Caracazo

The Caracazo or sacudón refers to an attempted uprising and resulting massacres that shook Venezuela in 1989.

Background

The city of Caracas was split between the rich and the poor, with a very expensive cost of living forced upon an impoverish population. The left-wing president Carlos Andrés Perez promised to change things and condemned the IMF, calling them “a neutron bomb that killed people, but left buildings standing.”

However, he soon began to implement IMF policies, leading to a 100% increase in the price of fuel while bus fares increased by 30%.

Events

The uprising began in the morning and police were quickly overwhelmed, leading to a state of emergency and martial law being declared as much of the constitution was suspended, banning the right to freely associate, protest, speak and have your privacy protected. In response, citizens began to shoot soldiers leading to shootouts that killed dozens of people. Looters took as much food and consumer goods as possible and the army began to use a tactic of abductions, tortures and extrajudicial murder. The protests failed to achieve much and quickly died down, with between 200 and 2,000 people dead.

Aftermath

The Caracazo failed to achieve long lasting reform, but contributed to a political climate of increased radicalism and paved the way for Hugo Chávez's path to becoming Venezuela's leader.

See Also

• Argentinazo
• Bogotazo
• Cordobazo
• Rosariazo
• Revolutions of 1989 - 1992
• Venezuelan Crisis
• 23 de Enero Campaign