Coup Atlas Research Database
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10104132002SuccessfulMilitary coup

Venezuela, 2002 — military coup

Venezuela (VEN)South America, AmericasApril 13, 2002

Event Summary

On 13 April 2002 the two day old government of Pedro Carmona collapsed and Hugo Chavez was restored as president of Venezuela. Carmona's decree dissolving the National Assembly and the Supreme Court and voiding the 1999 constitution alienated the public and key military units, and much of the opposition also refused to back him. As Chavez supporters poured out of the poor neighborhoods of Caracas and surrounded the Miraflores palace, and loyalist military units led by the Maracay garrison commander Raul Baduel moved against the interim government, Carmona resigned on the night of 13 April.

The pro-Chavez Presidential Guard retook the palace without firing a shot, and Chavez was flown back from the island military base where he had been held, returning to Miraflores in the early hours of 14 April. Carmona was placed under house arrest and charged with rebellion, but on 22 May he slipped away from his home, took refuge in the Colombian embassy, and was granted political asylum, leaving for Bogota later that month. Chavez granted him safe passage out of the country.

Films & Footage

Chávez supporters mass outside Miraflores Palace demanding his return, April 2002.
Chávez supporters mass outside Miraflores Palace demanding his return, April 2002. Photo: Luigino Bracci Roa · CC BY 3.0
Hugo Chávez returns to Miraflores Palace after the collapse of the coup, April 14, 2002.
Hugo Chávez returns to Miraflores Palace after the collapse of the coup, April 14, 2002. Photo: Prensa Presidencial, Government of Venezuela · CC BY 3.0

Archival media is credited to its holding collection and license. Media sourcing policy →

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Interim president Pedro Carmona, forced to resign after two days; placed under house arrest then fled to asylum in Colombia
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Pedro Carmona (interim president who resigned)
Hugo Chavez (president restored to power)
Raul Baduel (Maracay garrison commander who led the loyalist counter-move)
Diosdado Cabello (Chavez vice president)

Sources

By 13 April the coup was on the verge of collapse as Carmona's attempts to undo Chavez's reforms angered the public and key sectors of the military; Chavez supporters surrounded the palace, Carmona resigned that night, and the pro-Chavez Presidential Guard retook Miraflores without firing a shot, restoring Chavez.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 2002 Venezuelan coup attempt open source ↗
After the coup Carmona was placed under house arrest but was able to gain asylum in the Colombian embassy after an anti-Chavez protest drew away his security detail, during a 36 hour government in which officers held Chavez and attempted to force his exile.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Pedro Carmona open source ↗
The Associated Press reported that Carmona faced up to 20 years in prison for rebellion and conspiracy for the 12 April coup, which was reversed two days later bringing Chavez back to power, and that Carmona slipped away from house arrest to seek asylum in the Colombian embassy after a court ordered him transferred to jail.
SOURCE REVIEWED Associated Press open source ↗
Reporting recorded that Colombia granted Carmona political asylum in late May 2002, that Chavez agreed to let him leave and granted him safe passage, and that Carmona, who had been under house arrest pending trial, arrived in Bogota later that month.
SOURCE REVIEWED Voice of America open source ↗

Editorial Note

This is the second of the paired records: 04-13 is the counter-coup restoring Chavez, so the coded deposed executive is Carmona, not Chavez. Coded fate house arrest then fled the country is verified: Carmona was held under house arrest, escaped on 22 May 2002 into the Colombian embassy, received asylum, and left for Bogota with Chavez's safe passage. Ties directly to the 04-12 record. The counter-coup restored the constitutional president rather than installing a new usurper, which is why the two paired records run in opposite directions.

How It Unfolded

Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.

Led by
Military
How long it took
Under a day — resolved within 24 hours
  • Mass mobilization of civilians (for or against)
  • Troop movements in the capital or key cities

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
10104132002

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Interim president Pedro Carmona, forced to resign after two days; placed under house arrest then fled to asylum in Colombia.

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest; fled the country. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Venezuelan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt

New York Times

“Questions Linger in Calm but Scarred Caracas,” April 16, 2002

Chicago Tribune

“Chavez’s resolve, foes’ mistakes doomed coup,” April 18, 2002

The Economist

“Coup and counter-coup,” April 12, 2002

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

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