Caracazo

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.

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 the left-leaning 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 received 53% of the vote, while the others gained at least 40%. Pérez then proposed a major shift in policy by implementing economic reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The program, called El Gran Viraje (The Great Turn), but popularly known as the paquete (the "package"), was contrary to statements made during Pérez's populist campaign in which he had described the IMF as "a neutron bomb that killed people, but left buildings standing."[10]

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. On the weekend of 25-26 February 1989, gasoline prices rose 100 per cent, as had been laid out in the economic adjustment program announced by the government on February 16. The fuel price increase in turn necessitated 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.[11]

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.[12]

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 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices.[2][13] The protests and rioting quickly spread to the capital and other towns across the country. A lack of timely intervention by authorities –some police were under orders not to take action– led the Metropolitan Police to be quickly overwhelmed.[2] The protests spread to Caracas, whose Metropolitan Police was on a labour strike.[14]

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).[15] 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.[15]

Smoke billowing from fires throughout Caracas

Large crowds of people gather during the rioting

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.[16] Chávez himself was sick that day with measles.[17] 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[13] 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 CAD ($120 million 2017 USD).[1]

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."[18] Pérez told Bush that he had sent him a letter several days earlier and that he would appreciate it if he would read it.[19] Pérez also visited Bush in Washington on April 1, 1989.[20]

Investigations

Military response to the rioting.

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.[13]

In August 2009, Defense Minister Italo del Valle Alliegro was charged in relation to the Caracazo.[22] In July 2010, the Supreme Court overturned an appeal court ruling, which had declared the case covered by a statute of limitations.[23]

• Bogotazo
• Cordobazo
• Rosariazo
• Dakazo
• El Caracazo
• List of massacres in Venezuela

• Margarita López Maya, "The Venezuelan Caracazo of 1989: Popular Protest and Institutional Weakness", Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol.35, No.1 (2003) pp. 117–37
• "The President's Telephone Conversation with President Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela on March 3, 1989." George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Archives, Memcons and Telecons. Accessed October 26, 2011.