Venezuela Marks 25 Years Since “Caracazo” Uprising Against Neoliberalism
Venezuela Marks 25 Years Since “Caracazo” Uprising Against Neoliberalism (+Video/Images)
Mérida, 28th February 2014 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Yesterday Venezuelans marked 25 years since the mass rebellion known as the “Caracazo” against neoliberal policies, and the massacre of civilians at the hands of security forces that followed.
On 27 February 1989 protests, riots and looting broke out in Caracas and other cities across Venezuela. Half of the population lived in poverty at the time, and some who lived in extreme poverty resorted to dog food or spaghetti water to fill their stomachs.
The spark that set off the protests was the announcement of an IMF “structural adjustment package” by the government of Carlos Andres Perez, which had recently assumed office. Transport, fuel, and utilities prices were all to increase, while price caps on some basic goods were to be lifted.
This was part of a plan which would also privatise utility companies, remove import tariffs, lift exchange controls, liberate interest rates, and attempt to reduce the fiscal deficit.
To control the uprising, Carlos Andres Perez declared a state of emergency and sent the army onto the streets to quell the riots. In the massacre that followed, estimates of those killed range from 300 to 3,000.
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