Argentina (ARG)South America, AmericasMarch 28, 1962
Event Summary
Argentina's armed forces deposed President Arturo Frondizi at the end of March 1962, eleven days after Peronist candidates, allowed back onto the ballot by Frondizi, swept elections in ten of fourteen provinces including Buenos Aires. After Frondizi annulled several of the results and rejected an ultimatum from the three service commanders, telling the country he would not resign, not leave, and not take his own life, the military decided in the early hours of March 29 on outright removal. At 7:45 am Frondizi was flown to Martin Garcia Island and detained.
The coup leaders, headed by Lieutenant General Raul Poggi, had not settled on a successor, and in a maneuver arranged by Frondizi's ministers and Supreme Court figures, Senate provisional president Jose Maria Guido was sworn in before the Supreme Court under the acephaly law, presenting the generals with a civilian president as an accomplished fact. The military accepted Guido only after he signed commitments to their program, beginning with annulment of the elections the Peronists had won. Frondizi remained in detention and was barred from the 1963 elections.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Arturo Frondizi, detained by the military and held on Martin Garcia Island; he refused to resign, was not physically harmed, and was later barred from the 1963 elections.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Arturo Frondizi (deposed president, detained on Martin Garcia Island)
Raul Poggi (lieutenant general, leader of the coup)
Jose Maria Guido (Senate provisional president sworn in as president)
Cayo Alsina (air force brigadier general, coup commander who backed the Guido solution)
Julio Oyhanarte (Supreme Court figure who engineered the civilian succession)
Sources
At 7:45 am on March 29, 1962 Frondizi left the Olivos presidential residence and was flown by navy plane to Martin Garcia Island, where he was detained; the coup plotters, having ordered his overthrow, had not decided who would take over, and the three commanders Poggi, Alsina, and Penas met repeatedly without agreement.
Frondizi, detained at Martin Garcia, refused to resign, saying he would not commit suicide, not resign, and not leave the country; on the morning of March 30 coup leader General Raul Poggi arrived at the Casa Rosada to take charge and was surprised to learn that the civilian Jose Maria Guido had been sworn in as president before the Supreme Court.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Military coups in Argentinaopen source ↗
The military leaders reluctantly accepted the situation and summoned Guido to the Casa Rosada to inform him he would be recognized as president provided he committed in writing to execute policies stipulated by the armed forces, the first of which was annulling the elections won by the Peronist factions; Guido signed, then closed the National Congress and intervened the provinces.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Military coups in Argentinaopen source ↗
The trigger was the Peronist victory under the Union Popular label in the March 18 elections in Buenos Aires province and other provinces; at 2:30 am on March 29 navy secretary Admiral Clement informed the president that the armed forces had chosen the third alternative, his overthrow, and Frondizi, lacking loyal security forces, was detained and taken to Martin Garcia Island.
SOURCE REVIEWEDRadio Perfil, El 29 de marzo de 1962 Jose Maria Guido juro como presidente argentinoopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Date discrepancy: the dataset uses 1962-03-28 while the detention occurred on the morning of March 29 following the overnight decision; the commanders' final ultimatum in the presidential office came on March 28. Sources also differ on whether Guido was sworn in on March 29 or the morning of March 30. Arc link: this coup, driven by the Peronist electoral victory, sits four months before the Peruvian coup of July 18, 1962, which contemporaries compared to it.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Arturo Frondizi, detained by the military and held on Martin Garcia Island; he refused to resign, was not physically harmed, and was later barred from the 1963 elections..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.
Luttwak
Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.
Powell and Thyne
Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.
New York Times
“Army Declaration: Frondizi Deposed by Military Coup,” March 29, 1962
“Control Jumbled At Buenos Aires: Guido’s aim to keep civilian regime behind struggle,”September 23, 1962
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →