Guatemala, 1982 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 13 August 1982, during General Efrain Rios Montt's consolidation of dictatorial power in Guatemala amid discontent among the officers and civilians sidelined after the March 1982 coup and among loyalists of the ousted Lucas Garcia government. The 23 March 1982 coup by young officers had installed Rios Montt as head of a three-man junta, but on 9 June 1982 he forced out the other two junta members to rule alone as head of state, commander of the armed forces, and defense minister, dashing the plotters' hopes for a civilian-military junta and prompt elections. In June 1982 Rios Montt claimed to have uncovered a coup plot by followers of ousted General Lucas Garcia and postponed elections to 1985, and he ruled by decree under martial law with a suspended constitution while intensifying a brutal counterinsurgency (Victoria 82 and Operation Sofia) against the URNG and indigenous population.
On 17 August 1982 he established a new Council of State. The 13 August 1982 coding sits in this period of plotting against Rios Montt by disillusioned officers and Lucas loyalists, days before the Council of State's creation.
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
09008131982
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Rios Montt ruled alone until his defense minister overthrew him in August 1983.
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
CSP
U.S. State Department
Washington Post
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 →