^[18]

By the time authorities encountered the scenes of rioting, citizens began firing weapons at officers, with the ensuing firefights resulting in many bystanders being killed by "bullets from army troops and from sniping protesters".^[1]^[2] In many poor areas, citizens destroyed their own local commercial facilities, with food markets so damaged that their food distribution system was ruined.^[1] Much of the rioters destroyed properties indiscriminately, with no motives related to initial protests.^[1] According to Amnesty International, tactics used by security forces included "disappearances", the use of torture, and extrajudicial killings.^[7] As part of the government's security forces, members of Hugo Chávez's MBR-200 allegedly participated in the crackdown.^[19] Chávez himself was sick that day with measles.^[20] As tensions eased, troops began to sweep through neighborhoods collecting appliances and cash registers and informing citizens that if they provided a certificate of purchase, the items would be returned.^[1]

The initial official pronouncements stated that 276 people had died,^[16] but many estimates put the number at above 2,000.^[3] Shortages of coffins were reported and many Venezuelans had to line up at government food distribution centers since markets were destroyed by rioters.^[1] Insurance estimates of damage caused during the rioting were $90 million USD ($120 million CAD).^[1]

Aftermath and consequences

On March 3, 1989, President Carlos Andres Pérez spoke with U.S. President George H. W. Bush. President Bush offered Pérez a US$450 million emergency loan. Pérez thanked Bush and asked him to support a change in debt policy toward Latin America: "I want to tell you if there is no change in [international] debt policy then whatever we may do here may be useless".^{[This quote needs a citation]} Pérez told Bush that he had sent him a letter several days earlier and that he would appreciate it if he would read it.^[21] Pérez also visited Bush in Washington on April 1, 1989.^[22]

Political instability

The clearest consequence of the Caracazo was political instability. The following February, the army was called to contain similar riots in Puerto La Cruz and Barcelona and again in June, when rising of transportation costs ended in riots in Maracaibo and other cities. The reforms were modified.^{[citation needed]}

The MBR-200, which in 1982 had promised to depose the bipartisanship governments,^[23] repudiated the Caracazo and accelerated its preparation for a coup d'état against the Perez government.^[24]^{[page needed]} In 1992, there were two attempted coups in February and November. Pérez was later accused of corruption and removed from the presidency. Chávez, a MBR-200 leader and an organiser of one of the coups, was found guilty of sedition and incarcerated. However, he was subsequently pardoned by Pérez's successor, Rafael Caldera, and he went on to be elected president after the latter.^[24]^{[page needed]}

Investigations

A commission was established in the Venezuelan Congress with all its political parties to investigate the events during the Caracazo and unanimously voted for a report that concluded that 277 people were killed.^[25]

In 1998, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the government's action and referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In 1999, the Court heard the case and found that the government had committed violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings. The Venezuelan government, by then headed by Chávez, did not contest the findings of the case and accepted full responsibility for the government's actions.^[16]

In August 2009, Defense Minister Italo del Valle Alliegro was charged in relation to the Caracazo.^[26] In July 2010, the Supreme Court overturned an appeal court ruling, which had declared the case covered by a statute of limitations.^[27]

In popular culture

Román Chalbaud's 2005 homonymous film, El Caracazo, features an account of the events.^[28]

The Venezuelan rock band La Vida Bohème also sings about the Caracazo.^[28]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Riots leave Venezuela short of coffins; Up to 700 reported dead while hospitals say most of the injured were shot: B1". The Gazette. 5 March 1989.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Uppsala Conflict Data Program Conflict Encyclopedia, Venezuela, One-sided Violence, Government of Venezuela – civilians, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas# Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), Executive decree authority, Cambridge University Press. p157
^ UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS, http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/
^ ^a ^b Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation, Reuters, 22 September 2009.
^ UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS), http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/
^ ^a ^b Amnesty International, March 1990, Reports of Arbitrary Killings and Torture:, February/March 1989, AI Index: AMR 53/02/90, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr53/002/1991/en/
^ Minster, Christopher. “Colombia's Legendary Riot of 1948.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 24 July 2019, www.thoughtco.com/the-bogotazo-april-9-1948-2136619.
^ Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Jaime Lusinchi, (Spanish) http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/jaime_lusinchi#2
^ ^a ^b Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 131
^ Fastenberg, Dan (10 January 2011). "Carlos Andrés Pérez". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 132
^ ^a ^b Rivero 2011, p. 102
^ ^a ^b ^c Margarita López Maya, 2003. "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness", Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol.35, No.1 (2003), pp 120-121 (See #Further reading).
^ Peñaloza, General Carlos (2014). El Delfín de Fidel: La historia oculta tras el golpe del 4F. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 185. ISBN 978-1505750331. On February 5, 1989, the transmission of Lusinchi's command to Pérez was effected with a lavish ceremony unprecedented in a democracy. Fidel ... was pressured by the "perestroika" that threatened the existence of the Cuban communist regime. The Soviet economic problems made it urgent to control Venezuela to enjoy its oil income ... Fidel stole the show with his Bolivarian allusions of the Latin American Union and a call to fight against Yankee imperialism ... the Cubans and their materials arrived at Caracas on a bus and the buses and trucks to the Eurobuilding hotel ... they were delivered three days before the arrival of Fidel to Cuban G2 officers who paid their rent in advance and made strange demands. ... After the "coronation", part of the Cuban contingent left the country ... sources reported from Maiquetía that fewer Cubans had left than those who had entered
^ ^a ^b ^c El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007
^ Rivero, Mirtha (2010). "10". La Rebelión de los Náufragos. Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial Alfa. p. 109. ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.
^ ^a ^b Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), Executive decree authority, Cambridge University Press. p150
^ Nelson, Brian A. (2009). The silence and the scorpion: the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela (online ed.). New York: Nation Books. p. 24. ISBN 978-1568584188.
^ Kozloff, Nikolas (2007). Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 45. ISBN 9781403984098.
^ Bush Presidential Library, 3 March 1989, Memcons and Telcons, https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/Press--Meetings%20with%20Foreigners%201989.pdf
^ "Meetings with Foreign Leaders" (Bush Library)
^ Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 124
^ ^a ^b Hellinger, Daniel (2014). Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last?. Routledge. ISBN 9781134070077.
^ Rivero 2011, p. 118
^ BBC, 18 July 2009, Former Venezuela minister charged
^ Latin American Herald Tribune, 2 August 2010, Venezuela’s Ex-Defense Chief May Face Charges for ‘89 Repression Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b "What was El Caracazo? Part III". Caracas Chronicles. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

Bibliography

Márquez, Laureano; Sanabria, Eduardo (2018). "La democracia pierde energía". Historieta de Venezuela: De Macuro a Maduro (1st ed.). Gráficas Pedrazas. ISBN 978-1-7328777-1-9.
Rivero, Mirtha (2011). La rebelión de los náufragos (9th ed.). Alfa. ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.

