Coup Atlas Research Database
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04009211947ConspiracyDissident coup

Cuba, 1947 — dissident coup conspiracy

Cuba (CUB)Caribbean, AmericasSeptember 21, 1947

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a dissident coup conspiracy in Cuba on 21 September 1947, during the turbulent and gangster-ridden second presidency of Ramon Grau San Martin of the Autentico party. Grau had filled Cuba's police and security forces with members of armed action groups as a reward for their help in his campaign, producing a period of endemic political violence and score-settling among rival factions such as the Movimiento Socialista Revolucionario and the Union Insurreccional Revolucionaria. The same month saw the deadly Orfila shootout in Marianao on 15 September 1947 between rival police-linked gangs, and the collapse of the Cayo Confites expedition, a Cuban-backed plot by Dominican exiles and Cuban action-group figures to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Trujillo, which the army chief of staff suppressed in late September 1947.

Contemporary sources also record that the US may have been aware of a plot to overthrow Grau in 1947. No single unambiguous anti-Grau coup plot on this exact date is documented, but the period was one of extreme instability. Grau completed his term and handed power to Carlos Prio Socarras in 1948.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Ramon Grau San Martin governed amid endemic instability and completed his term, handing power to Carlos Prio in 1948
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Ramon Grau San Martin (president of Cuba, target)
Armed action groups (MSR and UIR, sources of violence)
Cayo Confites expeditionaries (anti-Trujillo plotters based in Cuba)

Sources

Until late September 1947, when the army chief of staff suppressed the plot, Cuba lent every aid short of a declaration of war to the Cayo Confites expedition to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow Trujillo.
SOURCE REVIEWED Cuban Information Archives, Cayo Confites Am Embassy Report 4434 open source ↗
On 15 September 1947 a massive gunfight broke out in the Havana suburb of Marianao between rival action groups whose members Grau had installed in the island's police forces.
SOURCE REVIEWED ASCE, Ramon Grau San Martin: Cuba's Prophet of Disappointment open source ↗
Grau had filled the ranks of Cuba's police forces with members of the island's action groups as a reward for their help during his election campaign, making the security forces a repository of violent rivalries.
SOURCE REVIEWED ASCE, Ramon Grau San Martin: Cuba's Prophet of Disappointment open source ↗
One historical account notes that the FBI probably knew of, and possibly encouraged, a plot to overthrow Grau San Martin in his second presidency in 1947.
SOURCE REVIEWED American Heritage, The U.S. and Castro 1959-1962 open source ↗

Editorial Note

No single unambiguous anti-Grau coup plot precisely on 21 September 1947 was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the verified context of the extreme instability of Grau's gangster-era second presidency, including the Orfila shootout and the Cayo Confites affair of that same month, with the specific plot unconfirmed and flagged as context only. First Cuba record in the dataset 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
04009211947

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Ramon Grau San Martin governed amid endemic instability and completed his term, handing power to Carlos Prio in 1948.

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

New York Times

“CUBAN POLICE SEIZE LARGE ARMS CACHE; 13 Truckloads of Weapons Reported Found on Ranch of Presidential Aide,” September 22, 1947

Chicago Tribune

“Cache of arms reveals Cuban plot to revolt,” September 22, 1947
“Minister flees Cuba after Army reveals revolutionary plot,” September 24, 1947

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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