Pedro Carmona

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Pedro Carmona bigraphy, stories - Leaders

Pedro Carmona : biography

1941 –

Pedro Francisco Carmona Estanga (born 1941 in Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela) is a former Venezuelan trade organization leader who was briefly declared President of Venezuela during an abortive 2002 coup d’état against Hugo Chávez. He occupied the office of President on April 12 and April 13.: Intermin president sworn in. URL last accessed August 13, 2006. After Chávez was restored to office, Carmona, wanted by the authorities for illegal usurpation of power,http://english.people.com.cn/200205/30/eng20020530_96783.shtml escaped house arrest and hid in the Colombian embassy. From there, he traveled to Colombia after being given asylum by that country.

Background

Carmona was a significant business figure in Venezuela, managing several petrochemical companies in the 1980s and 1990s, including Industrias Venoco (1990–2000).Nikolas Kozloff (2007), Hugo Chávez: oil, politics and the challenge to the United States, Palgrave Macmillan. p28 Carmona became president of the Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras), Venezuela’s largest business owners’ association.

Later

According to some sources, Colin Powell held at least one meeting with the exiled Carmona in Bogotá in December 2002, during the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–03.CounterPunch, 27 November 2004, Eva Golinger, "The Adaptable U.S. Intervention Machine in Venezuela," in Olivia Burlingame Goumbri, The Venezuela Reader, Washington D.C., U.S.A., 2005. p 134.

April 2002

The early part of 2002 saw mass protests and a general strike by opponents of Hugo Chávez. On April 11, 2002, after snipers fired on both supporters and opponents of Chávez, Lucas Rincón, commander-in-chief of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, announced in a nationwide broadcast that Chávez had tendered his resignation from the presidency. While Chávez was brought to a military base and held there, military leaders appointed Carmona as the transitional President of Venezuela.. URL last accessed October 29, 2006.

In the face of crowds of Chávez supporters taking to the streets and under pressure from some quarters of the military,: Analysis: After the would-be coup. URL last accessed October 29, 2006. Chávez was restored to office.

During Carmona’s 36-hour government, military officers held Chávez and attempted to force his exile. Additionally, security forces conducted raids without warrants and took some Chávez supporters into custody illegally, including National Assembly deputy Tarek William Saab, a member of the Chávez-aligned MVR, who was taken into protective custody by security forces after a large crowd had gathered around his home, threatening him and his family. He was held incommunicado for several hours.. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2002; released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Dated: March 31, 2003. URL last accessed August 13, 2006.

After the coup Carmona was placed under house arrest, but was able to gain asylum in the Colombian embassy after an anti-Chávez protest drew away his security detail.Kozloff (2007:30)