Coup Atlas Research Database
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10101181960ConspiracyMilitary coup

Venezuela, 1960 — military coup conspiracy

Venezuela (VEN)South America, AmericasJanuary 18, 1960

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a military, dissident conspiracy in Venezuela on 18 January 1960, during the recurring rightist military plotting against President Romulo Betancourt, elected in December 1958 and inaugurated in February 1959. United States diplomatic records note that from its inception the Betancourt government was subjected to a continuing series of attempted coups by disgruntled reactionary civilian and dissident rightist military elements, and that Betancourt had to contend with rightist military plotting throughout much of his term. No discrete named plot precisely on 18 January 1960 appears in accessible sources; the well-documented named episode came a few months later, when General Jesus Maria Castro Leon led an uprising in San Cristobal in April 1960.

The coded January 1960 conspiracy fits this pattern of early rightist military plotting against the Betancourt democracy.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Betancourt thwarted the rightist plotting with armed-forces support and completed his term
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Romulo Betancourt (president of Venezuela, target)
Dissident rightist military officers (plotters)
Jesus Maria Castro Leon (later San Cristobal uprising leader, April 1960)

Sources

From its inception the Betancourt government was subjected to a continuing series of attempted coups by disgruntled reactionary civilian and dissident rightist military elements, which were thwarted by effective government action supported by the armed forces.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1961-63 vol. X-XII supplement open source ↗
Betancourt had to contend with rightist military plotting throughout much of his term.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXXI open source ↗
Following his election in December 1958, Betancourt formed a strong multi-party coalition because of widespread concern over the threat of another military intervention.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. State Department, FRUS 1964-68 vol. XXXI open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete plot precisely on 18 January 1960 was found in accessible sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the context of early-1960 rightist military plotting against Betancourt. Flagged as context. Distinct from the January 1958 coup and the April 1960 Castro Leon uprising. Second Venezuela record; pairs with the 18 March 1958 Venezuela record in this batch.

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
10101181960

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Betancourt thwarted the rightist plotting with armed-forces support and completed his term.

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

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
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Chicago Daily Tribune

“90 Arrested in Venezuelan Murder Plot: Military Officers Are Among Those Seized,” January 22, 1960

New York Times

“Caracas Breaks PLot: 7 Officers Among 79 Arrested, Venezuelans Say,” January 21, 1960
“Caracas Reports Smashing a Plot: Elaborate Plans Discovered for Coup – Officers and Civilians Arrested,” January 22, 1960

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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