Cotiza uprising

The Cotiza uprising () was a military mutiny that took place on 21 January 2019, at the beginning of the Venezuelan presidential crisis, at a Bolivarian National Guard post located in the Cotiza sector of Caracas. After the mutiny, multiple protests broke out in the surrounding area in support of the troops.

Background

In the May 2018 elections, President Nicolás Maduro was re-elected amid widespread irregularities, leading many countries and a large portion of the Venezuelan opposition to consider the results invalid. Several governments declared that Maduro had not been legitimately elected. In the months leading up to his inauguration on 10 January 2019, Maduro was rejected by several governments and bodies, including the Lima Group and the Organization of American States (OAS); that pressure increased when the new board of the National Assembly of Venezuela was sworn in on 5 January 2019. The National Assembly had been rejected by Maduro in mid-March 2017, but the governments and bodies mentioned above considered it the only legitimate democratic body in Venezuela.

The electoral results were supported by Russia, China and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). On 10 January 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela declared that Maduro was usurping the office of president.

Uprising

In the early hours of 21 January, a military mutiny took place at a Bolivarian National Guard post located in Cotiza, in north-western Caracas. At least 27 service members revolted, took the security agents hostage, seized the armoury and attempted to march on the Miraflores Palace, but met resistance from other agents; they engaged in combat and were arrested by the authorities in the early morning. In videos circulated earlier on social media they had declared that they did not recognise the country's ruler and called on people to take to the streets in support of the insurrection.

Aftermath

After the rebel group was neutralised, the authorities seized the weapons they had been carrying as well as their mobile phones. The episode set off a wave of strong civilian protests in the area in support of the rebels, which hours later spread to various sectors of the city in rejection of Maduro and the country's crisis. Local residents continued the struggle, protesting and burning objects in the street even as tear gas was fired. Colectivos killed a woman who was not protesting at her own front door, and five others were wounded.

The operation's leader, Luis Bandres Figueroa, was tortured during his detention, leading, according to his wife's testimony, to suicidal tendencies. Almost all those involved were detained at Ramo Verde Prison, with the exception of Bandres and Geomer Martínez, who were held at La Pica Prison.

Significance

The Cotiza uprising was one of the first overt military challenges to Maduro at the start of the 2019 presidential crisis and immediately preceded the mass demonstrations of 23 January 2019, during which Juan Guaidó declared himself acting president. It illustrated the tensions within the lower ranks of the National Guard and contributed to the broader cycle of protests that defined the early phase of the crisis.

See also

• Attack on Fort Paramacay
• 2019 Venezuelan uprising attempt
• Venezuelan presidential crisis
• 2019 Venezuelan protests