Coup Atlas Research Database
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13007151950AttemptedDissident coup

Ecuador, 1950 — dissident coup attempt

Ecuador (ECU)South America, AmericasJuly 15, 1950

Event Summary

On 15 July 1950 the government of President Galo Plaza Lasso of Ecuador moved against a dissident challenge from the Concentration of Popular Forces, the Guayaquil based populist machine of Carlos Guevara Moreno, whose organ Momento had waged a corrosive campaign against the regime. The CFP leadership was violently arrested on 15 July 1950 after interior minister Andres F. Cordova found the legal formula to close the magazine and prosecute the party's leaders, ending the plot recorded in the dataset as a failed dissident coup against Plaza.

The episode was the sharpest political storm of a presidency otherwise remembered for constitutional scruple: Plaza permitted free elections for the 1952 succession and completed his term, while Guevara Moreno reemerged as CFP boss and was later deported by the incoming Velasco Ibarra government.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Galo Plaza Lasso survived the challenge unharmed and completed his term in 1952
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Galo Plaza Lasso (president of Ecuador, target)
Carlos Guevara Moreno (CFP founder and opposition chief)
Andres F. Cordova (interior minister who broke the plot)

Sources

Opposition chief Carlos Guevara Moreno, founder of the CFP, launched sharp and corrosive attacks on the regime from his party organ Momento, until interior minister Andres F. Cordova found the legal means to close the magazine and prosecute the CFP leaders, who were violently arrested on 15 July 1950.
SOURCE REVIEWED Enciclopedia del Ecuador, Galo Plaza Lasso open source ↗
Plaza's commitment to the principles and practices of democracy was his most important contribution to Ecuadorian political culture, and he left office in 1952 as the first president in 28 years to complete his term.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, History of Ecuador 1944 to 1960 open source ↗
Guevara Moreno, boss of the Guayaquil based CFP, was arrested and deported with other party leaders by Velasco Ibarra after 1952 and reassumed control of the CFP in 1955 following a three year exile.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, History of Ecuador 1944 to 1960 open source ↗
A cardinal point of Plaza's policy was scrupulous adherence to constitutional procedures and the utmost freedom of discussion, sincere efforts to guide Ecuador toward more democratic government in one of South America's most unstable countries.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1950 vol. II open source ↗

Editorial Note

The Enciclopedia del Ecuador account gives an exact 15 July 1950 date for the crackdown on the CFP leadership, matching the dataset date; the dataset codes the underlying CFP challenge as an attempted dissident coup against Plaza, and the sourced facts frame that confrontation. Pairs with the Ecuador 1949-07-26 record in this batch.

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
13007151950

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Galo Plaza Lasso survived the challenge unharmed and completed his term in 1952.

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

Los Angeles Times

“More Than 100 Leaders of Revolt Await Trial,” July 19, 1950

South China Morning Post

“Rebellion in Ecuador Quelled: Leader of Revolt Seized,” July 15, 1950

The Times of India

“Revolt in Ecuador’s Main Port Quelled,” July 16, 1950

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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