Second presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez
Venezuelan presidential administration (1988–1993)
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The second presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez (1988–1993) started with an economic crisis, a major riot in which hundreds were killed by security forces (Caracazo, 1989), followed by an economic recovery by also two coup attempts in 1992, and his 1993 impeachment. He was the first Venezuelan President to be impeached.
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Background
| Venezuelan Presidential election 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||||||
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For the 1988 presidential election Democratic Action (AD) President Jaime Lusinchi backed Octavio Lepage as AD candidate,[1] but in a primary election the party chose Carlos Andrés Pérez[2] (previously president from 1974 to 1979).
Second presidency cabinet (1989–1993)
| Ministries | ||
|---|---|---|
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| President | Carlos Andrés Pérez | 1989–1993 |
| Home Affairs | Alejandro Izaguirre | 1989–1992 |
| Virgilio Ávila Vivas | 1992 | |
| Carmelo Lauría Lesseur | 1992 | |
| Luis Piñerúa Ordaz | 1992–1993 | |
| Jesús Carmona | 1993 | |
| Foreign Relations | Enrique Tejera París | 1989 |
| Reinaldo Figueredo Planchart | 1989–1991 | |
| Armando Durán | 1991–1992 | |
| Humberto Calderón Berti | 1992 | |
| Fernando Ochoa Antich | 1992–1993 | |
| Finance | Egle Iturbe de Blanco | 1989–1990 |
| Roberto Pocaterra Silva | 1990–1992 | |
| Pedro Rosas Bravo | 1992–1993 | |
| Defense | Italo del Valle Alliegro | 1989 |
| Filmo López Uzcátegui | 1989–1990 | |
| Héctor Jurado Toro | 1990–1991 | |
| Fernando Ochoa Antich | 1991–1992 | |
| Iván Jiménez Sánchez | 1992–1993 | |
| Development | Moisés Naím | 1989–1990 |
| Imelda Cisneros | 1990–1992 | |
| Pedro Vallenilla Meneses | 1992 | |
| Frank de Armas Moreno | 1992–1993 | |
| Education | Gustavo Roosen | 1989–1992 |
| Pedro Augusto Beauphertuy | 1992–1993 | |
| Health and Social Assistance | Felipe Bello González | 1989–1990 |
| Manuel Adrianza | 1990–1991 | |
| Pedro Páez Camargo | 1991–1992 | |
| Rafael Orihuela | 1992–1993 | |
| Agriculture | Fanny Bello | 1989 |
| Eugenio de Armas | 1989–1990 | |
| Jonathan Coles Ward | 1990–1993 | |
| Pedro Luis Urriola | 1993 | |
| Labor | Marisela Padrón Quero | 1989–1991 |
| Jesús Rubén Rodríguez | 1991–1993 | |
| Transport and Communications | Gustavo José Rada | 1989 |
| Augusto Faría Viso | 1989–1990 | |
| Roberto Smith | 1990–1992 | |
| Fernández Martínez Mótola | 1992–1993 | |
| Justice | Luis Beltrán Guerra | 1989–1992 |
| Alfredo Ducharme | 1992–1993 | |
| Armida Quintana Matos | 1992-1993 | |
| Energy and Mines | Celestino Armas | 1989–1992 |
| Alirio Parra | 1992–1993 | |
| Environment | Enrique Colmenares Finol | 1989–1993 |
| Urban Development | Luis Penzini Fleury | 1989–1992 |
| Diógenes Mujica | 1992–1993 | |
| Family | Senta Essenfeld | 1989–1992 |
| Mabely de León Ponte | 1992 | |
| Teresa Albánez | 1992–1993 | |
| Secretary of Presidency | Reinaldo Figueredo Planchart | 1989 |
| Jesús Carmona | 1989–1990 | |
| Armando Durán | 1990–1991 | |
| Beatrice Rangel Mantilla | 1991–1992 | |
| Celestino Armas | 1992–1993 | |
| Office of Coordination and Planification | Miguel Antonio Rodríguez | 1989–1992 |
| Ricardo Hausmann | 1992–1993 | |
| National Council of Culture | José Antonio Abreu | 1989–1993 |
| CVG | Leopoldo Sucre Figarella | 1989–1993 |
| Presidential Commission for the Reform of the State | Carlos Blanco | 1989–1992 |
Domestic policy
Economy
Carlos Andrés Pérez based his campaign for the 1988 Venezuelan general election in his legacy of abundance during his first presidential period[3] and initially rejected liberalization policies.[4] However, Venezuela's international reserves were only $300 million USD at the time of Pérez' election into the presidency; Pérez decided to respond to the debt, public spending, economic restrictions and rentier state by liberalizing the economy.[3] He announced a technocratic cabinet and a group of economic policies to fix macroeconomic imbalances known as El Gran Viraje (English: The Great Turn), called by detractors as El Paquetazo Económico (English: The Economic Package). Among the policies there was the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase of public transportation fares by thirty percent (VEB 16 Venezuelan bolívares, or $0.4 USD).[5][6][7]
