autogolpe

[aw-toh-gawl-pey]

noun

Spanish.

1. self-coup.

   One of the justifications he made for his autogolpe in 1992 was his indictment of the corruption within the judiciary.

Word History and Origins

Origin of autogolpe¹

First recorded in 1970–75; from Spanish auto- auto- ¹ ( def. ) + golpe “a hit” (from Latin colaphus, from Greek kólaphos ); coup ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

In 1992, Fujimori, seized additional power via an autogolpe — a self-coup — that dissolved Congress.

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This is an embarrassment to the honorable tradition of autogolpe.

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They compared it to the 1992 "autogolpe", the Spanish word meaning "self-coup", which is used to describe the actions of President Alberto Fujimori, who successfully dissolved Congress and the judiciary with the backing of the military.

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Technically, the coup experts pointed out, if Trump did seize another term, the correct term would be “autogolpe,” not “coup,” since he would simply be an existing president extending his own rule, rather than an outsider overthrowing an incumbent.

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Some said he is tiptoeing toward an “autogolpe,” a Spanish term popularized in Latin America to describe a “self-coup” attempted by leaders who came to power legally and acted outside the law to try to maintain it.

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