2002: Following a Military Coup, Maria Machado Signed the Dictatorial Carmona Decrees   

In 1967, Maria Machado was born into one of Venezuela’s wealthiest families.[1] She is a descendant of the 3rd Marquis of Toro, Sebastian Rodriguez, who was a Mayor of Caracas during Spanish colonial rule. As a young girl, Machado attended the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. In Venezuela, Machado earned a degree in industrial engineering and a masters’ degree in finance. In 1992, Machado-a mother of three children-co-founded with her mother the Atenea Foundation, for the care of abandoned children; she also served as chair of the Opportunitas Foundation for children in households in poverty. In January 2002, Machado was a co-founder of the NGO Sumate, a volunteer group to promote elections.[1]

On April 11, 2002, a group of military officers arrested the democratically-elected President Hugo Chavez and removed him from the Presidential Residence. The military installed a businessman, Pedro Carmona, as President. Carmona issued a set of dictatorial decrees that suspended the Constitution, dismissed the National Assembly, the state governors, and municipal leaders, dissolved the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council, and ordered the arrest of Cabinet Ministers.  On April 12, Carmona invited a group of prominent Venezuelans to the Presidential residence. 400 of these businesspeople, labor leaders, politicians, and Church leaders endorsed the Carmona government by signing his Decree Document (The Carmona Decrees). Maria Machado was one of the signers.[1]

A massive uprising of Venezuelans supported by a group of loyal soldiers restored Chavez as President on April 14. In the immediate aftermath of the coup attempt, treason charges were filed against the 400 signers of the Carmona Decrees. A prosecutor, Danielo Anderson, began an investigation into putting the 400 signers on trial. In 2004, Anderson was killed by a car bomb. In 2008, President Chavez issued a pardon for the 400 signers.[2]

In later years, Machado stated that she signed the Carmona Decrees document by mistake. She claims that she was present at the signing event to support her mother, who also signed. Machado has claimed that she thought that the document was merely an attendance signup sheet.[1]



1.Correo del Orinoco International, Opposition Candidate Maria Corina Machado Pledges “Popular Capitalism,” Venezuelanalysis, December 26, 2011

2. Janicke, Kiraz, Venezuelan President’s Amnesty for Coup Participants is Praised and Criticised, Venezuelanalysis, January 3, 2008.

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