Lucas Rincón Romero (born 1 February 1950) is a Venezuelan military officer.

Career

Lucas Rincón was the highest-ranking

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n military officer at the time of the 2002 coup d'état attempt against Venezuelan President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

. He announced in a television broadcast that Chávez had resigned, "se le solicitó al señor presidente la renuncia de su cargo, la cual aceptó" (the president was asked to resign his post, which he accepted). He had been one of Chavez's most loyal military officers. Chávez was returned to power within three days and there has since been debate as to whether the resignation was genuine. Chávez said in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

interview in October 2005 that media reports that announced that he had renounced his position were false. Rincón went on to become the Minister of Interior and Justice from January 2003 to September 2004. Since 2006, he serves as the Ambassador of Venezuela to Portugal.

References

1950 births Living people People from Zulia Venezuelan military personnel Ministers of interior of Venezuela Ministers of defense of Venezuela Justice ministers of Venezuela Ambassadors of Venezuela to Portugal Hugo Chávez ministers {{Venezuela-mil-bio-stub