Ecuador, 1961 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 16 October 1961, during the collapse of President Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra's fourth term. New sales taxes imposed in 1961 sparked a general strike and riots in several major cities, and the velasquista coalition split, with the left led by Vice President Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy. Amid the growing chaos Velasco ordered the arrest of his vice president on 6 November, a move widely seen as unconstitutional, and on 7 to 8 November 1961 the military deposed Velasco, who took refuge in the Mexican embassy, and installed Arosemena as his constitutional successor.
Contemporary and later accounts note that CIA activity, channelled through labour organisations, worked to erode support for Velasco because he refused to break relations with Cuba. The 16 October coding sits in the escalating strike and plotting phase that immediately preceded the November overthrow, a crucial turning point that ended the relative stability Ecuador had enjoyed since 1948.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
13010161961
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Velasco Ibarra was deposed weeks later on 7-8 November 1961 and replaced by Vice President Arosemena.
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
Baseline Source-Document Entries
New York Times
Times of India
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 →