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. In response, protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, a town near Caracas;[8] a lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the Caracas Metropolitan Police was on a labour strike, led the protests and rioting quickly spread to the capital and other towns across the country.[9][4][10] President Andrés Pérez ordered the activation of Plan Ávila and the intervention of the military.[10] 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,[11] though the Venezuelan media reported up to 3,000 deaths.[10]
By late 1991, as part of the economic reforms, Carlos Andrés Pérez' administration had sold three banks, a shipyard, two sugar mills, an airline, a telephone company and a cell phone band, receiving a total of $2,287 million USD.[12] The most remarkable auction was CANTV's, a telecommunications company, which was sold at the price of $1,885 million USD to the consortium composed of American AT&T International, General Telephone Electronic and the Venezuelan Electricidad de Caracas and Banco Mercantil. The privatization ended Venezuela's monopoly over telecommunications and surpassed even the most optimistic predictions, with over $1,000 million USD above the base price and $500 million USD more than the bid offered by the competition group.[13] By the end of the year, inflation had dropped to 31 %, Venezuela's international reserves were now worth $14,000 million USD and there was an economic growth of 9 % (called as an "Asian growth"), the largest in Latin America at the time.[12]
Defense policy
In 1992, Provea reported that several transportation sector workers in the city of Maracaibo were forcibly recruited while at work. Likewise, it reported cases of students from the Central University of Venezuela who were subjected to forced conscription.[14]
Security policy
Following the 1992 coup attempts, state forces carried out raids throughout the country, arbitrarily detaining student leaders, members of political parties and social activists, according to allegations by Amnesty International. Most were released shortly afterward without charges; however, the NGO stated in a 1993 report that "many were tortured".[15]
Catia Prison massacre
The Catia Prison massacre occurred during the failed coup attempt of 27 November 1992. In the early hours of 27 November 1992, agents of the National Guard of Venezuela and the Metropolitan Police of Caracas intervened in the prison facility of the Catia Detention Center. During the 48 hours in which the events took place inside the Catia Detention Center, approximately 63 inmates were killed.[16]
Media policy
Journalist Jesús Antonio Castillo Gómez, correspondent for El Nacional, was arrested and tortured with an electric prod by police officers, who later confiscated his camera after he covered a demonstration on 23 January 1992 at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). This was denounced by Amnesty International.[15]
Human rights policy
In 1989, Father Luis María Olaso worked together with the Human Rights Vicariate directed by Father Ubaldo Santana and the Justice and Peace Commission, giving asylum to two survivors of the Amparo massacre and denouncing the application of military justice to try them.[17] After the Caracazo, Father Olaso was appointed head of the Human Rights Directorate of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, from where he denounced human rights violations and supported victims of the Amparo massacre, the Caracazo and the Catia Prison massacre.[17]
Following the events of the Caracazo, relatives and activists formed the organization Committee of Relatives and Victims of the Events of February-March 1989 (COFAVIC). This NGO collaborated in and pressured the exhumation process, and also denounced obstruction of the process and constant harassment by the authorities. The Military Intelligence Division (DIM) accused it of being a front for guerrilla groups, which led the organization together with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Human Rights Vicariate and the Archdiocese of Caracas to denounce before the prosecutor's office the criminalization to which it was being subjected.[18]
Likewise, the human rights organization PROVEA was accused of being a "front organization for far-left groups". In 1991, attorney Edwin Sambrano Vidal, a member of the NGO, was detained.[19]
Human Rights Watch stated in a 1993 report that Pérez's second administration "was marked by an increase in human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial executions, and the violent repression of demonstrations", and that the judiciary largely ignored the abuses committed.[20] They denounced impunity for police officers allegedly involved in abuses of authority through a procedure known as averiguación de nudo hecho. Under this procedure, investigations were prolonged for long periods, avoiding the prosecution of those implicated. Mention was also made of corruption and impunity within the judicial system and the trial of civilians in military courts.[20]
