2002: Leopoldo Lopez and Henrique Capriles Arrested a Cabinet Minister During the Coup

In April 2002 a short-lived (47 hour) coup occurred when a group of dissident Generals arrested President Hugo Chavez and removed him from the Presidential residence. The Generals installed a businessman, Pedro Carmona, as President. One of the key events leading to the coup was a march by several hundred thousand anti-Chavez protesters. The March was diverted from its authorized route to a route toward the Presidential residence. This led to a confrontation at the Llaguna Bridge Overpass where 19 people were killed. In his book chronicling the events of April 2002, My Testimony Before History, Carmona wrote that the protest’s fatal route change was “authorized by Mayor Leopoldo Lopez.” [1] 

On April12, Carmona issued a set of decrees which included voiding the Constitution and dissolving the National Assembly and Supreme Court. One of the Carmona Decrees called for the arrests of President Chavez’s Cabinet Ministers. Leopoldo Lopez (Mayor of Chacao) and Henrique Capriles (Mayor of Baruta) went to arrest Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, Minister of the Interior and Justice. Chacin described his arrest [2]:

·        “The mayors Henrique Capriles Radonski and Leopoldo Lopez, using the Baruta police, surrounded the building where I was, blocked its exits, and placed snipers covering the windows. They then called the private television channels and proceeded to gather the neighbors and incite them against the government and me. I told Capriles and Lopez to come in alone. I asked for a search warrant or an arrest warrant for me, formalities they hadn’t complied with. They said we should leave through the front because that’s where the TV cameras were. I pointed out the physical risk of that option, as I would have to go through an angry mob, they themselves had stirred up. They disagreed.”

A news clip of the incident shows Chacin being beaten by the crowd [1].

After Chavez was returned to the Presidency, Lopez and Capriles were charged with Chacin’s illegal arrest and detention. President Chavez pardoned them on January 1, 2008 saying that their amnesty would “send a message to the country that we can live together despite our differences.” [3] Some of Chavez’s supporters criticized the pardons, arguing that they had not shown any remorse or will to rectify their actions [3]

Lopez has distanced himself from the coup organizers and has said he refused to sign the decrees by Carmona.{4} As for Chacin’s arrest, Lopez has insisted that he and several of his police officers were invited by a neighboring mayor to take custody of the minister to protect him from an angry mob.[4]   

1.      Lovato, Roberto, The Making of Leopoldo Lopez,Foreign Policy, May 27, 2015

2.       http://www.psuv.org.ve/temas/noticias/rodriguez-chacin-los-golpistas-planearon-matarme-para-luego-decir-que-me-habia-%E2%80%9Csuicidado%E2%80%9D/#.UwJUeeXTBAI

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

4.      LA Times, A lightening Rod for Venezuela’s Political Strife, July 19, 2006

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