External links

Toro, Francisco (7 August 2016). "The Annotated 1989 PROVEA Report". Caracas Chronicles.
"La sangre & el eco". YouTube. La Vida Bohème. 4 August 2016.

[GAZ5-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Riots leave Venezuela short of coffins; Up to 700 reported dead while hospitals say most of the injured were shot: B1". The Gazette. 5 March 1989.

[ucdp.uu.se-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Uppsala Conflict Data Program Conflict Encyclopedia, Venezuela, One-sided Violence, Government of Venezuela – civilians, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas# Archived 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine

[Crisp2-3] Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), Executive decree authority, Cambridge University Press. p157

[4] UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS, http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/

[Reuters-5] Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation, Reuters, 22 September 2009.

[6] UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS), http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/

[amnesty.org-7] Amnesty International, March 1990, Reports of Arbitrary Killings and Torture:, February/March 1989, AI Index: AMR 53/02/90, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr53/002/1991/en/

[8] Minster, Christopher. “Colombia's Legendary Riot of 1948.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 24 July 2019, www.thoughtco.com/the-bogotazo-april-9-1948-2136619.

[9] Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Jaime Lusinchi, (Spanish) http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/jaime_lusinchi#2

[Marquez131-10] Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 131

[:22-11] Fastenberg, Dan (10 January 2011). "Carlos Andrés Pérez". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 9 April 2021.

[Marquez132-12] Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 132

[Rivero102-13] Rivero 2011, p. 102

[margarita_l_m_2003_p120-13-14] Margarita López Maya, 2003. "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness", Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol.35, No.1 (2003), pp 120-121 (See #Further reading).

[DELFINcoro-15] Peñaloza, General Carlos (2014). El Delfín de Fidel: La historia oculta tras el golpe del 4F. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 185. ISBN 978-1505750331. On February 5, 1989, the transmission of Lusinchi's command to Pérez was effected with a lavish ceremony unprecedented in a democracy. Fidel ... was pressured by the "perestroika" that threatened the existence of the Cuban communist regime. The Soviet economic problems made it urgent to control Venezuela to enjoy its oil income ... Fidel stole the show with his Bolivarian allusions of the Latin American Union and a call to fight against Yankee imperialism ... the Cubans and their materials arrived at Caracas on a bus and the buses and trucks to the Eurobuilding hotel ... they were delivered three days before the arrival of Fidel to Cuban G2 officers who paid their rent in advance and made strange demands. ... After the "coronation", part of the Cuban contingent left the country ... sources reported from Maiquetía that fewer Cubans had left than those who had entered

[IACtHR-16] El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007

[17] Rivero, Mirtha (2010). "10". La Rebelión de los Náufragos. Caracas, Venezuela: Editorial Alfa. p. 109. ISBN 978-980-354-295-5.

[Crisp-18] Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), Executive decree authority, Cambridge University Press. p150

[NELSON-19] Nelson, Brian A. (2009). The silence and the scorpion: the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela (online ed.). New York: Nation Books. p. 24. ISBN 978-1568584188.

[20] Kozloff, Nikolas (2007). Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 45. ISBN 9781403984098.

[bushlibrary.tamu.edu-21] Bush Presidential Library, 3 March 1989, Memcons and Telcons, https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/Press--Meetings%20with%20Foreigners%201989.pdf

[22] "Meetings with Foreign Leaders" (Bush Library)

[Marquez124-23] Márquez & Sanabria 2018, p. 124

[HELLINGER-24] Hellinger, Daniel (2014). Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last?. Routledge. ISBN 9781134070077.

[Rivero118-25] Rivero 2011, p. 118

[26] BBC, 18 July 2009, Former Venezuela minister charged

[27] Latin American Herald Tribune, 2 August 2010, Venezuela’s Ex-Defense Chief May Face Charges for ‘89 Repression Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine

[:0-28] "What was El Caracazo? Part III". Caracas Chronicles. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2019.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{For|the 2005 film|El Caracazo (film)}}
 {{Short description|1989 riots in Venezuela}}
-{{POV|date=January 2024}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
 {{Infobox civil conflict
@@ Line 8: / Line 7: @@
 | image = [[File:Caracazo collage.png|280px]]
 | caption = '''Top, left, right''': Venezuelans cheering during the rioting; the looting of stores in Caracas; and police responding to a scene
-| date = 27 February 1989 – 5 March 1989<br>({{Age in days | year1= 1989 | month1 = 2| day1=27| year2= 1989 | month2 = 3| day2=5}} days)
+| date = 27 February 1989 – 8 March 1989<br>({{Age in days | year1= 1989 | month1 = 2| day1=27| year2= 1989 | month2 = 3| day2=8}} days)
 | place = [[Caracas]]
 | coordinates =
@@ Line 18: / Line 17: @@
 | status =
 | result = *Civilian casualties
-*$212&nbsp;million of damage <small>(2022 [[USD]])</small><ref name="GAZ5"/>
+*$120&nbsp;million of damage <small>(2017 [[USD]])</small><ref name="GAZ5"/>
 *Political instability
 | side1 = Protesters
@@ Line 32: / Line 31: @@
 | casualties2 =
 | casualties3 =
-| fatalities = 277 (officially) <br> 2,000–5,000 (extraofficially)<ref name="Humanities">{{cite journal |last1=R. Guy |first1=Emerson |title=A Bolivarian People: Identity politics in Hugo Chávez's Venezuela |journal=Humanities Research |date=2011 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=87–111 |publisher=[[Australian National University]] |location=[[Canberra]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ucdp.uu.se">[[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]] Conflict Encyclopedia, Venezuela, One-sided Violence, Government of Venezuela – civilians, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115040925/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas |date=2014-01-15 }}</ref><ref name=Crisp2/>
+| fatalities = 277 (officially) <br> 2,000+ (extraofficially)<ref name="ucdp.uu.se">[[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]] Conflict Encyclopedia, Venezuela, One-sided Violence, Government of Venezuela – civilians, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas# {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115040925/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=167&regionSelect=5-Southern_Americas |date=2014-01-15 }}</ref><ref name=Crisp2/>
 | injuries = 2,000+<ref>UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS, http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/</ref>
 | arrests =
@@ Line 41: / Line 40: @@
 | notes =
 }}
+[[File:Caracazo.jpg|thumb|A group of rioters attempting to push over a bus during the rioting]]
-The '''''Caracazo''''' is the name given to the wave of protests,<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Almeida |first1=Paul |title=Collective Resistance to Neoliberalism |last2=Pérez Martín |first2=Amalia |date=2022 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781108981873 |quote=Caracazo anti-neoliberal uprising}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=López Maya |first1=Margarita |date=February 2003 |title=The Venezuelan "Caracazo" of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness |journal=[[Journal of Latin American Studies]] |language=en |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=117–137 |doi=10.1017/S0022216X02006673 |s2cid=145292996 |quote=In this regard, the Caracazo was not such a spontaneous outburst as is commonly believed. We have found that anti-neoliberal student protest had been building in the previous days in Merida as well as other cities.}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Kingsbury |first=Donald |date=December 2013 |title=Between Multitude and Pueblo: Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution and the Government of Un-governability |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07393148.2013.848702 |journal=New Political Science |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=567–585 |doi=10.1080/07393148.2013.848702 |s2cid=144593260 |issn=0739-3148 |quote=the caracazo—an anti-neoliberal uprising and massacre in 1989}}</ref> riots and looting<ref name = "Reuters">{{citation | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN21321293 | publisher = Reuters | title=Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation | date=22 September 2009}}.</ref> that started on 27 February 1989 in the [[Venezuela|Venezuelan]] city of [[Guarenas]], spreading to [[Caracas]] and surrounding towns following policy reversals from President [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]]. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds to thousands of people, mostly at the hands of security forces and the military.<ref name="Humanities"/><ref name="ucdp.uu.se"/><ref>UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS), http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/</ref><ref name="amnesty.org">[[Amnesty International]], March 1990, Reports of Arbitrary Killings and Torture:, February/March 1989, AI Index: AMR 53/02/90, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr53/002/1991/en/</ref> Protests began mainly in response to the government's acceptance of [[neoliberal]] economic reforms promoted by the [[International Monetary Fund]], the institution of [[austerity]] policies and the resulting increase in the price of gasoline and transportation.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="Reuters"/><ref name="Humanities" />
+The '''''Caracazo''''' is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting<ref name = "Reuters">{{citation | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN21321293 | publisher = Reuters | title=Venezuela exhumes unnamed dead in riot investigation | date=22 September 2009}}.</ref> that started on 27 February 1989 in [[Guarenas]], spreading to [[Caracas]] and surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousands by some accounts, mostly at the hands of security forces and the military.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se"/><ref>UN, Venezuela: Wound Still Gaping 20 Years after ‘Caracazo’, By Humberto Márquez, Caracas, Feb 27 2009 (IPS), http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/02/venezuela-wound-still-gaping-20-years-after-lsquocaracazorsquo/</ref><ref name="amnesty.org">[[Amnesty International]], March 1990, Reports of Arbitrary Killings and Torture:, February/March 1989, AI Index: AMR 53/02/90, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr53/002/1991/en/</ref> The riots and the protests began mainly in response to the government's economic reforms and the resulting increase in the price of gasoline and transportation.<ref name="Reuters"/>
 ==Etymology==
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 ==Background==
+[[1980s oil glut|A fall in oil prices in the mid-1980s]] caused an economic crisis to take hold in Venezuela, and the country had accrued significant levels of debt. Nevertheless, the administration of President [[Jaime Lusinchi]] was able to restructure the country's debt repayments and offset an economic crisis but allow for the continuation of the government's policies of social spending and state-sponsored subsidies.<ref>[[Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]], Jaime Lusinchi, (Spanish) http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/jaime_lusinchi#2</ref>
-[[File:Carlos Andrés Pérez - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 1989.jpg|thumb|left|President-elect [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]] at a [[World Economic Forum]] meeting a month before the Caracazo]]
-During the presidency of [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]] from 1973 to 1979, the political elite in Venezuela believed that the nation faced a near-unlimited supply of cashflow due to [[1970s energy crisis|high oil prices at the time]] and his administration racked on large amounts of debt.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Velasco |first=Alejandro |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1525/9780520959187/html |title=Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela |date=2015-07-24 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-95918-7 |pages=194 |language=en |chapter=7. Killing Democracy’s Promise: A Massacre of People and Expectations |doi=10.1525/9780520959187}}</ref> [[1980s oil glut|A fall in oil prices in the mid-1980s]] caused an economic crisis to take hold in Venezuela, and the country had accrued significant levels of debt. Nevertheless, the administration of President [[Jaime Lusinchi]] was able to restructure the country's debt repayments and offset an economic crisis but allow for the continuation of the government's policies of social spending and state-sponsored subsidies.<ref>[[Barcelona Centre for International Affairs]], Jaime Lusinchi, (Spanish) http://www.cidob.org/es/documentacion/biografias_lideres_politicos/america_del_sur/venezuela/jaime_lusinchi#2</ref>