Meanwhile, Amnesty International denounced that investigations into human rights violations were scarce or nonexistent.[21] It mentioned the increase in arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial executions, mainly in poor neighborhoods, and that judicial proceedings were generally delayed and lacked independence, causing detainees to remain imprisoned for prolonged periods while also being subjected to mistreatment and sometimes torture.[21] The organization also referred to the application of the Law on Vagrants and Criminals, under which detainees were denied basic rights such as access to lawyers or judicial hearings. These conditions provoked constant protests by detainees, some of which were controlled with excessive use of force.[21]
Likewise, Amnesty International denounced the conditions in the country's prisons, detailing corruption among authorities, overcrowding, use of punishment cells, inadequate food and lack of medical attention.[21] It also denounced the disproportionate use of force by state security bodies to control demonstrations, including the use of firearms that caused injuries and deaths.[21] Amnesty International likewise mentioned the harassment and attacks suffered by activists and journalists during anti-government demonstrations and some cases of censorship.[21]
Foreign policy
Relations were established with Benin, Latvia and Lithuania. In 1992 Venezuela suspended diplomatic relations with Peru, after the self-coup carried out by Alberto Fujimori against the Peruvian Congress.[22]
Africa
Benin
On 20 June 1991 formal diplomatic relations were established with Benin.[23]
Americas
Cuba
Carlos Andrés Pérez invited Fidel Castro to his presidential inauguration,[24] which would be his first visit to the country in thirty years.[25] Former commander of the Venezuelan Army, Carlos Julio Peñaloza, declared that Castro had helped Venezuelan leftists with weapons and advice in the preparations for the Caracazo.[25]
Fidel Castro condemned the first coup attempt against CAP in 1992, giving his public support to the president, with whom he had a good relationship.[26]
On 23 October 1991, Pérez met in Mexico with Castro together with Colombian president César Gaviria and Mexican president Carlos Salinas in an attempt to convince Castro to introduce political reforms in the Cuban government.[27]
United States
President Pérez visited the United States seven times, meeting with president George H. W. Bush.[27] Bush, for his part, visited Caracas in December 1990 during the Gulf crisis caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in order to secure the alliance with Venezuela and maintain the oil supply.[27]
Peru
Carlos Andrés Pérez suspended diplomatic relations with Peru in April 1992, after the self-coup carried out by Alberto Fujimori against Congress.[22] The government of Alberto Fujimori granted political asylum to 93 coup-plotting soldiers who participated in the second coup attempt of that year, assuring that both the Hercules C-130 aircraft used by the coup plotters and the weapons confiscated from them would be returned to Venezuela.[28]
Europe
Spain
As part of an agreement between Venezuela, Spain and France, Venezuela received members of ETA.[29][30][31] The Spanish ambassador in Caracas, Amaro González de Mesa García San Miguel, declared that he prepared the arrival of 20 ETA members between 1989 and 1990 together with the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Vera, and with the director general of the Civil Guard, Luis Roldán, clarifying that "they welcomed them, not to favor ETA, but as a courtesy to Spain, and that earned Carlos Andrés Pérez very harsh criticism in the press" and that "the ETA members were installed in a hotel, but then they were shot at and had to disperse into the interior of the country". González also declared that, in his opinion, the shooting may have been arranged by the Venezuelan Police itself in order to force their departure from the capital.[32] In this way, CAP continued the policies of Jaime Lusinchi, who had also received ETA members during his government.[29][20][31]
Multilateral organizations
Andean Group
The government of Pérez hosted in Caracas the Fifth Meeting of the Presidential Council of the Andean Group on 17 and 18 May 1991, where it was decided to initiate a regional free trade area beginning on 1 January 1992.[27]
G15
In November 1991 Caracas hosted the Second Summit of the Group of Fifteen (G-15).[27]
International trips
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1989
| Date | Place | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| February | Davos (  Switzerland) |
World Economic Forum summit.[33] |
| 30 March–1 April | Atlanta (  United States) |
Private visit. Subsequently attended the Consultation on a New Hemispheric Agenda in Atlanta.[34] |
