| Photo: (EPA) EFE
The National Assembly of Venezuela ( AN, parliament), where 92 % of the seats are occupied by government supporters, approved this Thursday an agreement to “praise” the failed coup of February 4, 1992, led by Hugo Chávez, to overthrow the then president, Carlos Andrés Pérez.
The agreement, approved by the majority chavista, establishes “to praise the value and dedication of the military and civilian men and women who participated in this historic gesture of February 4, 1992 and who gave their lives for freedom, democracy, equality and social justice,” according to the parliament’s Twitter account.
In addition, the document urges the Executive, through the Ministries of Education and Culture, “to celebrate and exalt, in each of the educational spaces, cations of the country” on February 4th as part of the “historical process to achieve freedom for Venezuela” and to hold “cultural events, scientific conferences and any type of event that exalts and promotes the celebration”.
During the debate, Chavismo’s number two, Diosdado Cabello, who also participated on the 4th of February, denied that it was a coup d’état and described the occasion as a “popular military rebellion”.
“That was not a coup d’etat, it was a military rebellion, it became a perpetual rebellion of the people, it was a turning point for the homeland”, he argued.
Cabello insisted that those who participated in the February 4 coup of 1992, including himself, assumed their responsibilities and experienced imprisonment and “persecution” for their actions.
8014026230001″It was a popular military rebellion against the neoliberalism, against the government of the Punto Fijo Pact and against American imperialism”, declared the Chavista leader, who added that “there is no coup in the world that is not led by the United States”.
From the opposition bench in parliament, deputy Bernabé Gutiérrez, who belongs to the social-democratic Ação Democrática party , as well as Carlos Andrés Pérez, reported that the anti-Chavistas would not vote in favor of the agreement because they believe in suffrage and are against violent uprisings.
“We, for strictly historical reasons and believers in suffrage, have a different point of view, and I will say it head-on. We are not going to vote in favor of the agreement, and the reasons are strictly historical because we have always rejected coups d’état and attempted coups d’état”, he highlighted.