Considering the current situation with Venezuela, this review might seem somewhat strangely timed, but that is not the case. To say that Venezuela has been a stable nation for decades would not be completely true. The nation has has fairly stable times, but like a number of Latin American nations, had its times of upheaval. Some of these have been fairly bloodless while that others have not. This particular book covers the 1992 coup attempts which were the last time that a major military attempt was made to overthrow the elected government.

It is not surprising that one of the major players in both 1992 coup attempts was an officer named Hugo Chavez, who was later pardoned and served as president from 1999 until his death in 2013. In the 2000s, the nation has been generally poorly run and there has been a mass exodus of Venezuelans to other nations, including the United States.

The 1992 coup attempts, though unsuccessful, involved the Venezuelan Air Force to some extent, more in the second attempt than the first. As is often the case, not all of the air force went with the insurrectionists and this was pretty much the reason that the coup failed. It is one thing to be promised something and another to actually get it and in both attempts, units that were thought to be on the insurrectionist's side never showed up, thus diluting the forces.

The author has done excellent research for this book. He covers the background and personalities involved in both attempts as well as the flow of battle. This includes the success and failure of various operations in different parts of the country. It is no surprise that much of this book concentrates on the Venezuelan Air Force as they were paramount to the success or failure of the second coup attempt. Along with other books in the series, this one has the usual full color profiles, great maps and charts and a lot of period photos, many of them in full color. It is a book that I found both interesting and informative and can highly recommend it to you.

December 2025

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