Venezuela, 1958 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Venezuela on 7 September 1958, the second of the risings that the transitional government under Rear Admiral Wolfgang Larrazabal weathered during the year between the fall of Perez Jimenez and the inauguration of an elected president. This attempt, associated with Defense Minister Colonel Jesus Maria Castro Leon and hardline officers uneasy at the democratic opening and the legalization of leftist parties, sought to reverse the direction of the provisional junta. It was thwarted because enough officers remained loyal to the transition, and Castro Leon was forced out.
The failed rising did not derail the handover: the December 1958 election proceeded, bringing Democratic Action's Romulo Betancourt to the presidency in February 1959, and Castro Leon would try again with a border incursion in 1960 that also failed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
10109071958- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-101-1958-09-07-4
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The provisional junta under Wolfgang Larrazabal survived and completed the transition to elected civilian government in 1959.
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
CSP
New York 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 →