Coup Atlas Research Database
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16012181975AttemptedMilitary coup

Argentina, 1975 — military coup attempt

Argentina (ARG)South America, AmericasDecember 18, 1975

Event Summary

From 18 to 22 December 1975 a faction of the Argentine Air Force led by Brigadier Jesus Orlando Cappellini mounted a failed military uprising against the beleaguered government of President Isabel Peron, the widow of Juan Peron who had succeeded him on his death in 1974 and whose administration was collapsing amid hyperinflation, political violence, and the growing power of the military. Cappellini's rebels seized the Moron air base near Buenos Aires and demanded the resignation of the air force chief and a harder line against leftist subversion, in a rising that expressed the impatience of hardline officers with both the failing civilian government and the cautious pace of the military high command. The revolt was contained within days and Cappellini arrested, but it was a clear signal of the disintegration of Isabel Peron's authority and the military's readiness to intervene.

Just over three months later, on 24 March 1976, the armed forces overthrew her in the coup that installed the brutal National Reorganization Process dictatorship.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Isabel Peron survived the December 1975 air force revolt but was overthrown by the military in March 1976
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Isabel Peron (president of Argentina, target)
Jesus Orlando Cappellini (air force brigadier, revolt leader)

Sources

From 18 to 22 December 1975 there was a failed military uprising against Isabel Peron by Jesus Orlando Cappellini.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by country open source ↗
Isabel Peron had succeeded her husband Juan Peron as president on his death in 1974, and her government was collapsing amid economic crisis and political violence.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Isabel Peron open source ↗
The Cappellini revolt centered on the Air Force and reflected hardline officers' impatience with the failing government and the military high command.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Isabel Peron open source ↗
On 24 March 1976 Jorge Videla overthrew Isabel Peron and established the National Reorganization Process dictatorship.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by country open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 18 December 1975 matches the start of the 18 to 22 December 1975 Cappellini air force revolt against Isabel Peron. Dataset codes it a military coup with leader unharmed, accurate. Well established in coup lists; day level narrative detail lightly sourced this session. Continues the long Argentina run, foreshadowing the March 1976 coup.

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:

Cline Center id
16012181975
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-160-1975-12-18

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Isabel Peron survived the December 1975 air force revolt but was overthrown by the military in March 1976.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. 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

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.

Wikipedia

Irish Times

“Argentinian coup still on the cards,” December 22, 1975
“Air Force rebels surrender in Argentina,” December 23, 1975

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 →

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