Via his Twitter account, the Venezuelan President paid tribute to the civil-military movement that put an end to the coup riots against the revolutionary leader Hugo Chávez (1954-2013) carried out by oligarchic sectors and the military leadership.
“Every 11th has its 13th day of the Bolivarian National Militia, the Armed People and the April Revolution, as Commander Chávez decreed to commemorate the monumental expression of the civil-military union that regained the Constitution on April 13,” he stressed head of state
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino described that day as a turning point in the Bolivarian Revolution that defined a new socio-political reality for Venezuela.
“This popular rebellion was the most energetic response to the ill-fated days of the perverse communications attack orchestrated by US imperialism and its de facto powers,” it said in a statement.
The General-in-Chief stressed that the patriotic consciousness that Chavez planted among the people and in the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and the perfect civil-military union thwarted any attempt to annihilate the revolutionary project.
This historic episode formed the emergence of the Bolivarian National Militia, a special component of the FANB and a strategic weapon in the nation’s comprehensive defense against major foreign power threats, Padrino said.
On April 11, 2002, after a bloody media campaign, the Venezuelan right wing launched a coup aimed at smearing the figure of the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution and the progressive ideals he upheld.
Oligarchical sectors and the Venezuelan extreme right then conspired in complicity with the military high command, ecclesiastical leadership and the private media to overthrow Chávez and derail the nascent revolutionary project.
The coup was previously planned with a massacre of the people in the streets near the Miraflores Palace (executive branch headquarters) using snipers to hold the constitutional president accountable.
Chávez remained kidnapped by the conspiratorial forces until he was rescued by pro-government soldiers who, along with the popular uprising in the country’s streets, caused the coup’s defeat.
mem/whoop