Peru, 1976 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Peru on 9 July 1976 during the second phase of the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces, after the reformist leftist president General Juan Velasco Alvarado had been replaced in a bloodless internal coup in August 1975 by the more conservative General Francisco Morales Bermudez. Morales Bermudez was steering the regime rightward, dismantling parts of Velasco's radical program amid economic crisis, and this reorientation, together with rivalries within the military, produced tension and plotting among officers on both the left and the right. A coup attempt in July 1976 came within that context and did not unseat Morales Bermudez, who consolidated control, imposed a state of emergency, and deported opponents as he managed a turn toward austerity.
He ultimately presided over Peru's transition back to civilian rule, convening a Constituent Assembly in 1978 and handing power to an elected government in 1980, ending twelve years of military rule.
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
13507091976
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Francisco Morales Bermudez survived the July 1976 plotting and later led Peru's return to civilian rule.
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
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Luttwak
Chicago Tribune
The Sun
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 →