General Lucas Rincón Romero was the highest-ranking Venezuelan military officer at the time of the 2002 coup d'état attempt against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. 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 was one of Chavez's most loyal military officers.