Coup Atlas Research Database
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14501141950ConspiracyDissident coup

Bolivia, 1950 — dissident coup conspiracy

Bolivia (BOL)South America, AmericasJanuary 14, 1950

Event Summary

On 14 January 1950 the government of Bolivian President Mamerto Urriolagoitia proclaimed a state of siege after discovering a plot by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement to overthrow the government. Urriolagoitia had succeeded the ailing Enrique Hertzog in October 1949 and dedicated much of his presidency to repressing the reformist MNR of Victor Paz Estenssoro, whose leaders were largely in exile after their failed 1949 civil war uprising. The discovered January 1950 plot was one of a continuous series of MNR conspiracies against the conservative sexenio governments; over the following months Urriolagoitia suppressed further MNR and communist rebellions, banned the newly founded Communist Party in April 1950, and crushed a bloody general strike in La Paz in May 1950.

The MNR's repeated attempts to seize power by force during the sexenio failed until the successful National Revolution of April 1952.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Mamerto Urriolagoitia suppressed the plot and governed until 1951; the MNR took power only in 1952
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Mamerto Urriolagoitia (president of Bolivia, target)
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR, plotters)
Victor Paz Estenssoro (exiled MNR leader)

Sources

The government proclaimed a state of siege after discovering a plot by the MNR to overthrow the government on 14 January 1950.
SOURCE REVIEWED UCA, Bolivia 1917-present open source ↗
Urriolagoitia assumed the presidency on 24 October 1949 after Hertzog stepped back for health reasons, and dedicated much of his term to repressing the MNR.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Mamerto Urriolagoitia open source ↗
In 1950 Urriolagoitia issued decrees making opposition parties illegal and outlawing unions, and crushed a number of coup attempts.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Mamerto Urriolagoitia open source ↗
The MNR's attempts to seize power by force during the sexenio failed until the successful National Revolution of April 1952.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Coups d'etat in Bolivia open source ↗

Editorial Note

Exact date match: the UCA dataset records the discovery of an MNR plot to overthrow the government on 14 January 1950, prompting a state of siege. Well documented. Distinct from the 26 March 1950 communist rebellion recorded separately in this batch. Continues the long Bolivia coup run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
14501141950

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Mamerto Urriolagoitia suppressed the plot and governed until 1951; the MNR took power only in 1952.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. 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

New York Times

“Bolivia Declares a State of Siege,” January 15, 1950
“Bolivia Names Plot Leader,” January 18, 1950

New York Herald Tribune

“Ten Banished to Chile By Bolivia in Revolt Plan,” January 16, 1950

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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