Nicaragua, 1964 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 24 September 1964, during the presidency of Rene Schick Gutierrez, who had been elected in 1963 and was widely regarded as a puppet of the Somoza family, with real power held by Luis Somoza Debayle and the National Guard chief Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The period was one of relative loosening under Luis Somoza compared with what would follow, but the non-Communist Conservative opposition remained deeply hostile to the dynasty and engaged in recurring grumbling, subversive plotting, and sporadic unrest. Meanwhile the Sandinista National Liberation Front, founded in 1961, was conducting early guerrilla activity that the National Guard was steadily suppressing through the mid 1960s.
The September 1964 coding sits in this continuum of anti-Somoza opposition plotting and low-level insurgency during the Schick interregnum, rather than a single dated coup attempt.
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
09309241964
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Schick and the Somoza dynasty retained control; opposition plotting and early Sandinista activity were contained.
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
The Christian Science Monitor “Nicaragua Reports Plot Discovered,” September 26, 1964
New York Times “Thwarting of Coup Plot Reported in Nicaragua,” September 25, 1964
Los Angeles Times
Chicago Tribune
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 →