★A critical, sharp, and hilarious look at a turbulent episode in recent Latin American history, which lays bare how power has truly been exercised in Venezuela, one of the most volatile regions in the world, for decades.

Venezuela, 2002. A group of soldiers storms the Miraflores Palace, captures democratic elected president Hugo Chávez, and demands his resignation. The Venezuelan generals heatedly debate whether to execute Chávez for treason, put him on a flight to Havana or subject him to a summary trial and imprison him for life. Chávez fears for his life. Fidel Castro demands that Chávez be sent to Cuba. Against all
odds, the coup fails and Chávez is returned to power by his captors barely 36 hours later. Why? Was it luck on Chávez’s side? Or was it the incompetence of the conspirators? Fear of Castro’s revenge? Or was it a case of “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”?

Through an ambitious and risky second narrative, Los golpistas also works as an absorbing and creatively juicy, yet realistic, X-ray of a model of the Latin American dictator, as represented by Chávez. We witness his journey from provincial obscurity to his dreams of becoming a famous baseball player or popular radio host, his early
days at the military academy, and the crucial moment when Fidel Castro
“mentally colonizes” him. But what was that decade like in which Chávez went from coup leader to elected president and then to the victim of the shambolic 2002 coup d’état?

Los golpistas reveals, with sharp lucidity and biting irony, the political conundrums of those who cling to power at all costs in regimes like Venezuela’s, and portrays the inner workings of the military, economic, and religious forces that surround them. An absolutely unmissable novel that illuminates Venezuela while delivering a wickedly good laugh.

Jaime Bayly

He is a writer, TV host and journalist, naturalized U.S. citizen, based in Miami. He began his writing career in 1994, after practicing journalism for several years. He soon became one of the most original voices of the new Hispanic American literature. He has worked as a television host in Lima, Santo Domingo and Miami. His first novel, No se lo digas a nadie (1994), was acclaimed both by critics and readers (with seventeen editions published to date), earning him the praise of Mario Vargas Llosa. Subsequently he published the novels, Fue ayer y no me acuerdo (1995), Los últimos dias de “La Prensa” (1996; Archbishop Juan de San Clemente de Santiago Literary Award), La noche es virgen (1997), with which he won the Herralde Prize, Yo amo a mi mami (1999), Los amigos que perdí, La mujer de mi hermano (2002), El huracán lleva tu nombre (2004), Y de repente, un ángel (2005, shortlisted for the Planeta Award), El canalla sentimental (2008), Morirás mañana (trilogía), La lluvia del tiempo (2014), El niño terrible y la escritora maldita (2016), and Pecho frío (2018), among others. Two of his novels have become the basis for international films. He is a regular contributor to the newspapers Perú 21 (Perú), La Tercera (Chile), La Nación (Argentina) and ABC (Spain). His work has been translated into many languages. His latest novels are Los genios and Los golpistas.

* Archbishop Juan de San Clemente de Santiago Literary Award 1996
* Herrado Prize 1997
* Shortlisted Premio Planeta 2005
* Three time winner with the regional Emmy Award