Caracazo
The Caracazo is the name given to the wave of protests, riots, and looting that started on 27 February 1989 in the Venezuelan city of Guarenas, spreading to Caracas and surrounding towns following austerity measures from President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Weeklong clashes resulted in numerous deaths, with estimates ranging from hundreds to thousands, attributed largely to security forces and military involvement, according to various reports. The riots and the protests began mainly in response to the government's economic reforms and the resulting increase in the price of gasoline and transportation.
Etymology
The term "Caracazo", stems from the city's name, Caracas, and "-azo", which stems from another historic event, the Bogotazo, was a massive riot in Bogotá, recognized as having a crucial role in Colombia's history. "Caracazo" is technically defined as the "Caracas smash" or "the big one in Caracas" based on Spanish dialect.Background
During the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez from 1973 to 1979, the political elite in Venezuela believed that the nation faced a near-unlimited supply of cash flow due to high oil prices at the time and his administration racked on large amounts of debt. A fall in oil prices in the mid-1980s caused an economic crisis to take hold in Venezuela, and the country had accrued significant levels of debt. Nevertheless, the administration of President Jaime Lusinchi was able to restructure the country's debt repayments and offset an economic crisis but allowed for the continuation of the government's policies of social spending and state-sponsored subsidies.Lusinchi's political party, the Democratic Action, was able to remain in power following the 1988 election, which saw Carlos Andrés Pérez return for his second tenure as president. Pérez based his campaign on his legacy of abundance during his first presidential period, creating perceptions of being a populist leader as he promised that Venezuela would continue to modernize even though it was facing economic difficulties. During his campaign, he heavily rejected liberalization policies, describing the International Monetary Fund staff as "genocide workers in the pay of economic totalitarianism" and its policies as a "bomb that only kills people." Receiving 53% of the vote, Pérez demanded that Latin American debt be devalued by fifty percent and said that the region was a victim of international exploitation during celebrations after his inauguration.
At the time of his election, Venezuela's international reserves were at $300 million USD, its national debt stood at $34 billion USD and the poverty rate was at 70%. Pérez reversed from his campaign rhetoric condemning the IMF and decided to respond to the debt, public spending, economic restrictions, and the rentier state by liberalizing the economy upon taking office on 2 February 1989. He announced on 16 February a technocratic cabinet and a group of shock therapy economic policies recommended by the IMF to fix macroeconomic imbalances known as , called by detractors as El Paquetazo Económico. Among the austerity reforms unveiled were the reduction of fuel subsidies and the increase in public transportation fares by 30 percent. He also took measures to decentralize and modernize the Venezuelan political system by the direct election of state governors, who had previously been appointed by the president. The most controversial part of the economic reform package was the reduction of the gasoline subsidies, which had long maintained domestic gasoline prices far beneath international levels and even the production costs. Pérez's package was rejected by all political parties, including his own, though he ignored their declinations.
On the weekend of 25–26 February 1989, gasoline prices rose 100 per cent and the fuel price increase in turn needed an increase in public transportation fares of 30 per cent officially, and more in practice as some carriers refused to limit their prices to the official rate. The increase was supposed to be implemented on 1 March 1989, but bus drivers decided to apply the price rise on 27 February, a day before payday in Venezuela.
Timeline of protests and rioting
27 February
In the days prior to more intense protests, student demonstrations against neoliberalism began in Mérida and later spread to Caracas, where other social groups then began to protest against Pérez's policies. Larger protests and rioting began on the morning of 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, a town in Miranda state about east of Caracas, due to the increase in public transportation prices. A lack of timely intervention by authorities, as the rank and file of the were on a labour strike. The protests spread from Guarenas to Caracas and other towns over the following hours/days, according to reports.Protests in Lara state also started with students demonstrating against the increase in student fares and continued with public transport users in general. With no apparent authority presence or action, the crowd turned violent, the protest spread and turned into looting throughout the city. At midday Lara's governor called for the National Guard to disperse protests in Barquisimeto due to the president's presence, resulting with limited demonstrations in the area. Pérez flew to Barquisimeto for a meeting of the Venezuelan Executives Association. According to Pérez's executive secretary, Ignacio Betancourt, he dismissed the warnings from ministers and other officials throughout the day. After being shown footage of lootings and demonstrations, Pérez dismissed it saying that events had happened at noon and that the situation had calmed down. While meeting with the business executives, Pérez told his audience, "There is nothing to be alarmed about We are going to take advantage of the crisis to generate well-being." Pérez ordered to commence Plan Ávila, a military contingency plan in place since the 1960s.
By noon, one delivery truck was reported to have been looted in central Caracas and protesters blocked the Francisco Fajardo Highway, which connected east to west Caracas. Students began to build barricades, which blocked the main thoroughfares in Caracas, and students of the Central University of Venezuela began to organize large protests against Pérez's new policies. Branches, empty bottle crates and other obstacles were placed at each of the highway intersections to block traffic. Lorries thought to be transporting food were stopped by the crowd, the driver was non-violently detained and the cargo was unloaded and distributed, after which the driver was asked to park the vehicle across the carriageway. When the Metropolitan Police arrived later, they said that they had orders to not interfere.
At 1:00 pm, police fired upon an increasingly large and agitated crowd near the Parque Central Complex, killing student Yulimar Reyes, shooting her in the face with a shotgun at point-blank range. 65 civilians were reported dead by 6:00 pm, with no severe casualties reported among authorities.
That afternoon, Interior Affairs Minister Alejandro Izaguirre delivered a televised message in which the government attempted to announce that the situation was under control, but he was unable to conclude his speech, saying "I can't" and going off screen. Through the night, some working class areas participated in parties with alcohol looted earlier in the day, including whisky, champagne and other food supplies.
28 February
Groups of hundreds of protesters began to spread throughout Caracas, writing messages on walls that said "The people are hungry" and "No more deception." There were reports of particularly vicious attacks on stores owned by foreigners, namely Chinese, Lebanese and Portuguese immigrants, accusing them of hoarding supplies and of being responsible for the shortages. The demonstrations grew into an open revolt where nearly all social groups participated in the rioting. At this time, Central Bank of Venezuela president Pedro Tinoco, Minister of Economy Eglée Iturbe de Blanco and Minister of Planning Miguel Rodríguez were at the IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. signing a letter of intent to abide by the organization's economic prescriptions.Despite initial debate within the government over how to manage the situation, a heavy-handed approach was implemented as a state of emergency and martial law were imposed. On February 28, a number of articles of the Constitution were suspended, including Article 60, Article 62, Article 66, Article 71, and Article 115. According to army lieutenant Jesús Manuel Zambrano, he received instructions that day, saying "The order was: 'Go and neutralize that looting, how you do it is not my problem, but neutralize it'." Some groups of troops allowed organized thefts to occur, letting people enter shops and take only essential items. In public statements, Pérez spoke of defending the property of the wealthy while making polarized statements that poor individuals protesting–who were the majority in the nation–were "committed to violence" and were "subversives", resulting with the government rationalizing a violent response to demonstrations. Despite the government blaming radical political groups for the rioting, such groups themselves were surprised by the escalation of unrest and some attempted to prevent looting. Middle-class citizens responded to the protests by creating their own self-defense groups while some upper-class fled the situation in private jets due to fears of their property being destroyed.