Pérez AD second term — Gran Viraje, Caracazo, Chávez coups, impeachment

Doctrine — stated goals and content

AD second-term technocratic reversal — the "Gran Viraje" (The Great Turn) away from state-led rentier populism toward Washington-Consensus liberalisation, catastrophically mistimed against popular expectations. Five doctrinal pillars: (a) Paquete Económico (Package) February 1989 — IMF Letter of Intent; unified exchange rate (Bs 14.5/$→Bs 36/$); fuel-price increase ~100%; deregulation of interest rates and prices; tariff reduction. (b) Caracazo — 27 February 1989 urban-transport fare rise triggered four-day riots in Caracas; military repression; official death toll 276, historians estimate >1,000; the signal rupture of the Punto Fijo consensus. (c) Chávez coup attempts — 4 February 1992 MBR-200 golpe led by Lt. Col. Hugo Chávez; failed; Chávez's televised surrender speech ("por ahora") made him a national figure; 27 November 1992 second coup by Navy/Air Force also failed. (d) Impeachment — Supreme Court authorised trial May 1993 on charges of misusing ~Bs 250M from the Partida Secreta; Congress suspended Pérez 21 May 1993; interim President Ramón Velásquez. (e) Privatisation and liberalisation — CANTV (telecoms) privatised 1991 for $1.9B; VIASA (airline); banking reforms. Stated school: Washington-Consensus + AD-technocratic reformism. Left-right: economic right turn; AD historically centre-left. Popularity: December 1988 Pérez re-elected 52.9% on nostalgia for 1970s oil-boom presidency; approval collapsed post-Caracazo to ~20%; 1992 coup attempts polled broad public sympathy; December 1993 Caldera (Convergencia) won presidency 30.5% — breaking AD/COPEI duopoly. Coherence: trade Punto-Fijo populist continuity for structural reform that failed to survive the distributional backlash.