Bolivia, 1973 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Bolivia on 15 May 1973, during the right-wing military government of Colonel Hugo Banzer, who had seized power in August 1971 by overthrowing the leftist general Juan Jose Torres. Banzer governed in alliance with the traditional Nationalist Revolutionary Movement and the Bolivian Socialist Falange, but his coalition was fractious and his rule was repeatedly challenged by plots from both left and right within Bolivia's notoriously coup prone military. Any coup attempt in May 1973 came within that turbulence and did not unseat Banzer, who broke with his civilian partners in 1974, banned political activity, and ruled as an outright military dictator with United States support until he was forced from power in 1978.
Bolivia's chronic instability, reflected across many entries in the dataset, continued through a rapid succession of military governments before a fragile return to civilian rule.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
14505151973
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Colonel Hugo Banzer survived the May 1973 plotting and ruled Bolivia until 1978.
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
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Luttwak
New York Times
Boston Globe
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 →