Plan Ávila is a military
contingency plan
A contingency plan, also known colloquially as Plan B, is a plan devised for an outcome other than in the usual (expected) plan. It is often used for risk management for an exceptional risk that, though unlikely, would have catastrophic conseque ...
by the
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
to maintain public order in the Venezuelan capital,
Caracas.
History
Caracazo
Plan Ávila was first implemented in 1989 by the government of
Carlos Andrés Pérez, in response to riots, in an event which became known as the
Caracazo
The ''Caracazo'' is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting. 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, thousand ...
; hundreds were killed by military and armed police. On 27 August 2002, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that the 1989 implementation of Plan Ávila had resulted in massive human rights violations, and ordered the Venezuelan government to review its military contingency planning to conform to international human rights standards.
2002 Venezuelan coup attempt
The activation of Plan Ávila was ordered by then-
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Hugo Chávez at midday on 11 April 2002, in response to public order events leading up to the
2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt
A failed coup d'état on 11 April 2002 saw the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, ousted from office for 47 hours before being restored to power. Chávez was aided in his return to power by popular support and mobilization against the coup b ...
.
The action was in violation of laws in the
1999 Venezuela Constitution created by Chávez that were in place to prevent another massacre like the Caracazo. High-ranking members of the Armed Forces refused to carry out the Plan. When the General responsible was nowhere to be found, another general,
, the head of the largest military unit in Caracas, offered to step in. However, this was thwarted by soldiers blocking a highway and diverting civilian traffic into the military base at Fuerte Tiuna, preventing its troops from leaving. On contacting the base, the general was also told that a group of generals had plans to arrest the President.
[ General in Chief Lucas Rincón and National Assembly President William Lara said that Chávez's order was not to repress the population but to maintain public order.]
References
2002 in Venezuela
Military of Venezuela
Political repression in Venezuela
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