In the early hours of 12 April, many demanded Chávez's resignation.
With the loss of "almost all ... military force on hand in order to resist or move to another place", Chávez said that he would consider it to avoid a potential bloodbath if there were disturbances involving the crowds outside Miraflores.
However, he declared that four conditions would have to be met, including that he be allowed to resign before the National Assembly, with power passing constitutionally to the Vice President prior to new elections, he and his family could go to Cuba and that he would be able to address the nation live on television.
But Vásquez and others would not agree to these conditions and dispatched two generals to arrest Chávez.
At 3 a.m., with the coup plotters threatening to bomb the Miraflores palace if Chávez did not resign, Chávez phoned the head of the armed forces, General-in-Chief Lucas Rincón saying that he would do so; he in turn told him that the military leadership was divided on whether to oust him or not.
Within twenty minutes Rincon had announced on television that Chávez had been asked for his resignation, and had accepted.
A few minutes later, Chávez was told that the four conditions he had declared would no longer be accepted, and Chávez declared that he would surrender himself to the coup plotters as "president prisoner".
Chávez later said that he told Rincón during their telephone call that he would "abandon" the presidency, after which he "left the palace to negotiate the terms under which he would do so", saying, "I am ready to go, but I demand respect for the constitution."

At Miraflores, according to The Los Angeles Times, Chávez dispatched Rincón, his military chief of staff, to meet with the military officers at Fuerte Tiuna who were calling for him to step down.
Rincón called Chávez from Fuerte Tiuna to say that the officers were "fighting among themselves" and insisting on his resignation.
As The Chicago Tribune put it, "top military commanders", unable to countenance "the spectacle of a president making war on his own people", demanded that Chávez step down.
Faced with this demand, Chávez "started working the phones" and also summoned a clergyman, Monsignor Baltazar Porras, to discuss "prayer and forgiveness", his purpose being "maybe as much to search his soul as to search for a way out of the crisis".
Porras, whom Chávez had once reviled as one of the church's "devils in skirts", said that Chávez had "personally asked me for forgiveness for everything he had said about me".

General Vásquez ordered several generals to go to Miraflores and arrest Chávez.
Meanwhile, according to Newsday, "cabinet members and honor guards sat glumly in the hallway outside ... Chávez's suite", awaiting news.
Shortly after midnight, Environment Minister Maria Elisa Osorio said, "The president is being forced to leave.
There's a coup."
Faced with his officers' demand, Chávez refused to resign but agreed to "abandon his functions", a procedure that is provided for by Venezuelan law but that would need to be ratified by the National Assembly.
There followed "hours of negotiations" in which the "key figure" was Armed Forces Commander Gen. Lucas Rincón Romero, who did not make clear at any point during the crisis where his loyalties lay.
Early Friday morning, Rincón told the public, incorrectly, that Chávez had resigned.
An hour and a half later, Carmona was named president of what was meant to be a transitional government.

On Friday morning a "heavily guarded caravan" took Chávez, who was "wearing his trademark fatigues and red beret", from Miraflores to the army base at Fort Tiuna.
At the base, Chávez was forced to take off the uniform and beret and dress in civilian garb. (
The Miami Herald noted that armed-forces officers had long been irked by his habit of wearing a military uniform during his presidency.).
Here he met with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. "
By midmorning on Friday", reported the Times, Chávez "looked to be finished".
The military later maintained, according to The Guardian, "that the civil unr
In the early hours of 12 April, many demanded Chávez's resignation. With the loss of "almost all ... military force on hand in order to resist or move to another place", Chávez said that he would consider it to avoid a potential bloodbath if there were disturbances involving the crowds outside Miraflores. However, he declared that four conditions would have to be met, including that he be allowed to resign before the National Assembly, with power passing constitutionally to the Vice President prior to new elections, he and his family could go to Cuba and that he would be able to address the nation live on television. But Vásquez and others would not agree to these conditions and dispatched two generals to arrest Chávez. At 3 a.m., with the coup plotters threatening to bomb the Miraflores palace if Chávez did not resign, Chávez phoned the head of the armed forces, General-in-Chief Lucas Rincón saying that he would do so; he in turn told him that the military leadership was divided on whether to oust him or not. Within twenty minutes Rincon had announced on television that Chávez had been asked for his resignation, and had accepted. A few minutes later, Chávez was told that the four conditions he had declared would no longer be accepted, and Chávez declared that he would surrender himself to the coup plotters as "president prisoner". Chávez later said that he told Rincón during their telephone call that he would "abandon" the presidency, after which he "left the palace to negotiate the terms under which he would do so", saying, "I am ready to go, but I demand respect for the constitution."
At Miraflores, according to The Los Angeles Times, Chávez dispatched Rincón, his military chief of staff, to meet with the military officers at Fuerte Tiuna who were calling for him to step down. Rincón called Chávez from Fuerte Tiuna to say that the officers were "fighting among themselves" and insisting on his resignation. As The Chicago Tribune put it, "top military commanders", unable to countenance "the spectacle of a president making war on his own people", demanded that Chávez step down. Faced with this demand, Chávez "started working the phones" and also summoned a clergyman, Monsignor Baltazar Porras, to discuss "prayer and forgiveness", his purpose being "maybe as much to search his soul as to search for a way out of the crisis". Porras, whom Chávez had once reviled as one of the church's "devils in skirts", said that Chávez had "personally asked me for forgiveness for everything he had said about me".
General Vásquez ordered several generals to go to Miraflores and arrest Chávez. Meanwhile, according to Newsday, "cabinet members and honor guards sat glumly in the hallway outside ... Chávez's suite", awaiting news. Shortly after midnight, Environment Minister Maria Elisa Osorio said, "The president is being forced to leave. There's a coup." Faced with his officers' demand, Chávez refused to resign but agreed to "abandon his functions", a procedure that is provided for by Venezuelan law but that would need to be ratified by the National Assembly. There followed "hours of negotiations" in which the "key figure" was Armed Forces Commander Gen. Lucas Rincón Romero, who did not make clear at any point during the crisis where his loyalties lay. Early Friday morning, Rincón told the public, incorrectly, that Chávez had resigned. An hour and a half later, Carmona was named president of what was meant to be a transitional government.
On Friday morning a "heavily guarded caravan" took Chávez, who was "wearing his trademark fatigues and red beret", from Miraflores to the army base at Fort Tiuna. At the base, Chávez was forced to take off the uniform and beret and dress in civilian garb. (The Miami Herald noted that armed-forces officers had long been irked by his habit of wearing a military uniform during his presidency.). Here he met with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. "By midmorning on Friday", reported the Times, Chávez "looked to be finished". The military later maintained, according to The Guardian, "that the civil unr
2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt