On December 19, 1982, at around 6:15 a.m., one of the most dramatic tragedies in Venezuela over the 20th century took place. The Tacoa power plant, located in Arrecifes, along the central coastline, Vargas state, burst into flames leaving a toll of 180 people dead, including firefighters, technical staff and 10 journalists. An explosion started in tank number 8 as 16,000 liters of fuel were being unloaded from tanker Murachi. By noon, the fire at tank number 8 seemed under control, but at 12:35 p.m. tank number 9 exploded and the fire spread over a wide area.
 
The explosion killed all the people who were fighting the fire at the time, including a complete fire-fighting unit, 42 security and military officers from Caracas and 10 press workers, including reporters María de la Russa from Venezolana de Televisión, Carlos Moros and Salvatore Veneziano from El Universal and several cameramen and assistants.

The flames also reached people and houses near the plant, as well as fishing boats, as a layer of fuel oil spread through the beach. The fire resulted from heat transfer in the plant's deposits. President Luis Herrera Campíns ordered an investigation, but not definite results were reached.

It was the second year of Herrera's government and the end of the bonanza experienced during the previous administration. The most relevant news appearing in El Universal that year included the loan of USD 600 million granted to the state and supported by 53 international banks.

The fight against corruption had increased and focused on actions and important political players from the previous government. This led to the intervention of Banco de los Trabajadores de Venezuela (Venezuelan Workers' Bank), whose main stockholder was the Workers' Confederation of Venezuela. A report listed a series of irregularities that led the government to take that measure, such as granting unaccounted for scholarships in foreign countries, giving out new loans to companies in default and excessive spending on advertising campaigns.

The Falklands War was waged between Argentina and Great Britain over islands located in the South Atlantic and in possession of the British. The war lasted from April 2nd to June 14th, 1982, when Argentina surrendered and the United Kingdom regained control of the islands.

Socialist Felipe González won the presidential election in Spain by an absolute majority, and Gabriel García Márquez is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.