Bolivia, 1981 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records a second attempted military coup in Bolivia on 25 May 1981, ten days after the first, during the disintegrating narco dictatorship of General Luis Garcia Meza, whose regime by mid-1981 was besieged by rival factions within the deeply divided armed forces. The closely spaced coup attempts of May 1981 reflect the acute instability of this period, as officers repelled by Garcia Meza's cocaine fueled corruption, his international pariah status, and the harm his rule was inflicting on the military's reputation maneuvered to force him out. This May 1981 attempt, like its predecessor days earlier, did not immediately succeed, but the cumulative pressure of these revolts was decisive.
Garcia Meza was compelled to resign in August 1981, handing power to a military junta, which was itself followed by further short-lived governments in the chaotic final phase of Bolivian military rule before the armed forces returned the country to elected civilian 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
14505251981- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-145-1981-05-25-2
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 second May 1981 coup attempt but soon resigned under military pressure.
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 →