Coup Atlas Research Database
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09201061949SuccessfulMilitary coup

El Salvador, 1949 — military coup

El Salvador (SLV)Central America, AmericasJanuary 6, 1949

Event Summary

The Cline dataset records a second successful Salvadoran event on January 6, 1949, weeks after the December 14, 1948 Majors' Coup that removed President Salvador Castaneda Castro. Contemporary sources describe the aftermath as a consolidation of power by the Revolutionary Council of Government, the five-member civic-military junta of majors and civilians that took over after the coup, chaired by Major Oscar Osorio. In the weeks after seizing power the junta abrogated the 1886 constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, lifted the long-standing state of siege, purged senior officers, and moved to secure diplomatic recognition, steps that cemented the new order that would govern El Salvador through the 1950 constitution.

The specific January 6 date is not distinctly documented as a separate coup in the sources reviewed and most likely reflects a coding of this consolidation phase rather than a new seizure of power.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Revolutionary Council of Government (consolidation of the junta installed by the December 1948 Majors' Coup)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Oscar Osorio (Revolutionary Council chairman)
Oscar Adan Bolanos (council member)
Reynaldo Galindo Pohl (civilian council member)
Manuel de Jesus Cordova (military council member)

Sources

Following the 14 December 1948 coup, the victors established the Revolutionary Council of Government, composed of three military officers and two civilians, which abrogated the 1886 constitution and dissolved the National Assembly.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Majors' Coup" open source ↗
A U.S. Embassy dispatch of 22 December 1948 recorded that the Junta, now calling itself the Council of Revolutionary Government, had lifted the state of siege in effect since 1946 and was consolidating its position while seeking early U.S. recognition.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948, Vol. IX, Document 98 open source ↗
The Revolutionary Council of Government governed El Salvador after the Majors' Coup until Major Oscar Osorio was elected president in 1950; council member Manuel de Jesus Cordova later resigned in October 1949.
INDIRECT CITATION Wikipedia, "Manuel de Jesus Cordova" open source ↗

Editorial Note

IMPORTANT: The sources reviewed document the main coup on 14 December 1948 and the junta's consolidation through late December 1948, but do not describe a distinct coup on 6 January 1949. This entry is therefore framed as the consolidation phase of the Majors' Revolution and flags the date ambiguity openly rather than inventing a separate event. Two Wikipedia articles and a primary FRUS dispatch were read directly; the target_leader is labeled CHAIN because no single deposed leader corresponds to this consolidation record.

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
09201061949

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Revolutionary Council of Government (consolidation of the junta installed by the December 1948 Majors' Coup).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; 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

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_El_Salvador_(1931-1979)

New York Times

“Cordova Quits Salvador Junta,” January 6, 1949
“Osorio Now heads El Salvador Junta: Shift After Cordoba’s Fight is seen as favoring more liberal, popular regime,” January 7, 1949
“Two of the 4-man Junta in El Salvador Quit,” October 24, 1949

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

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