Coup Atlas Research Database
← Back to explorer
09406251946AttemptedDissident coup

Costa Rica, 1946 — dissident coup attempt

Costa Rica (CRI)Central America, AmericasJune 25, 1946

Event Summary

The dataset records a failed dissident coup against President Teodoro Picado of Costa Rica on 25 June 1946. Picado had won the 1944 election as the candidate of the ruling National Republican machine and was widely viewed as a proxy for former president Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia, governing in alliance with Manuel Mora's communist Popular Vanguard Party. His government repeatedly used military force against street unrest while the opposition around Jose Figueres Ferrer concluded that peaceful change was impossible.

Figueres carried out a campaign of armed attacks inside Costa Rica during 1945 and 1946 that was intended to climax in a general strike against the government. The 1946 plotting failed and Picado remained in office. The confrontation was only postponed: after the annulled 1948 election Figueres launched the civil war that forced Picado from power and into exile in Nicaragua.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Teodoro Picado survived the 1946 plotting unharmed and remained in office until the 1948 civil war forced him out
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Teodoro Picado (president of Costa Rica, target)
Jose Figueres Ferrer (opposition leader and plotter)
Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia (former president behind the Picado government)
Manuel Mora (Popular Vanguard Party leader allied to Picado)

Sources

Figueres carried out a series of armed attacks inside Costa Rica during 1945 and 1946 that was supposed to climax in a general strike against the government, activities that U.S. officials followed with concern.
SOURCE REVIEWED Military History Wiki, Costa Rican Civil War open source ↗
Picado, a law professor perceived as a weak figure controlled by Calderon, won the 1944 election for the ruling National Republican Party after Calderon was barred from consecutive reelection.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Costa Rican Civil War open source ↗
The Picado administration resorted several times to military force to keep the peace, and pro-Calderon elements in the military and communist militias contributed to street violence against the opposition.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Costa Rican Civil War open source ↗
Picado ultimately fell in the March to April 1948 civil war, signing the Pact of the Mexican Embassy on 19 April 1948 and leaving power after Figueres's National Liberation Army defeated government forces.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. Army War College SOIC case study, Costa Rica 1948 open source ↗

Editorial Note

Accessible English sources document the 1945 to 1946 Figueres campaign of armed action against the Picado government rather than a discrete named event on 25 June 1946, so the facts here anchor that plotting wave and its context. Ties forward to the Costa Rica 1948 civil war record in the dataset.

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
09406251946

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Teodoro Picado survived the 1946 plotting unharmed and remained in office until the 1948 civil war forced him out.

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

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

New York Times

“Costa Rica Puts Down Revolutionary Attempt,” June 26, 1946
“Guatemala coup fails Arevalo Regime foils plotters - 70 seized in Costa Rica,” June 27, 1946

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 →

Know something about this event?
Tips are reviewed against sources before anything is added.