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Venezuelan Democracy and the Coup Attempt of February 1992

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

George Philip
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Extract

THE ABORTIVE COUP IN VENEZUELA, ON 4 FEBRUARY 1992, came at first sight in a very surprising place and at a very surprising time. Venezuela has enjoyed uninterrupted democratic rule since 1958; the last serious attempted coup was as long ago as 1962. Moreover, many Latin American countries whose experience of military rule was much more recent, have moved in the direction of democracy during the last few years. Textbooks which discussed and sought to explain Latin America's recent move toward democracy have only recently been published. Do Latin Americanists now need to start rehearsing their after-the-fact explanations for a new series of democratic breakdowns? The decision by President Fujimori in Peru to close his national Congress in April 1992 might suggest that the Venezuelan case is by no means isolated.

Type
Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , 01 October 1992 , pp. 455 - 469
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1992

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