Coup Atlas Research Database
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09411271954AttemptedRebel coup

Costa Rica, 1954 — rebel coup attempt

Costa Rica (CRI)Central America, AmericasNovember 27, 1954

Event Summary

The dataset records a rebel coup attempt against Costa Rica dated 27 November 1954, corresponding to the conspiracy phase of the Calderonista invasion that crossed from Nicaragua into Costa Rica in January 1955. From late 1954 exiled followers of former president Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia, sheltered by Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Garcia and financed and reportedly given air support by Venezuela's Perez Jimenez, prepared a movement to overthrow President Jose Figueres Ferrer. U.

S. intelligence in late 1954 tracked the plotting against Figueres. The invasion proper began on 7 to 11 January 1955, with rebels under West Point trained Captain Teodoro Picado Lara seizing the border town of Villa Quesada before a volunteer citizen militia and the government's two plane air force, aided by an Organization of American States investigation of Nicaraguan complicity and U.

S. supplied fighters, drove them back across the border. Figueres survived and completed his term.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Jose Figueres Ferrer survived the Calderonista conspiracy and January 1955 invasion unharmed and completed his term
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Jose Figueres Ferrer (president of Costa Rica, target)
Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia (exiled former president behind the movement)
Teodoro Picado Lara (military commander of the invasion)
Anastasio Somoza Garcia (Nicaraguan backer)

Sources

Since late 1954 a group of Costa Ricans favoring the restoration of Calderon Guardia began preparing a movement in Nicaragua to overthrow the Figueres administration with the complicity of the Somoza regime.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Calderonista Invasion of Costa Rica (1955) open source ↗
The rebellion started on 7 January 1955 when forces loyal to Calderon backed by Nicaraguan president Somoza crossed the border into Costa Rica, with Venezuelan dictator Perez Jimenez providing financial and reportedly air support, and the rebels seized Villa Quesada on 12 January.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Calderonista Invasion of Costa Rica (1955) open source ↗
U.S. Army intelligence reports submitted in early December 1954 discussed revolutionary activities against the government of Costa Rica, though at that point plotting against Figueres appeared disorganized.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1955 to 1957 vol. VI open source ↗
The government of Costa Rica faced a serious threat early in 1955 when Calderon and Picado forces, with covert assistance from Nicaragua and Venezuela, attempted to invade the country, but the invasion failed and the exiles' morale suffered.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1955 to 1957 vol. VII open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 27 November 1954 predates the 7 to 11 January 1955 invasion and corresponds to the late 1954 conspiracy phase that U.S. intelligence was tracking; the armed cross border attack itself came in January 1955, so the dataset date reflects the plotting rather than the invasion day, flagged. Second Calderonista attempt in the dataset after the December 1948 invasion enriched in batch 57.

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
09411271954

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Jose Figueres Ferrer survived the Calderonista conspiracy and January 1955 invasion unharmed and completed his term.

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
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ 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 N Chief Says Plot Failed Figueres No Longer Believes Rebel Units On Nicaraguan Frontier Will Attack,” November 28, 1954 Cote d’Ivoire

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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Related Records

Costa Rica — Rebel coup, 19481948-04-25SuccessfulCentral AmericaCosta Rica — Rebel coup, 19481948-05-08SuccessfulCentral AmericaCosta Rica — Dissident coup, 19491949-04-02AttemptedCentral America