-Lusinchi's political party, the [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]], was able to remain in power following the [[Venezuelan presidential election, 1988|1988 election]], which saw Carlos Andrés Pérez return for his second tenure as president. Pérez based his campaign in his legacy of abundance during his [[Carlos Andrés Pérez#First term as president|first presidential period]],<ref name="Marquez131">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=131}}</ref> creating perceptions of being a [[populist]] leader as he promised that Venezuela would continue to modernize even though it was facing economic difficulties.<ref name="Humanities" /> During his campaign, he heavily rejected liberalization policies,<ref name=":22">{{Cite magazine|last=Fastenberg|first=Dan|date=2011-01-10|title=Carlos Andrés Pérez|language=en-US|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2040189,00.html|access-date=2021-04-09|issn=0040-781X}}</ref> describing the [[International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund (IMF)]] staff as "genocide workers in the pay of economic totalitarianism" and its policies as a "bomb that only kills people."<ref name="Humanities" /><ref name=":4" /> Receiving 53% of the vote, Pérez demanded that Latin American debt be devalued by fifty percent and said that the region was a victim of international exploitation during celebrations after his inauguration.<ref name="Humanities" />
+Lusinchi's political party, the [[Democratic Action (Venezuela)|Democratic Action]], was able to remain in power following the [[Venezuelan presidential election, 1988|1988 election]] of [[Carlos Andrés Pérez]] as president. Pérez based his campaign in his legacy of abundance during his [[Carlos Andrés Pérez#First term as president|first presidential period]]<ref name="Marquez131">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=131}}</ref> and initially rejected liberalization policies;<ref name=":22">{{Cite magazine|last=Fastenberg|first=Dan|date=2011-01-10|title=Carlos Andrés Pérez|language=en-US|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2040189,00.html|access-date=2021-04-09|issn=0040-781X}}</ref> he received 53% of the vote, while the others gained at least 40%. At the time his election, Venezuela's international reserves were only $300&nbsp;million USD; Pérez decided to respond to the debt, public spending, economic restrictions and [[rentier state]] by liberalizing the economy.<ref name="Marquez131"/> He announced a [[Technocracy|technocratic]] cabinet and a group of economic policies recommended by the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) to fix macroeconomic imbalances known as ''{{ill|El Gran Viraje|es}}'' ({{lang-en|The Great Turn}}), called by detractors as ''El Paquetazo Económico'' ({{lang-en|The Economic Package}}). Among the policies there was the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase of public transportation fares by thirty percent.<ref name="Marquez132">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=132}}</ref><ref name="Rivero102">{{Harvsp|Rivero|2011|p=102}}</ref><ref name="margarita_l_m_2003_p120-13">Margarita López Maya, 2003. "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness", ''Journal of Latin American Studies'', Vol.35, No.1 (2003), pp 120-121 (See #Further reading).</ref>
+Measures taken by Pérez included privatizing state companies, tax reform, reducing customs duties, and diminishing the role of the state in the economy. He also took measures to decentralize and modernize the Venezuelan political system by the direct election of state governors, who had previously been appointed by the president. The most controversial part of the economic reform package was the reduction of the gasoline subsidies, which had long maintained domestic gasoline prices far beneath international levels and even the production costs. The economic adjustment program was announced by the government on 16 February and on the weekend of 25–26 February 1989, gasoline prices rose 100 per cent and the fuel price increase in turn needed an increase in public transportation fares of 30 per cent officially, and more in practice as some carriers refused to limit their prices to the official rate.<ref name="margarita_l_m_2003_p120-13" /> The increase was supposed to be implemented on 1 March 1989, but bus drivers decided to apply the price rise on 27 February, a day before payday in Venezuela.<ref name="Marquez132" /><ref name="Rivero102" /><ref name="margarita_l_m_2003_p120-13" />
-At the time his election, Venezuela's international reserves were at $300&nbsp;million USD (${{Inflation|index=US|value=300|start_year=1989|end_year=2022}} million USD in 2022), its national debt stood at $34 billion USD (${{Inflation|index=US|value=34|start_year=1989|end_year=2022}} billion USD in 2022) and the poverty rate was at 70%.<ref name=":4" /> Pérez reversed from his campaign rhetoric condemning the IMF<ref name="Humanities" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Citation |last=Strønen |first=Iselin Åsedotter |title=Understanding the Bolivarian Revolution from Below |date=2017 |work=Grassroots Politics and Oil Culture in Venezuela |pages=57–83 |url= |access-date= |place=Cham |publisher=[[Springer International Publishing]] |language=en |doi= |isbn=978-3-319-59506-1 |quote=the el Caracazo massacre in 1989}}</ref> and decided to respond to the debt, public spending, economic restrictions and [[rentier state]] by liberalizing the economy upon taking office on 2 February 1989.<ref name="Marquez131" /> He announced on 16 February a [[Technocracy|technocratic]] cabinet and a group of [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock therapy]] economic policies recommended by the IMF to fix macroeconomic imbalances known as ''{{ill|El Gran Viraje|es}}'' ({{lang-en|The Great Turn}}), called by detractors as ''El Paquetazo Económico'' ({{lang-en|The Economic Package}}).<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Lander |first1=Edgardo |last2=Fierro |first2=Luis A. |date=Jul 1996 |title=The Impact of Neoliberal Adjustment in Venezuela, 1989-1993 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0094582X9602300304 |journal=Latin American Perspectives |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=50–73 |doi=10.1177/0094582X9602300304 |s2cid=143947955 |issn=0094-582X}}</ref> Among the [[neoliberal]] policies unveiled were various [[austerity]] reforms, the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase of public transportation fares by thirty percent.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Humanities" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name="Marquez132">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=132}}</ref><ref name="Rivero102">{{Harvsp|Rivero|2011|p=102}}</ref> He also took measures to decentralize and modernize the Venezuelan political system by the direct election of state governors, who had previously been appointed by the president. The most controversial part of the economic reform package was the reduction of the gasoline subsidies, which had long maintained domestic gasoline prices far beneath international levels and even the production costs. Pérez's package was rejected by all political parties, including his own, though he ignored their declinations.<ref name=":2" />
