Venezuela, 1992 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

On 27 November 1992 a second coup attempt was launched against President Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela, this time led by higher ranking air force and navy officers loyal to the imprisoned Hugo Chavez, whose failed February coup had made him a national hero. The rebels, including the pilot Luis Reyes Reyes and senior officers such as Rear Admiral Hernan Gruber Odreman and General Francisco Visconti, had learned from the errors of the February attempt, launching before dawn and securing communications equipment. Their operation leaned on air power: rebel aircraft bombed the Miraflores palace and other targets, and the rebels seized the state television station and broadcast a video Chavez had recorded in prison calling for a popular uprising.

But they failed to capture other broadcast outlets, allowing Perez to go on the air and declare the rebellion defeated. An effort to free Chavez from jail failed, loyalist forces retook the bases, and the coup collapsed. It was bloodier than February, with a death toll around 172.

Many rebels fled by air to Peru, where Fujimori granted them asylum. Perez survived but was impeached months later.