Coup Atlas Research Database
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14512291984ConspiracyMilitary coup

Bolivia, 1984 — military coup conspiracy

Bolivia (BOL)South America, AmericasDecember 29, 1984

Event Summary

This entry is coded 29 December 1984, in the final crisis phase of President Hernan Siles Zuazo's UDP government in Bolivia, six months after the failed 30 June 1984 coup in which about 60 dissident army and police officers, including members of the elite narcotics unit, abducted Siles from the presidential palace and held him at gunpoint for nine to ten hours. By late 1984 Bolivia was in near-total breakdown, with hyperinflation racing toward 1,000 percent and beyond, constant strikes led by the COB and labor leader Juan Lechin, congressional demands for the president's impeachment, and a Senate censure that drove the 71-year-old Siles to a hunger strike in October 1984. On 14 November 1984 the Catholic Church brokered an agreement to call early elections in 1985.

Siles, essentially the political prisoner of both left and right, governed a state that repeatedly came to a standstill amid rightist resignation demands and chronic conspiracy. The 29 December 1984 coding sits in this late-1984 climate of conspiracy against the collapsing Siles Zuazo administration, which stepped down a year early in 1985.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Siles Zuazo survived the plotting but resigned a year early in 1985 amid the crisis
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Hernan Siles Zuazo (target)
dissident military and police officers
COB labor leader Juan Lechin and the political opposition

Sources

On 30 June 1984 President Hernan Siles Zuazo was abducted from his home and held for ten hours during a failed military coup by about 60 members of the army and police, with elite narcotics-unit officers involved.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Hernan Siles Zuazo open source ↗
In October 1984 the 71-year-old Siles Zuazo began a hunger strike in response to an oppositional Senate censure of his administration, and congressmen increasingly called for his impeachment.
SOURCE REVIEWED Global Nonviolent Action Database: Bolivian workers overthrow president 1983-1985 open source ↗
On 14 November 1984 the Catholic Church organized a meeting among the major political parties and labor organizations, after which Congress decided to call early elections by the end of the summer of 1985.
SOURCE REVIEWED Global Nonviolent Action Database: Bolivian workers overthrow president 1983-1985 open source ↗
Siles received scant support from the political parties or Congress, the unions under Juan Lechin paralyzed the government with constant strikes, and amid growing hyperinflation the government's impotence prompted Congress to call early elections.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Hernan Siles Zuazo open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete coup is precisely dated 29 Dec 1984 in the sources located this session; the well-documented 1984 coup was the 30 Jun 1984 abduction. The coding sits in the late-1984 conspiracy climate against the collapsing Siles government (post-June-coup, Oct hunger strike, Nov church-brokered early elections). Context with strong framing. First Bolivia record in the run.

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
14512291984

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Siles Zuazo survived the plotting but resigned a year early in 1985 amid the crisis.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. 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.

LA Times

“Bolivia Army Chief Fired,” December 30, 1984

Globe and Mail

“Fired Army Chief ends Rebellion,” December 31, 1984

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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