+According to retired Venezuelan General Carlos Julio Peñaloza Zambrano, Cuban agents might have entered Venezuela during Carlos Andrés Pérez's inauguration ceremony, which was attended by [[Fidel Castro]], and may have waited for unrest to occur in Venezuela so they could exacerbate political tensions.<ref name="DELFINcoro">{{cite book|last1=Peñaloza|first1=General Carlos|title=El Delfín de Fidel: La historia oculta tras el golpe del 4F|date=2014|isbn=978-1505750331|page=185|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |quote=On February 5, 1989, the transmission of Lusinchi's command to Pérez was effected with a lavish ceremony unprecedented in a democracy. Fidel ... was pressured by the "perestroika" that threatened the existence of the Cuban communist regime. The Soviet economic problems made it urgent to control Venezuela to enjoy its oil income ... Fidel stole the show with his Bolivarian allusions of the Latin American Union and a call to fight against Yankee imperialism ... the Cubans and their materials arrived at Caracas on a bus and the buses and trucks to the Eurobuilding hotel ... they were delivered three days before the arrival of Fidel to Cuban G2 officers who paid their rent in advance and made strange demands. ... After the "coronation", part of the Cuban contingent left the country ... sources reported from Maiquetía that fewer Cubans had left than those who had entered}}</ref>
-Strønen wrote that Pérez's reforms were the "last straw" for disenchanted groups and that, regarding the Caracazo, "The distance between the governing elites and the impoverished masses had become so wide that the authorities never saw it coming."<ref name=":5" /> Lower class citizens were affected by shortages at the time, with many basic good missing from store shelves while people had to wait in lines outside of stores.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 March 1989 |title=Dozens of Venezuelans Killed In Riots Over Price Increases |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/01/world/dozens-of-venezuelans-killed-in-riots-over-price-increases.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=López-Maya |first=Margarita |date=April 2002 |title=Venezuela after the Caracazo: Forms of Protest in a Deinstitutionalized context |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1470-9856.00040 |journal=Bulletin of Latin American Research |language=en |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=199–218 |doi=10.1111/1470-9856.00040 |issn=0261-3050}}</ref> Hospitals also reported that they had become dysfunctional as Pérez's package made it impossible for facilities to complete budgets and most Caracas hospitals closed, saying they could not provide basic resources to maintain the well-being of patients.<ref name=":4" /> Economist Héctor Silva Michelena, who had described Venezuela's democracy in the 1970s as an "illusion" based on oil dependency, warned shortly after Pérez's announcement that social conditions for a "grave social explosion" were likely.<ref name=":4" /> López Maya writes that Pérez performed "a serious political miscalculation", saying that this is supported by his continuous denial of his policies being responsible for the unrest.<ref name=":2" />
-On the weekend of 25–26 February 1989, gasoline prices rose 100 per cent and the fuel price increase in turn needed an increase in public transportation fares of 30 per cent officially, and more in practice as some carriers refused to limit their prices to the official rate.<ref name=":2" /> The increase was supposed to be implemented on 1 March 1989, but bus drivers decided to apply the price rise on 27 February, a day before payday in Venezuela.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Marquez132" /><ref name="Rivero102" />
 ==Protests and rioting==
+[[File:Caracazo looting 2.png|250px|thumb|right|Looters running through the streets with stolen goods]]
+The protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in [[Guarenas]], a town in [[Miranda State]] about {{convert|30|km}} east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se"/><ref name=IACtHR>[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iachr/C/58-ing.html El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999], Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007</ref> A lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the {{ill|Caracas Metropolitan Police|es|Policía Metropolitana de Caracas}} was on a [[Strike action|labour strike]], led the protests and rioting quickly spread to the capital and other towns across the country.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Rivero|first=Mirtha|author-link=Mirtha Rivero|title=La Rebelión de los Náufragos|publisher=Editorial Alfa|year=2010|isbn=978-980-354-295-5|location=Caracas, Venezuela|pages=109|chapter=10}}</ref>
+Despite initial debate within the government over how to manage the situation, a heavy-handed approach was implemented as a [[state of emergency]] and [[martial law]] were imposed.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" /> On February 28, Pérez suspended a number of articles of the Constitution, including Article 60 (right to individual liberty and security), Article 62 (inviolability of the home), Article 66 (freedom of expression), Article 71 (right to gather publicly and privately), and Article 115 (right to peaceful protest).<ref name=Crisp>Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9iI91GVt4C&pg=PA150 Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela]", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), ''Executive decree authority'', [[Cambridge University Press]]. p150</ref> The rights were not completely restored until March 22, and in the interim, there was no official decree or resolution to define how government authority would be exercised in the absence of those constitutional rights.<ref name=Crisp/>
-=== Timeline of events ===
+[[File:Caracazo fire.png|250px|thumb|left|Smoke billowing from fires throughout Caracas]]
-==== 27 February ====
+[[File:Caracazo riot 2.png|250px|thumb|right|Large crowds of people gather during the rioting]]
-In the days prior to more intense protests, student demonstrations against [[neoliberalism]] began in [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida]] and later spread to Caracas, where other social groups then began to protest against Pérez's policies.<ref name=":2" /> Larger protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in [[Guarenas]], a town in [[Miranda State]] about {{convert|30|km}} east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name="IACtHR">[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iachr/C/58-ing.html El Caracazo Case, Judgment of 11 November 1999], Inter-American Court of Human Rights, accessed 1 May 2007</ref> A lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the lower-tier of the {{ill|Caracas Metropolitan Police|es|Policía Metropolitana de Caracas}} comprising civilians were on a [[Strike action|labour strike]], led the protests and rioting quickly spread to the capital and other towns across the country.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Rivero|first=Mirtha|author-link=Mirtha Rivero|title=La Rebelión de los Náufragos|publisher=Editorial Alfa|year=2010|isbn=978-980-354-295-5|location=Caracas, Venezuela|pages=109|chapter=10}}</ref> Pérez would blame the Metropolitan Police for the unrest in the aftermath.<ref name=":2" /> By noon, one delivery truck was reported to have been looted in central Caracas.<ref name=":4" /> Students began to build barricades, which blocked the main thoroughfares in Caracas, and students of the [[Central University of Venezuela]] began to organize large protests against Pérez's new policies.<ref name=":2" />
+By the time authorities encountered the scenes of rioting, citizens began firing weapons at officers, with the ensuing firefights resulting in many bystanders being killed by "bullets from army troops and from sniping protesters".<ref name="GAZ5">{{cite news|title=Riots leave Venezuela short of coffins; Up to 700 reported dead while hospitals say most of the injured were shot: B1|work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]|date=5 March 1989}}</ref><ref name="ucdp.uu.se"/> In many poor areas, citizens destroyed their own local commercial facilities, with food markets so damaged that their food distribution system was ruined.<ref name="GAZ5"/> Much of the rioters destroyed properties indiscriminately, with no motives related to initial protests.<ref name="GAZ5"/> According to [[Amnesty International]], tactics used by security forces included "disappearances", the use of torture, and extrajudicial killings.<ref name="amnesty.org"/> As part of the government's security forces, members of [[Hugo Chávez]]'s [[MBR-200]] allegedly participated in the crackdown.<ref name=NELSON>{{cite book|last1=Nelson|first1=Brian A.|title-link= The Silence and the Scorpion|title=The silence and the scorpion: the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela|date=2009|publisher=Nation Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1568584188|page=24|edition=online}}</ref> Chávez himself was sick that day with [[measles]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S.|last = Kozloff|first = Nikolas|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|year = 2007|isbn = 9781403984098|pages = [https://archive.org/details/hugochavezoilpol0000kozl/page/45 45]|url = https://archive.org/details/hugochavezoilpol0000kozl/page/45}}</ref> As tensions eased, troops began to sweep through neighborhoods collecting appliances and cash registers and informing citizens that if they provided a certificate of purchase, the items would be returned.<ref name="GAZ5"/>
