Francisco Javier Arias Cárdenas (born 20 November 1950) is a Venezuelan politician and career military officer, and was the governor of Zulia state.

He participated in Hugo Chávez's unsuccessful February 1992 coup attempt, being pardoned in 1994 by Rafael Caldera, along with the other conspirators.

Born at San Cristóbal in Táchira, Arias graduated from the Venezuelan Academy of Military Sciences in Caracas, the Universidad de Los Andes in Mérida, and the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá, Colombia.

Things returned to normal later the same day after a final recount of the votes showed Arias as the winner of the election.

He was supported by a faction of the MBR-200 that had separated with Chávez following the inauguration of the 1999 constitution and claimed to be the "authentic" part of the Bolivarian movement.