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Venezuela, 2002: The Day the People Restored Democracy

These were days of protest. Massive demonstrations. They surged through Caracas, winding around the capital like a human tide—especially through the affluent eastern neighborhoods. It was April 2002. Four years earlier, Hugo Chávez had been elected president. He came promising a revolution—a Bolivarian one, named after South America’s legendary liberator, Simón Bolívar. Chávez introduced a wave of reform: dozens of laws aimed at dismantling the country’s entrenched inequality. Large estates would be redistributed to small farmers. Profits from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves would be funneled into public services. But the powerful weren’t on board.These were days of protest. Massive demonstrations.These were days of protest. Massive demonstrations. They surged through Caracas, winding around the capital like a human tide—especially through the affluent eastern neighborhoods. It was April 2002. Four years earlier, Hugo Chávez had been elected president. He came promising a re...