-Pérez dismissed the protests and warnings from multiple ministers throughout the day, choosing to fly to [[Barquisimeto]] for a meeting of the Venezuelan Executives Association and describing news footage of looting occurring as outdated.<ref name=":4" /> The governor of [[Lara (state)|Lara]] quickly called for the National Guard to disperse protests in Barquisimeto due to the president's presence, resulting with limited demonstrations in the area.<ref name=":2" /> While meeting with the business executives, Pérez told his audience, "There is nothing to be alarmed about, ... We are going to take advantage of the crisis to generate well-being."<ref name=":4" /> Pérez responded to the protests by commencing [[Plan Ávila]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nelson |first=Brian A. |date=Fall 2007 |title=One Crowded Hour |url=https://www.vqronline.org/essay/one-crowded-hour |work=[[Virginia Quarterly Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=TalCual |first=Opinión |date=2021-11-15 |title=Del plan Ávila al plan Zamora, por Beltrán Vallejo |url=https://talcualdigital.com/del-plan-avila-al-plan-zamora-por-beltran-vallejo/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=[[Tal Cual]] |language=es}}</ref> and in the afternoon, reports emerged that the upper-tier of Metropolitan Police–comprising a force meant for military action– were ordered to respond to protests with force, resulting with a more rapid increase of [[rules of engagement]] and the use of live ammunition against protesters.<ref name=":4" /> At 1:00 pm, a large crowd near the [[Parque Central Complex]] and police responded by opening fire against protesters, killing Yulimar Reyes, a student, shooting her in the face with a [[shotgun]] at [[point-blank range]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> 65 civilians were reported dead by the evening, with no severe casualties reported among authorities.<ref name=":4" /> Through the night, some working class areas participated in parties with alcohol looted earlier in the day.<ref name=":2" />
+The initial official pronouncements stated that 276 people had died,<ref name=IACtHR/> but many estimates put the number at above 2,000.<ref name=Crisp2>Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9iI91GVt4C&pg=PA150 Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela]", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), ''Executive decree authority'', [[Cambridge University Press]]. p157</ref> Shortages of coffins were reported and many Venezuelans had to line up at government food distribution centers since markets were destroyed by rioters.<ref name="GAZ5"/> Insurance estimates of damage caused during the rioting were $90&nbsp;million USD ($120&nbsp;million CAD).<ref name="GAZ5"/>
-==== 28 February ====
-Groups of hundreds of protesters began to spread throughout Caracas, writing messages on walls that said "The people are hungry" and "No more deception."<ref name=":2" /> Later into the day, the demonstrations grew into an open [[revolt]], with nearly all social groups participating in the rioting.<ref name=":2" /> At this time, [[Central Bank of Venezuela]] president Pedro Tinoco, Minister of Economy Eglée Iturbe de Blanco and Minister of Planning Miguel Rodríguez were at the IMF headquarters in [[Washington, D.C.]] signing a [[letter of intent]] to abide by the organization's economic prescriptions.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8" />
-Despite initial debate within the government over how to manage the situation, a heavy-handed approach was implemented as a [[state of emergency]] and [[martial law]] were imposed.<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" /> On February 28, suspended a number of articles of the Constitution, including Article 60 (right to individual liberty and security), Article 62 (inviolability of the home), Article 66 (freedom of expression), Article 71 (right to gather publicly and privately), and Article 115 (right to peaceful protest).<ref name="Crisp">Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9iI91GVt4C&pg=PA150 Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela]", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), ''Executive decree authority'', [[Cambridge University Press]]. p150</ref> According to army lieutenant Jesús Manuel Zambrano, he received instructions that day, saying "The order was: 'Go and neutralize that looting, how you do it is not my problem, but neutralize it'."<ref name=":4" /> Some groups of troops allowed organized thefts to occur, letting people enter shops and take only essential items.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> In public statements, Pérez spoke of defending the property of the wealthy while making [[Political polarization|polarized]] statements that poor individuals protesting–who were the majority in the nation–were "committed to violence" and were "[[subversive]]s", resulting with the government rationalizing a violent response to demonstrations.<ref name="Humanities" /> Despite the government blaming radical political groups for the rioting, such groups themselves were surprised by the escalation of unrest and some attempted to prevent looting.<ref name=":4" /> Middle-class citizens responded to the protests by creating their own self-defense groups while the upper-class fled the situation in [[private jet]]s due to fears of their property being destroyed.<ref name="Humanities" /><gallery mode="packed">
-File:Caracazo.jpg|Rioters attempting to push over a bus
-File:Caracazo looting 2.png|Looters running with stolen goods
-File:Caracazo fire.png|Smoke billowing from fires throughout Caracas
-File:Caracazo riot 2.png|Crowds gathered during the rioting
-</gallery>
-==== 1 March ====
-In [[Petare]], army troops opened fire on a group of people, killing twenty.<ref name=":2" /> Following the crackdown by authorities, gunfights between radical groups and the army began on 1 March, with the former believing that they were responding to armed political repression of their neighborhoods.<ref name=":4" /> Ensuing firefights resulted in many bystanders being killed by "bullets from army troops and from sniping protesters".<ref name="ucdp.uu.se" /><ref name="GAZ5">{{cite news |date=5 March 1989 |title=Riots leave Venezuela short of coffins; Up to 700 reported dead while hospitals say most of the injured were shot: B1 |work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]]}}</ref> Photojournalist Douglas Blanco questioned the presence of sharpshooters, saying "I was in the parts of El Valle and the 23 de Enero where supposedly there were sharpshooters, but that business sounds strange to me. You can’t justify the shape in which those buildings in the 23 de Enero were left with the machine gunning by military and police. Do you have to destroy a building to eliminate a supposed sharpshooter?"<ref name=":4" /> Velasco states that gunfights between radical militants and army troops did occur, though that engagements were not equal in intensity.<ref name=":4" /> López Maya says that troops who entered 23 de Enero were young, inexperienced soldiers who fired automatic firearms indiscriminately at apartment blocks, killing unarmed residents inside.<ref name=":2" />
-==== 2 March ====
-On 2 March, reporter Fabricio Ojeda wrote "In the morning, following the second night of curfew, those who descended from the barrios to go to work tripped over bodies shot up during the curfew."<ref name=":4" /> Before curfew, José Calixto Blanco was shot in the face by troops at 2:00pm.<ref name=":4" /> That day, President Pérez flew in a helicopter from [[Miraflores Palace]] with the protection of a second attack helicopter to observe scenes of the Caracazo and upon his return to the palace, he publicly declared "There’s normalcy in the city. I return very satisfied with the flyover I have made. All of the city, all the barrios are in complete normalcy."<ref name=":4" /> Reporters noted that he made this statement as gunfire could be heard within the palace from nearby neighborhoods.<ref name=":4" />
