On February 4, 1992, a group of Venezuelan army officers staged a coup against the government of social democrat Carlos Andrés Pérez. The country had been experiencing a difficult economic situation since the beginning of the previous decade. Venezuela, which at that time was the most prosperous country in South America thanks to the oil boom and the entrepreneurial spirit of its people, entered into crisis when the price of oil began to fall in the early 1980s. The State was spending more than it should have, running deficits year after year, and the public debt continued to increase. To put things back on track, Carlos Andrés Pérez, who had already been president from 1974 to 1979, had to make a drastic change in economic policy through an adjustment plan that caused unrest in Venezuelan society. As a result, several demonstrations were called in February 1989 in what was called the "Caracazo." Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest, among other things, the increase in the price of gasoline. The Pérez government harshly repressed the demonstrations. There were hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries in the street fights between the police and the demonstrators. The "Caracazo" of three years earlier served as a justification for the coup officers to justify their rebellion. The rebels' plan was to take control of the capital by storming the Miraflores palace, the seat of the country's presidency, in order to depose the president, who at that time was returning from a trip to Europe. But they did not succeed. They proved incapable of taking over Miraflores and of reaching the president. Some of the coup leaders fled to Peru, others were arrested and brought to justice. Among the latter was Hugo Chávez Frías, a colonel of the parachute brigade who appeared on television asking the rebels to hand over their weapons. Chávez appeared before the cameras in a campaign uniform and a red beret. He was a young man, 37 years old at the time, good-looking and very eloquent. The Venezuelans, who did not know who he was, were struck by his face. Script by Fernando Díaz Villanueva We have launched an APP with a ton of videos, podcasts and unpublished texts! Link to Apple App Store https://apps.apple.com/es/app/academi... Link to Google Play Store https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... BUY OUR UNIVERSAL HISTORY BOOK https://www.amazon.es/historia-nunca-... BUY OUR SPANISH HISTORY BOOK http://tiny.cc/9lfxdz SUBSCRIBE http://bit.ly/2cqyJpp BECOME A MEMBER OF THE CHANNEL / @academiaplay (rewards and benefits) SPONSOR THE CHANNEL ON PATREON / academiaplay (rewards and benefits) MAKE A DONATION ON PAYPAL https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... BUY OUR EBOOK: https://goo.gl/gJf3TB Thanks to our Patreon benefactors: Carlos Siemens, Pedro Romera, Eva L. García Franco, Gian Marco Farina, Pablo de Barreda and Pablo JP. FOLLOW US • Website: http://academiaplay.es/ • Facebook: / academiaplay • Twitter: / academiaplay • Instagram: / academiaplay • Email: [email protected] Do you want to sponsor an Academia Play video? https://academiaplay.es/patrocina-vid... Music - Credits EPIDEMIC SOUND PURPLE PLANET: https://www.purple-planet.com KEVIN MACLEOD: https://incompetech.com/ PRESS PLAY AND MAKE YOUR LEARNING EXPERIENCE EPIC!