The Silence and the Scorpion
The Coup Against Chavez and the Making of Modern Venezuela
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
On April 11, 2002, nearly a million Venezuelans marched on the presidential palace to demand the resignation of President Hugo Chavez. Led by Pedro Carmona and Carlos Ortega, the opposition represented a cross-section of society furious with Chavez's economic policies, specifically his mishandling of the Venezuelan oil industry. But as the day progressed the march turned violent, sparking a military revolt that led to the temporary ousting of Chavez. Over the ensuing, turbulent seventy-two hours, Venezuelans would confront the deep divisions within their society and ultimately decide the best course for their country -- and its oil -- in the new century.
An exemplary piece of narrative journalism, The Silence and the Scorpion provides rich insight into the complexities of modern Venezuela.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Nelson recreates the dramatic 2002 attempted coup against Venezuelan president Hugo Ch vez, beginning with accounts of citizens who attended the million-person, violent protest that precipitated the three-day power vacuum. He moves to recounting the events from the perspectives of high-level officials, including Ch vez himself, to demonstrate how the stories of ordinary chavista and anti-chavista citizens intertwine with the fates of officials in the highest levels of the Venezuelan government and military. Nelson takes readers from the streets to the halls of the presidential palace, from frightened journalists smuggling tapes of riots back to their stations to be put on the air to a terrified Ch vez. For a fuller and fairer picture of the events, the book should be read in conjunction with other accounts of the coup, since Nelson is admittedly biased toward the military figures he interviewed. But his status as a foreigner familiar with the culture of Caracas and an experienced journalist and academic gives him a unique vantage point from which to tell the very personal stories of those three days of chaos.