-==== 3 March ====
-During his first appearance among the foreign press, Pérez described the Caracazo as actions "against the rich" as a result of inequality.<ref name=":4" /> Protests in other large cities besides Caracas had largely subsided.<ref name=":2" /> At 3:00pm, army reservist Carlos H. Cuñar was shot by troops while leaving the [[23 de Enero]] neighborhood to buy groceries, later dying after he drove himself to a hospital.<ref name=":4" /> By nightfall, militants in Zona Central who had been clashing with troops, began to run out of ammunition.<ref name=":4" />
-Pérez spoke with U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]], who offered Pérez a US$450&nbsp;million emergency loan. Pérez thanked Bush and asked him to support a change in debt policy toward Latin America, saying "I want to tell you if there is no change in [international] debt policy then whatever we may do here may be useless".{{cite quote|date=February 2021}} Pérez told Bush that he had sent him a letter several days earlier and that he would appreciate it if he would read it.<ref name="bushlibrary.tamu.edu">Bush Presidential Library, 3 March 1989, Memcons and Telcons, https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/Press--Meetings%20with%20Foreigners%201989.pdf</ref>
-==== 4 March ====
-In the morning, troops entered homes to search for armed individuals.<ref name=":4" /> As tensions eased, troops began to sweep through neighborhoods collecting appliances and cash registers and informing citizens that if they provided a certificate of purchase, the items would be returned.<ref name="GAZ5" /> Citizens began to be observed in the streets participating in daily life and some businesses reopened.<ref name=":2" /> At this time, cemeteries began to grow crowded as individuals gathered to bury their loved ones who were killed earlier in the week.<ref name=":2" />
-==== 5 March ====
-The final documented death of the Caracazo was Napoleón Soto Vilera after being shot in the head from by an individual at the Naval Observatory near Sierra Maestra.<ref name=":4" />
-=== Massacre reports ===
-[[File:Caracazo military response.png|250px|thumb|left|Military response to the rioting]]
-The Pérez government's response was described as a [[massacre]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |title=Massacres in Venezuela: Los Maniceros Massacre, Caracazo, Massacre of El Amparo, Yumare Massacre |year=2010 |isbn=9781158269556}}</ref> Venezuelan anthropologist [[Fernando Coronil]] described the Caracazo as "the largest and most violently repressed revolt against austerity measures in Latin American history."<ref name=":5" /> According to [[Amnesty International]] and the [[Inter-American Court of Human Rights|Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR)]], tactics used by security forces included [[Enforced disappearance|enforced disappearances]], the use of torture, and [[extrajudicial killings]].<ref name="amnesty.org" /><ref name="IACtHR" /> Members of the [[National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services|National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP)]] were reported to have beaten protesters with baseball bats and pipes while they performed interrogations.<ref name=":2" />
-One army lieutenant, Francisco Espinoza Guyón, said of orders received during the Caracazo:<ref name=":4" />
-{{Quote|text=No one gave me a direct order to shoot to kill, but they did tell us that constitutional rights were suspended and that, if we needed to use our weapons to repress a looting, we were authorized to do so because nothing was going to happen to us. In other words, maybe they didn't explicitly order us to kill, but they did insinuate that if we needed to, it was within the rules of engagement to do so.}}
-The IACHR said that a "disproportionate use of force" was especially used in impoverished areas.<ref name=":4" /> Poor areas faced increased violence during the riots, with authorities firing indiscriminately throughout neighborhoods and dragging some individuals out of their homes for [[summary execution]]s.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> It was common to see bodies spread throughout the streets for hours during the protests.<ref name=":4" /> Estimates from the Comité de Familiares de Víctimas del Caracazo state that 97% people who died during the Caracazo were killed in their homes.<ref name=":5" /> In [[23 de Enero]], heavy repression was reported and bullet holes from the crackdowns were visible decades later in 2014.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
-The initial official pronouncements stated that 276 people had died,<ref name="IACtHR" /> though the Pérez administration attempted to block investigations.<ref name=":5" /> Of the deaths, two soldiers and one police officer were reported dead.<ref name=":4" /> After hundreds of unmarked graves were found in the following months,<ref name=":4" /> many estimates put the number at above 2,000<ref name="Crisp2">Crisp, Brian F. (1998), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=2k9iI91GVt4C&pg=PA150 Presidential Decree Authority in Venezuela]", in John M. Carey and Matthew Soberg Shugart (eds, 1998), ''Executive decree authority'', [[Cambridge University Press]]. p157</ref> and up to 5,000.<ref name="Humanities" /> Shortages of coffins were reported<ref name=":5" /><ref name="GAZ5" /> and morgues were so overfilled with dead that workers had to explain to family members searching for loved ones that bodies were simply discarded in trash bags.<ref name=":5" /> A [[mass grave]] was discovered a year later at El Cementerio de Sur where 68 bodies alone were found placed in plastic bags.<ref name=":5" />
 ==Aftermath and consequences==
+On March 3, 1989, President [[Carlos Andrés Pérez|Carlos Andres Pérez]] spoke with U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]]. President Bush offered Pérez a US$450&nbsp;million emergency loan. Pérez thanked Bush and asked him to support a change in debt policy toward Latin America: "I want to tell you if there is no change in [international] debt policy then whatever we may do here may be useless".{{cite quote|date=February 2021}} Pérez told Bush that he had sent him a letter several days earlier and that he would appreciate it if he would read it.<ref name="bushlibrary.tamu.edu">Bush Presidential Library, 3 March 1989, Memcons and Telcons, https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/Press--Meetings%20with%20Foreigners%201989.pdf</ref> Pérez also visited Bush in Washington on April 1, 1989.<ref>[https://bush41library.tamu.edu/files/Press--Meetings%20with%20Foreigners%201989.pdf "Meetings with Foreign Leaders"] &nbsp; (Bush Library)</ref>
-During the protests, citizens in poor areas destroyed their own local commercial facilities, with food markets so damaged that their food distribution system was ruined.<ref name="GAZ5" /> Rioters destroyed properties indiscriminately, with no motives related to initial protests, and many had to line up at government food distribution centers since markets were destroyed by rioters.<ref name="GAZ5" /> Constitutional rights were not completely restored until March 22, and in the interim, there was no official decree or resolution to define how government authority would be exercised in the absence of such rights.<ref name="Crisp" /> Insurance estimates of damage caused during the rioting were $90&nbsp;million [[USD]] ($120&nbsp;million [[Canadian dollar|CAD]]) in 1989, or ${{Inflation|index=US|value=90|start_year=1989|end_year=2022}} million USD in 2022.<ref name="GAZ5" />
 ===Political instability===
+The clearest consequence of the ''Caracazo'' was political instability. The following February, the army was called to contain similar riots in [[Puerto La Cruz]] and [[Barcelona, Venezuela|Barcelona]] and again in June, when rising of transportation costs ended in riots in [[Maracaibo]] and other cities. The reforms were modified.{{cn|date=February 2021}}
-The clearest consequence of the Caracazo was political instability. According to Velasco, the Caracazo is "[w]idely held as a turning point in Venezuelan history" and that it "exposed a deep fissure in the social pact between political elites and the electorate established in the wake of the [[1958 Venezuelan coup d'état|1958 democratic revolution that ousted Pérez Jiménez]]."<ref name=":4" /> Strønen makes a similar assessment, saying "El Caracazo made it clear that the illusion of a social contract between the poor and the rest of society was irrevocably compromised. From that moment on, the popular sectors become increasingly radicalized, which explains the massive support for the attempted coup led by Chávez."<ref name=":5" />
