Part of the shock troops during the 2017 insurrectionist riots. Photo: Gustavo Vera/El Estímulo.
By Misión Verdad – Aug 29, 2025
Since the rise of the Bolivarian Revolution led by Commander Hugo Chávez, the coup-mongering and destabilizing agenda has been the order of the day. Faced with political and electoral failure after failure, the opposition has attempted to seize power with strategies that foster violence and chaos at any cost. The most recent example of this occurred a year ago with the criminal insurrection following the presidential elections, which resulted in President Nicolás Maduro’s reelection.
The following timeline presents the main milestones of tension involving political violence motivated by destabilization in Venezuela, from 2002 to 2024.
This highlights the episodes that have shaken the political, economic, social and existential life of Venezuela, marked by (attempted) overthrow of government, violent protests (guarimbas), military conspiracies, foreign incursions, failed assassinations, etc., which have characterized the country over the last two and a half decades.
May the following succession of events serve as a historical reminder of a continuing agenda that still appears set to persist, driven by well-known protagonists from the Venezuelan and foreign political spectrum, especially the United States, seeking regime change and repeatedly thwarted by the people’s and state’s determination to preserve their right to self-determination.
Timeline 2002-2024
April 11-13, 2002. Military-business coup d’état and military-popular counter-coup. Attempted assassination of President Hugo Chávez. Pedro Carmona Estanga proclaims himself president. Result: 19 dead and more than 60 wounded.
December 9, 2002–February 3, 2003. Oil sabotage. Leaders of PDVSA, Fedecámaras, and the CTV shut down the oil industry. Dozens injured; economic losses of approximately $20 billion.
February 27-March 7, 2004. First wave of street protests in the context of the recall referendum, when this type of opposition action was recorded. Urban barricades in Caracas and several states. The result: nearly a dozen dead, most from gunfire at barricades.
May 12, 2004. President Chávez denounces an international conspiracy after having neutralized Operation Daktari three days earlier, in which more than 150 paramilitaries participated.
August 15, 2004. Recall referendum. Hugo Chávez wins with 59.1%. The opposition, including María Corina Machado, claims fraud and attempts to launch protests in several cities. Looting and isolated clashes are reported, with no immediate deaths.
May 28, 2007. The so-called Student Movement begins the “white hands” marches and violent protests following the non-renewal of the concession of the private television station RCTV.
August 5, 2007. President Chávez proposes constitutional reform. The “white hands” resume their agenda of mobilizations in various parts of the country, with episodes of guarimbas (burning of infrastructure and property, barricades, short strikes, clashes with security forces, riots, physical violence, etc.) for the remainder of the year.
April 14-19, 2013. President Nicolás Maduro wins the presidential election against Henrique Capriles, who claims fraud and calls for a “free rein.” Between April 15 and 19, attacks and sieges were reported on 35 Barrio Adentro facilities, as well as hospitals, state institutions, Mercal and PDVAL headquarters, PSUV and CNE headquarters, and alternative and community media outlets. The death toll was 11 (two minors) and more than 140 injured.
February 12 to March 24 , 2014. “The Exit”: a rehearsal for civil war and color revolution with violent nationwide protests led by Leopoldo López, María Corina Machado, and Antonio Ledezma. The result: 43 dead and more than 800 injured; López is arrested on February 18.
March 25, 2014. A group of Air Force generals with direct ties to opposition groups were captured. They were preparing a plan for a military uprising, which lower-ranking officers denounced.
February 12, 2015. Failed coup attempt, known as “Golpe Azul” or “Operation Jericho.” The plan was to use a Tucano aircraft and attack the Miraflores Palace, or wherever the president was participating, during the commemorative events held for Youth Day.
March 8, 2015. Then-President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13692 (better known as the “Obama Decree”), which designated Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
February 12-13, 2016. Dismantling of a plan to attack strategic points of state institutions by air; it also included operations against civilians. An attempted military coup under the shock doctrine. This led to the capture of Antonio Ledezma, tracked by the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and the Militia.
First quarter of 2017. Progressive capture of the members of Operation “Sword of God,” including Ángel Vivas and Raúl Baduel, former Brigadier General and former General of the FANB respectively, who had recruited junior officers with the aim of carrying out an assassination of President Maduro, taking Fuerte Tiuna and forming a de facto General Staff.
March-April 2017. Former National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) officials, along with retired Colonel Zomacal Hernández, were planning to execute Operation “Zamorano Shield.” The latter was seized with 32 kilograms of C4 explosives and other weapons that would be used in a coup plot. Among the planners were politicians Roberto Enríquez, Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, and Julio Borges.
April 1 to July 31, 2017. An insurrectionary plan with elements of hybrid warfare, including armed violence, paramilitary elements, and professional factors (such as Óscar Pérez), continued until the day after the National Constituent Assembly elections. This escalation compared to “La Salida” in terms of time, resources, and methods. The result: more than 160 dead and nearly 2,000 wounded.
August 6, 2017. Operation “David”: attack on Fort Paramacay in Carabobo state and neutralized by the FANB.
March 2018. A military coup plot, called the “Movement for the Transition to the Dignity of the People,” was discovered, involving a group of active reserve generals.
April 18, 2018. State authorities’ Operation “Gideon II” successfully dismantled a terrorist cell involved in destabilizing acts that sought to generate public unrest and prevent the May 20 presidential elections, in which Nicolás Maduro would later be reelected.
May 2018. Two operations were foiled and dismantled: “Constitution” and “Armageddon,” both of which aimed at sabotaging the presidential elections; the former with the advice of US and Colombian officials; the latter contemplated the assassination of the nation’s president.
August 4, 2018. Foiled attack with explosive drones against President Nicolás Maduro, ministers, and senior military commanders in Caracas (Operation “David vs. Goliath”), masterminded by Colombia.
January 23, 2019. Juan Guaidó proclaims himself “interim president”; the US and a dozen other countries recognize him.
February 23, 2019. Attempt to bring in “humanitarian aid” from USAID across the Colombian-Venezuelan borders, the so-called “Battle of the Bridges,” on the roads connecting the two countries. In another confrontation, military installations were besieged and armed clashes erupted in the city of Ureña, Táchira. Dozens were injured and four were reported dead.
April 30, 2019. Failed military uprising “Operation Freedom,” led by Guaidó and Leopoldo López from outside La Carlota Air Base (Caracas). López takes refuge in the Spanish embassy.
May 3, 2020. A mercenary-paramilitary incursion on the coast of La Guaira state was thwarted by military-popular intelligence and security authorities, with a mix of agents including Colombian drug traffickers, the DEA, the mercenary company Silvercorp, and the political and financial sponsorship of the false government of Juan Guaidó, under a $212 million contract that instructed the presidential assassination.
July 28 to August 3, 2024. Reelection of President Maduro. María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia once again claimed electoral fraud and called for protests that led to an escalation of violence and destructive chaos, in a context of insurrection with criminal factors and coup overtones. With a death toll of 25 people and 131 injured, the majority of the events were concentrated in the Capital District and the state of Aragua; 76.2% of the incidents occurred within the framework of violent demonstrations, under a planned and organized nature of both the events and their unfortunate consequences. Public and private property were destroyed, including educational and health facilities.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JB/SH
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
