Coup Atlas Research Database
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15012211955AttemptedRebel coup

Paraguay, 1955 — rebel coup attempt

Paraguay (PRY)South America, AmericasDecember 21, 1955

Event Summary

The dataset records a rebel coup attempt against Paraguay dated 21 December 1955, in the first full year of General Alfredo Stroessner's rule after he seized power in the May 1954 coup that ousted President Federico Chaves. Stroessner spent his early years consolidating a personalist dictatorship within the Colorado Party, purging rivals and factional enemies of the Guion Rojo and Democratico wings, exiling opponents, and building the repressive apparatus that would sustain his thirty five year Stronato. His regime faced recurrent conspiracies and exile-backed plots in the mid-1950s from displaced Colorados, Liberals, and Febreristas.

Any coup attempt in December 1955 came within that turbulence and did not dislodge Stroessner, who tightened his grip and ruled Paraguay until he was finally overthrown by his own general Andres Rodriguez in February 1989.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Alfredo Stroessner survived and ruled Paraguay until his overthrow in 1989
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Alfredo Stroessner (president of Paraguay, target)
Exiled Colorado, Liberal, and Febrerista opponents (recurrent plotters)

Sources

On 4 May 1954 Stroessner ordered his troops into the streets and staged a coup, and after a divided Colorado Party nominated him he took office on 15 August 1954, beginning the fifth and longest of Paraguay's extended dictatorships.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner open source ↗
Stroessner used political repression, threats, and death squads to secure his longevity, and after taking power purged the military and party of rivals including supporters of Epifanio Mendez Fleitas, whom he sent into exile in 1956.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner open source ↗
Stroessner was at first barely in control of the Colorado Party, which was split into competing factions, while the army was also not a dependable supporter of his rule in the mid-1950s.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner open source ↗
Stroessner ruled Paraguay as a de facto one-party military dictatorship for almost 35 years, from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete documentation of a 21 December 1955 Paraguayan coup attempt was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's rebel coup coding and the verified context of Stroessner's early consolidation, with plotter identity for this specific date unconfirmed, flagged. Follows the many Paraguay records of the 1948 to 1954 churn enriched in earlier batches.

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:

Cline Center id
15012211955
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-150-1955-12-21

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Alfredo Stroessner survived and ruled Paraguay until his overthrow in 1989.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. 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
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.

New York Times

“PARRGUAY TENSE IN A PARTY TRUCE Forces That Revolted in Vain Against Stroessner May Make Another Attempt Not a Strong Man,” January 6, 1956

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

Paraguay — Rebel coup, 19481948-04-11ConspiracySouth AmericaParaguay — Dissident coup, 19591959-12-12AttemptedSouth AmericaParaguay — Military coup, 19481948-10-25AttemptedSouth America