+The [[Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200|MBR-200]], which in 1982 had promised to depose the bipartisanship governments,<ref name="Marquez124">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=124}}</ref> repudiated the Caracazo and accelerated its preparation for a [[coup d'état]] against the Perez government.<ref name=HELLINGER>{{Cite book|title = Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last?|last = Hellinger|first = Daniel|publisher = Routledge|year = 2014|isbn = 9781134070077}}</ref>{{page number|date=February 2021}} In 1992, there were two attempted coups in [[Venezuelan coup attempt of 1992|February and November]]. Pérez was later accused of corruption and removed from the presidency. Chávez, a [[Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200|MBR-200]] leader and an organiser of one of the coups, was found guilty of sedition and incarcerated. However, he was subsequently pardoned by Pérez's successor, [[Rafael Caldera]], and he went on to be elected president after the latter.<ref name=HELLINGER/>{{page number|date=February 2021}}
-In February 1990, the army was called to contain similar riots in [[Puerto La Cruz]] and [[Barcelona, Venezuela|Barcelona]] and again in June, when rising of transportation costs ended in riots in [[Maracaibo]] and other cities. The reforms were modified.{{cn|date=February 2021}}
-According to Carlos Julio Peñaloza Zambrano, a general at the time of the Caracazo, Cuban agents might have entered Venezuela during Carlos Andrés Pérez's inauguration ceremony, which was attended by [[Fidel Castro]], and may have waited for unrest to occur in Venezuela so they could exacerbate political tensions.<ref name="DELFINcoro">{{cite book |last1=Peñaloza |first1=General Carlos |title=El Delfín de Fidel: La historia oculta tras el golpe del 4F |date=2014 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1505750331 |page=185 |quote=On February 5, 1989, the transmission of Lusinchi's command to Pérez was effected with a lavish ceremony unprecedented in a democracy. Fidel ... was pressured by the "perestroika" that threatened the existence of the Cuban communist regime. The Soviet economic problems made it urgent to control Venezuela to enjoy its oil income ... Fidel stole the show with his Bolivarian allusions of the Latin American Union and a call to fight against Yankee imperialism ... the Cubans and their materials arrived at Caracas on a bus and the buses and trucks to the Eurobuilding hotel ... they were delivered three days before the arrival of Fidel to Cuban G2 officers who paid their rent in advance and made strange demands. ... After the "coronation", part of the Cuban contingent left the country ... sources reported from Maiquetía that fewer Cubans had left than those who had entered}}</ref>
-[[Hugo Chávez]] recognized the Caracazo as the beginning of his [[Bolivarian Revolution]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2013-02-28 |title=Hugo Chavez death reports wrong, says vice-president |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9900083/Hugo-Chavez-death-reports-wrong-says-vice-president.html |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |language=en |quote='Caracazo', the massacre of hundreds of people in 1989}}</ref> As part of the government's security forces, members of Chávez's [[MBR-200]] allegedly participated in the crackdown;<ref name="NELSON">{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Brian A. |title=The silence and the scorpion: the coup against Chávez and the making of modern Venezuela |title-link=The Silence and the Scorpion |date=2009 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=978-1568584188 |edition=online |location=New York |page=24}}</ref> Chávez himself was sick that day with [[measles]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kozloff |first=Nikolas |url=https://archive.org/details/hugochavezoilpol0000kozl/page/45 |title=Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S. |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2007 |isbn=9781403984098 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/hugochavezoilpol0000kozl/page/45 45]}}</ref> The MBR-200, which in 1982 had promised to depose the bipartisanship governments,<ref name="Marquez124">{{Harvsp|Márquez|Sanabria|2018|p=124}}</ref> repudiated the Caracazo and accelerated its preparation for a [[coup d'état]] against the Perez government.<ref name=HELLINGER>{{Cite book|title = Comparative Politics of Latin America: Democracy at Last?|last = Hellinger|first = Daniel|publisher = Routledge|year = 2014|isbn = 9781134070077}}</ref>{{page number|date=February 2021}} Throughout the 1990s, MBR-200 participated in anti-austerity protests.<ref name=":1" /> In 1992, there were two attempted coups in [[Venezuelan coup attempt of 1992|February and November]]. Pérez was later accused of corruption and removed from the presidency. Chávez, an organiser of one of the coups, was found guilty of [[sedition]] and incarcerated, though he was subsequently pardoned by Pérez's successor, [[Rafael Caldera]].<ref name=HELLINGER/>{{page number|date=February 2021}} MBR-200, [[Radical Cause]] and [[Movement Towards Socialism (Venezuela)|Movement Towards Socialism]] consolidated their political objectives into the [[Fifth Republic Movement]],<ref name=":1" /> with Chávez winning the [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election]].
 ===Investigations===
+[[File:Caracazo military response.png|250px|thumb|right|Military response to the rioting]]
-Shortly after the Caracazo, the [[Ministry of Defense (Venezuela)|Minister of Defense]] said that 277 individuals were killed.<ref name=":2" /> A commission was established{{When|date=January 2024}} in the [[Congress of Venezuela|Venezuelan Congress]] to investigate the events during the Caracazo and voted for a report that concluded that 277 people were killed as well.<ref name="Rivero118">{{Harvsp|Rivero|2011|p=118}}</ref>
+A commission was established in the [[Congress of Venezuela|Venezuelan Congress]] with all its political parties to investigate the events during the Caracazo and unanimously voted for a report that concluded that 277 people were killed.<ref name="Rivero118">{{Harvsp|Rivero|2011|p=118}}</ref>
 In 1998, the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] condemned the government's action and referred the case to the [[Inter-American Court of Human Rights]]. In 1999, the Court heard the case and found that the government had committed violations of [[human rights]], including extrajudicial killings. The Venezuelan government, by then headed by Chávez, did not contest the findings of the case and accepted full responsibility for the government's actions.<ref name="IACtHR" />
-Venezuelan attorney general [[Luisa Ortega Díaz]] ordered Pérez's extradition from the United States in 2009 as a result of his government's violent response during the Caracazo.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |date=30 September 2009 |title=Extradition of Former Venezuelan President Requested |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/blog/extradition-of-former-venezuelan-president-requested/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=[[Americas Quarterly]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
 In August 2009, Defense Minister Italo del Valle Alliegro was charged in relation to the Caracazo.<ref>''[[BBC]]'', 18 July 2009, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8157088.stm Former Venezuela minister charged]</ref> In July 2010, the Supreme Court overturned an appeal court ruling, which had declared the case covered by a [[statute of limitations]].<ref>''[[Latin American Herald Tribune]]'', 2 August 2010, [http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=361489&CategoryId=10717 Venezuela’s Ex-Defense Chief May Face Charges for ‘89 Repression] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713182636/http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=361489&CategoryId=10717 |date=2011-07-13 }}</ref>
@@ Line 165: / Line 121: @@
 [[Category:Carlos Andrés Pérez]]
 [[Category:Political repression in Venezuela]]
-[[Category:Looting in South America]]
+[[Category:Looting]]
 [[Category:February 1989 events in South America]]
 [[Category:Inter-American Court of Human Rights cases]]