On May 10, 1957, the military dictator of Colombia, General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, was forced to step down after a broad-based general strike and mass protests that historians have called a coup of public opinion. Rojas had seized power in 1953 and, after moving to extend his rule, provoked an opposition uniting the Liberal and Conservative parties, students, business and banking groups, and the Catholic Church. A ten-day national strike paralyzed the economy, and in the early hours of May 10 a group of senior officers persuaded Rojas that he could no longer keep order without the army's support, and he ceded power to a five-man military junta.
The junta, backed by both parties and the striking public, governed during the transition and organized the 1958 return to civilian rule under the National Front power-sharing pact. Rojas went into exile in the Dominican Republic.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, President of Colombia (forced to resign, ceded power to a military junta; later exiled)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (deposed dictator)
Gabriel Paris Gordillo (junta president)
Alberto Lleras Camargo (opposition leader, later president)
Sources
Facing a general strike, Rojas announced on the morning of 10 May 1957 that he would cede power to a military junta of five officers: Gabriel Paris Gordillo, Rafael Navas, Luis E. Ordonez, Deogracias Fonseca, and Admiral Ruben Piedrahita; after resigning he went into exile in the Dominican Republic.
A U.S. State Department record states that Gustavo Rojas Pinilla on 10 May 1957 resigned as President of Colombia and designated a military junta of five officers to govern in his stead, naming Paris, Fonseca, Piedrahita, Ordonez, and Navas Pardo.
SOURCE REVIEWEDU.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-1957, Vol. VII, Document 463open source ↗
On 10 May a three-officer delegation convinced Rojas to step down in the early morning; the junta took over with the backing of the Liberal and Conservative parties and the striking citizens, and people filled the streets chanting that he had fallen.
The 1957 military junta governed Colombia from 10 May 1957 to 7 August 1958 and oversaw the transition to civilian rule and the National Front power-sharing arrangement between the Liberal and Conservative parties.
SOURCE REVIEWEDAcademiaLab, "Colombian Military Junta"open source ↗
Editorial Note
Sources agree Rojas Pinilla was forced out on 10 May 1957 (the Cline dataset date) by a general strike and ceded power to a five-member military junta, matching the leader fate of a leader deposed but not physically harmed (he was later exiled). Two Wikipedia-derived sources, a primary FRUS record, and the Global Nonviolent Action Database were read directly. One activist source described a three-man delegation, but the FRUS and Wikipedia agree the junta had five members.
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:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, President of Colombia (forced to resign, ceded power to a military junta; later exiled).
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
“Rojas is Ousted: Colombia ruled by a 5 man Junta,” by Tad Szulc, May 11, 1957
“COLOMBIANS RALLY TO BACK PRESIDENT,” October 4, 1958
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 →