Bolivia, 1981 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Bolivia on 15 May 1981 during the brutal narco dictatorship of General Luis Garcia Meza, who had seized power in the violent July 1980 cocaine coup and ruled through terror, drug trafficking, and paramilitary repression with the aid of foreign fascists including the Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie. Garcia Meza's regime was internationally isolated and internally fractured, facing opposition not only from the suppressed civilian democratic movement but also from rival factions within the military disgusted by his corruption, brutality, and the damage his cocaine linked rule was doing to the institution. This produced repeated plots and revolts.
A coup attempt in May 1981 came within that context and did not immediately unseat Garcia Meza, though his position was crumbling. Under mounting military pressure he was forced to resign in August 1981, beginning a rapid succession of short-lived military governments that ended when the armed forces finally handed power back to a civilian democratic government in October 1982.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
14505151981- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-145-1981-05-15
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: General Luis Garcia Meza survived the May 1981 plotting but was forced out by the military months later.
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
Powell and Thyne
Chicago Tribune
Jerusalem Post
South China Morning Post
Wall Street Journal
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 →