| 25 September | New York ( United States) |
United Nations General Assembly.[34] |
1990
| Date | Place | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 6 June | Madrid (  Spain) |
[35] |
| 25–26 April | New York ( United States) |
Official visit. Subsequently a private visit to New York.[34] |
| 30 September | New York ( United States) |
United Nations General Assembly.[34] |
1991
| Date | Place | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 3 May | Houston, Tulsa, Palo Alto ( United States) |
Private visit to President George H. W. Bush. Visits to Houston, Tulsa, and Palo Alto.[34] |
| 24 September | New York ( United States) |
United Nations General Assembly.[34] |
| 22–23 October | ( Mexico) |
[36] |
1992
| Date | Place | Main purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 3 May | New York ( United States) |
Summit of the United Nations Security Council.[34] |
Impeachment
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On 20 March 1993, Attorney General Ramón Escovar Salom, introduced action against Pérez for the misappropriation of 250 million bolivars belonging to a presidential discretionary fund, or partida secreta. The issue had originally been brought to public scrutiny in November 1992 by journalist José Vicente Rangel. The money was used to support the electoral process in Nicaragua,[37][38][39] and during the process it was revealed that the money was used to support and hire bodyguards for President Violeta Chamorro.[9] On 20 May 1993, the Supreme Court considered the accusation valid, and the following day the Senate voted to strip Pérez of his immunity.[40] Pérez refused to resign, but after the maximum 90 days temporary leave available to the President under Article 188 of the 1961 constitution, the National Congress removed Pérez from office permanently on 31 August.[40]
Pérez' trial concluded in May 1996, and he was sentenced to 28 months in prison.[40]
Opposition
Social opposition
According to Provea, between October 1989 and September 1992 there were 2,094 protests in Venezuela.[41]
Caracazo
Faced with the inability of the local police to control looting in a riot in Caracas known as the Caracazo, Pérez's government employed the Army as a means of containing the violent events occurring throughout the city (a riot control strategy known as Plan Ávila was activated). A commission was established in the Congress of Venezuela with all its political parties to investigate the events of the Caracazo, and it unanimously approved a report concluding that 277 people had been killed.[11]
The actions of the armed forces came at a high cost, as they engaged in excessive repression that, according to official figures, left 277 dead and numerous wounded. Approximately 2,000 people disappeared during 27 and 28 February 1989. For this reason, in the days and months following the Caracazo a large number of demonstrations against him took place, which together with political criticism made by several parties and sectors against him and his program weakened the political foundation on which he relied. During the crisis produced by the first Gulf War, Venezuela increased its crude oil production, which temporarily alleviated the economic situation although it did not reduce social conflict. In 1999, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights addressed the case of the Caracazo and ruled that Pérez's government had committed various human rights violations against citizens, including extrajudicial executions.[42]
Military opposition
In 1992, his government survived two coup attempts. The first attempt took place 4 February 1992, and was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Chávez from the Venezuelan Army, who was later elected president. With the attempt having clearly failed, Chávez was catapulted into the national spotlight when he was allowed to appear live on national television to call for all remaining rebel detachments in Venezuela to cease hostilities. When he did so, Chávez famously quipped on national television that he had only failed "por ahora"—"for now".
The second, and much bloodier, insurrection took place on 27 November 1992, and this time, civilians and military personnel from both the Venezuelan Air Force and the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela were involved. The coup plotters managed to seize the facilities of the state television channel Venezolana de Televisión, bomb some public buildings such as the Miraflores Palace, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the La Carlota Airport. The attempt was defeated but once again contributed to worsening the already discredited image of the president. The death toll from both coup attempts was approximately 300 victims,[43] of which 172 died during the second coup attempt.