In late May and early June 1993 President Jorge Serrano Elias of Guatemala attempted a self-coup, dissolving Congress and the courts, but the move collapsed within days under domestic and international pressure, and he was forced from office and fled the country. On May 25, 1993 Serrano suspended much of the constitution, dissolved Congress and the Supreme Court, disbanded the Constitutional Court, imposed censorship, and declared he would rule by decree, a maneuver modeled on Fujimori's 1992 autogolpe in Peru. Unlike Fujimori's, it drew no popular support: broad sectors of Guatemalan society protested, the Constitutional Court ruled the action illegal, the Organization of American States condemned it, and the army enforced the court's ruling and withdrew its backing.
By June 1, 1993 Serrano was forced to step down, and he fled into exile (to El Salvador and then Panama). Congress elected the human-rights ombudsman Ramiro de Leon Carpio as president.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Jorge Serrano Elias, whose self-coup backfired; he was forced from office by early June 1993 and fled into exile.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Jorge Serrano Elias (president whose self-coup collapsed)
Ramiro de Leon Carpio (ombudsman elected to replace him)
Sources
The 1993 Guatemala constitutional crisis took place when President Jorge Serrano Elias attempted a self-coup, and on 25 May 1993 he illegally suspended the constitution, dissolved Congress and the Supreme Court, imposed censorship, and tried to restrict civil freedom, an attempt similar to Fujimori's but which unlike Fujimori's had no popular support and met strong protests, so that in the face of this pressure Serrano resigned as president and fled the country.
Serrano had severely overestimated his support from the military and underestimated the international diplomatic reaction to his coup, and in one last bid to stay in office he tried to recall the Congress he had dissolved, but few responded and he was forced to step down, subsequently fleeing to El Salvador under military protection on June 2.
A week after the self-coup an eclectic coalition of liberals and conservatives forced Serrano to resign, and on June 6 former human rights ombudsman Ramiro de Leon Carpio was appointed president, with the military abandoning Serrano's vice-president Gustavo Espina Salguero after he tried to claim the presidency.
SOURCE REVIEWEDNACLA, Guatemala: Coup and Countercoupopen source ↗
The Constitutional Court presided over by Epaminondas Gonzalez Dubon declared Serrano's actions unconstitutional, and five days of tension followed until on June 1 Serrano was obliged to resign when the army complied with the Court's ruling and withdrew its support, after which the former president left the country and took asylum in Panama.
SOURCE REVIEWEDPrensa Libre, Serranazo: autogolpe fallido en 1993open source ↗
Editorial Note
Coding note and dataset examination: the dataset labels this a military coup with a fled fate. The underlying event is Serrano's self-coup (the Serranazo) of May 25, 1993, but crucially it BACKFIRED: unlike a successful autogolpe, it collapsed within days, and the outcome the dataset captures is Serrano's removal and flight, brought about when the Constitutional Court ruled the seizure illegal and the army enforced that ruling and withdrew its support. The military-coup label thus fits the decisive countermove (the army siding with the court to remove the president) rather than Serrano's initial power grab. Who is coded deposed: President Jorge Serrano Elias. Fate coding: he was forced to step down and fled into exile (El Salvador, then Panama), matching the dataset's fled fate; he was not physically harmed. Comparison recorded: sources explicitly contrast this with Fujimori's 1992 Peru autogolpe (enriched in batch 42), which succeeded because it had popular and military support, whereas Serrano's lacked both. Aftermath recorded: his vice-president Gustavo Espina tried to take power but was blocked, and Congress elected the human-rights ombudsman Ramiro de Leon Carpio. Neutrality maintained.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Jorge Serrano Elias, whose self-coup backfired; he was forced from office by early June 1993 and fled into exile..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; fled the country. 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
Chicago Tribune
“Backed by Army, Guatemala’s VP Grabs Power,” June 3, 1993
Los Angeles Times
“Leader Ousted in Guatemala” by Tracy Wilkinson, June 2, 1993
New York Times
“Guatemala’s Counter-Coup: A Military About-Face,” by Tim Golden, June 3, 1993
Newsday
“Guatemala President Deposed by Army,” June 2, 1993
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 →