Coup Atlas Research Database
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10105041962AttemptedMilitary coup

Venezuela, 1962 — military coup attempt

Venezuela (VEN)South America, AmericasMay 4, 1962

Event Summary

On 4 to 5 May 1962 a garrison of the Venezuelan marines and national guard at Carupano, in the eastern state of Sucre, rose in revolt against the government of President Romulo Betancourt, in the rising known as El Carupanazo. The revolt drew together disaffected junior officers and members of the outlawed leftist Communist Party and Movement of the Revolutionary Left, part of the Castroite insurgency then gathering against Betancourt's Democratic Action government. The rebels seized the naval base and the town, but loyal forces backed by air and naval units moved swiftly to isolate and crush the rising within a day or two.

In its aftermath Betancourt suspended the two leftist parties and pressed his crackdown on the insurgency. El Carupanazo was followed a month later by the larger and bloodier Puerto Cabello revolt, El Porteñazo, both of which Betancourt suppressed, allowing him to complete his term in 1964.

Researched Details

Researched

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

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Romulo Betancourt survived the Carupano revolt and completed his full elected term in 1964
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Romulo Betancourt (president of Venezuela, target)
Carupano marine and national guard rebels (plotters)
Communist Party and MIR (allied leftist parties)

Sources

El Carupanazo was a military uprising against the government of Romulo Betancourt that took place on 4 May 1962 at the naval base in Carupano in Sucre state.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, El Carupanazo open source ↗
The revolt involved disaffected military officers together with members of the Communist Party of Venezuela and the Movement of the Revolutionary Left, and it was suppressed by loyal forces.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, El Carupanazo open source ↗
After the Carupano rising Betancourt suspended the Communist Party and the MIR, intensifying his campaign against the leftist insurgency.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, El Carupanazo open source ↗
El Carupanazo was followed a month later by the larger Puerto Cabello revolt known as El Portenazo, both of which the Betancourt government suppressed.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, El Portenazo open source ↗

Editorial Note

Date match, documented as El Carupanazo. Dataset codes it a military coup, reflecting the garrison revolt. Continues the Venezuela Betancourt run and precedes the June 1962 Puerto Cabello revolt.

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
10105041962
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-101-1962-05-04

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

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Romulo Betancourt survived the Carupano revolt and completed his full elected term in 1964.

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

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Powell and Thyne

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Hartford Courant

“Garrison Revolts in Venezuela,” May 5, 1962

New York Times

“Venezuela Crushes A 2-Day Rebellion,” May 6, 1962

Los Angeles Times

“Venezuelan Troops, Planes Crush Revolt,” May 6, 1962

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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