Chavistas defending Miraflores Palace on April 11, 2002. Photo: Enrique Herńandez/Venpres (AVN)/File photo.
By Fransay Riera – Apr 11, 2023
The events and images of the failed coup d’état of April 11, 2002, are a constant reminder of the dangers that threaten the Bolivarian Revolution. Additionally, it is a window that helps to understand the various actors and the roles that each one plays on the national political scene.
The use of violence and media manipulation as tools by the far-right opposition to achieve political power forces us to speak of April 11 in the present tense.
Firstly, because 21 years later, the strategy is the same. Secondly, the main local and transnational actors remain at the head of the conspiracy against Venezuela.
Therefore, beyond classifying the coup as an event that divided contemporary political history into a before and after, it would have to be said that the contradictions that caused it defined the ideological course of the revolution. It condemned the opposition to an anachronistic and unpopular proposal that fails to penetrate the collective consciousness.
April 11 is also an obligatory reference for those who seek to explain the popular support of Chavismo 21 years later, amid an unprecedented economic crisis resulting from the US blockade.
The resistance today is a response to the right wing’s constant disrespect for the popular will expressed in the vote. This contrasts greatly with the great majority’s social character and recognition of the revolution. They are the same ones who defended Chávez and today defend Nicolás Maduro.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
