Coup Atlas Research Database
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10101011958AttemptedMilitary coup

Venezuela, 1958 — military coup attempt

Venezuela (VEN)South America, AmericasJanuary 1, 1958

Event Summary

On 1 January 1958 Venezuelan Air Force fighter planes flew over Caracas at dawn in a poorly organized military rising against the dictatorship of General Marcos Perez Jimenez, the New Year's Day revolt that was the closest precedent to his fall three weeks later. The rising came weeks after a fraudulent December 1957 plebiscite that claimed an 85 percent vote to extend Perez Jimenez's rule, which had alienated junior officers and much of civilian society. The 1 January attempt was defeated, but it shattered the appearance of absolute military unity behind the regime, revealed deep divisions in the armed forces, and emboldened the civilian opposition organized as the Junta Patriotica.

Street actions and a general strike followed through January, and on 23 January 1958 Perez Jimenez abandoned Miraflores Palace and fled to the Dominican Republic, ending the dictatorship.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Marcos Perez Jimenez survived the New Year rising but was overthrown three weeks later on 23 January 1958
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Marcos Perez Jimenez (dictator of Venezuela, target)
Venezuelan Air Force officers (leaders of the New Year rising)
Junta Patriotica (civilian opposition emboldened by the revolt)

Sources

The closest precedent for the coup occurred on New Year's Day, 1 January 1958, when Venezuelan Air Force fighter planes soared into the sky over waking Caracas, a tremendous shock even for supporters of the government after the recent referendum.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1958 Venezuelan coup d'etat open source ↗
A poorly organized coup attempt on January 1, 1958 was defeated, revealing divisions in the armed forces that emboldened the growing civilian opposition.
SOURCE REVIEWED Choose Democracy, Case Study: Venezuela, January 1958 open source ↗
After the fraudulent December 15, 1957 plebiscite in which the regime claimed an 85 percent vote within two hours, street actions against the regime built toward a general strike on 21 January mobilized by the union of political parties, students, and workers.
SOURCE REVIEWED Choose Democracy, Case Study: Venezuela, January 1958 open source ↗
In the early hours of 23 January, despite having the support of an important sector of the armed forces, Perez Jimenez abandoned the Miraflores Palace and flew to the Dominican Republic.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1958 Venezuelan coup d'etat open source ↗

Editorial Note

Exact date match for the failed New Year rising, well documented as the precursor to the successful 23 January 1958 coup. Follows the 1948 and 1952 Venezuela records and precedes the successful January 1958 overthrow in the dataset.

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
10101011958
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-101-1958-01-01

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Marcos Perez Jimenez survived the New Year rising but was overthrown three weeks later on 23 January 1958.

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

Chicago Daily Tribune

“Venezuela Flyers Revolt: Capital Menaced by Rebel’s Planes; Report 1 Downed,” January 2, 1958

The Manchester Guardian

“Rebellion In Venezuela: Air Force Planes Over Capital,” January 2, 1958

New York Times

“Exiled Ex-President Foresees More Upheavals in Venezuela,” by Paul P. Kennedy, January 3, 1958
“Venezuela Quiet After Rebellion,” by Tad Szulc, January 4, 1958

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

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