Coup Atlas Research Database
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14511091953AttemptedMilitary coup

Bolivia, 1953 — military coup attempt

Bolivia (BOL)South America, AmericasNovember 9, 1953

Event Summary

The dataset records an attempted military coup in Bolivia on 9 November 1953, in the second year of the revolutionary MNR government of President Victor Paz Estenssoro. Having seized power in the April 1952 national revolution, the MNR spent 1953 driving through its transformative program, nationalizing the great tin mines held by the three tin barons in October 1953 and enacting the landmark agrarian reform decree on 2 August 1953, while governing in constant tension with the labor unions of the Bolivian Workers Center and facing recurrent plots from the displaced conservative right. Any coup attempt in November 1953 came within that turbulence and did not unseat the government.

The MNR held power through a long series of failed conspiracies until the military coup of 4 November 1964 finally ended its twelve year rule.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Victor Paz Estenssoro and the MNR government survived; the MNR held power until the 1964 coup
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Victor Paz Estenssoro (president of Bolivia, target)
MNR government (target)
Conservative and rival plotters (recurrent conspirators)

Sources

The MNR government after the 1952 revolution lasted from 9 April 1952 until the coup of 4 November 1964, twelve years marked by co-government and a power struggle between the party and the labor unions.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Bolivian National Revolution open source ↗
The revolution nationalized the mines held by the three tin barons who controlled 80 percent of production and distributed land to peasants, placing it among the great social revolutions of twentieth century Latin America.
SOURCE REVIEWED SECOLAS, About the Bolivian Revolution open source ↗
After the revolution the MNR government faced doubts over its control as armed MNR civilians retained rifles seized from the arsenal and the army in the La Paz area had been badly damaged during the fighting.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1952 to 1954 vol. IV open source ↗
The Bolivian Workers Center founded on 17 April 1952 under Juan Lechin Oquendo acted as the radical revolutionary wing of the revolution, keeping labor relations turbulent throughout the MNR government.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Bolivian National Revolution open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete documentation of a 9 November 1953 Bolivian coup attempt was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the verified turbulence of the early MNR government, with plotter identity for this specific date unconfirmed, flagged. One of several failed plots against the MNR in the dataset before the 1964 coup.

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
14511091953

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Victor Paz Estenssoro and the MNR government survived; the MNR held power until the 1964 coup.

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

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

New York Times

“Bolivia To Try Revolt Ers Three Former President S Among 750 Accused In Uprising,”November 14, 1953

Globe and Mail

“Bolivian Revolt Kills at Least 13,” November 10, 1953

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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