On November 16, 1979 the Bolivian Congress resolved the crisis created by the Natusch coup by installing Lidia Gueiler Tejada as interim president, ending Colonel Natusch's short and violent rule and making Gueiler the first woman to lead Bolivia. After Natusch's November 1 coup met nationwide strikes, popular resistance, and refusal of recognition, a settlement was negotiated among congressional and military leaders. Under its terms Natusch would step down and Congress would choose a civilian president to serve until elections planned for 1980.
On November 16, 1979 Congress selected Gueiler, the head of the Chamber of Deputies and a veteran Revolutionary Nationalist Movement politician; Natusch relinquished power (some sources date his formal resignation November 17). Gueiler was not physically harmed. She governed until the July 1980 coup by her cousin General Luis Garcia Meza.
The dataset dates this November 16, 1979 and codes the fate as not physically harmed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The removal of Colonel Natusch's regime on November 16, 1979, resolved by Congress installing Lidia Gueiler as interim president; the transition was not physically harmful to those deposed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Alberto Natusch (colonel who stepped down)
Lidia Gueiler Tejada (installed as interim president)
The Bolivian Congress (which resolved the crisis)
Sources
Lidia Gueiler Tejada became the first female president of Bolivia after being elected by the Bolivian Congress, her selection coming after four days of secret negotiations between congressional and military leaders, nationwide strikes by the Bolivian Workers Confederation, and a proclamation signed by 250 military officers asking Colonel Natusch to resign.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, November 1979open source ↗
The coup and Colonel Natusch's presidency ended after 16 days with the selection by the Bolivian Congress of a new civilian president to replace Guevara, and under the terms of the resolution electing her, Gueiler would serve until a new presidential election could be held in May 1980.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, November 1979open source ↗
Natusch stepped down after just two weeks, and Lidia Gueiler Tejada was appointed interim president on November 16, 1979, as head of the Chamber of Deputies and a veteran Revolutionary Nationalist Movement politician, becoming the first female leader of Bolivia.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, History of Bolivia (1964-1982)open source ↗
Natusch was unable to consolidate power in the face of widespread uprisings and labor strikes and resigned on November 17 in favor of another provisional president, Lidia Gueiler, who presided over the 1980 general election before the July 1980 Garcia Meza coup.
SOURCE REVIEWEDCenter for Systemic Peace, Bolivia Polity reportopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Coding and pairing note: the dataset codes this November 16, 1979 event with a not-physically-harmed fate; it is the resolution of the Natusch coup (the companion 1979-11-01 record), in which Congress replaced the failed Natusch regime with the interim presidency of Lidia Gueiler. The two are distinct dataset events. Date nuance: sources give Gueiler's installation as November 16, 1979 (the dataset date) and Natusch's formal resignation as November 16 or 17; both are recorded. Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup, though it functioned as a congressionally brokered transition ending a coup; the transfer itself was not physically harmful, matching the fate. Historical weight: Gueiler was the first woman to lead Bolivia; she governed until she was overthrown in the July 17, 1980 cocaine coup by her cousin General Luis Garcia Meza, a separate later event. Arc: this closes the immediate Natusch crisis but not the broader instability of the 1978 to 1980 period.
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:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The removal of Colonel Natusch's regime on November 16, 1979, resolved by Congress installing Lidia Gueiler as interim president; the transition was not physically harmful to those deposed..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; 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
“Bolivian Coup leader to Step Down Today, defense Chief Reports,” November 16, 1979
“Bolivian Congress Picks President,” November 17, 1979
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 →