1977 Benin coup d'état attempt

The 1977 Benin coup d'état attempt, Opération Crevette or Operation Shrimp was a failed attempt by a team of French-led mercenaries to overthrow the government of the People's Republic of Benin which was led by Mathieu Kérékou whose communist party, the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB), was the only allowed political party in the country. The coup took place on 17 January 1977 and included a failed invasion of the port city of Cotonou by mercenaries contracted by a group of exiled Beninese political rivals.[1]

History of Benin
History of the Kingdom of Dahomey
Early history
Modern period

Bob Denard was the leader of the mercenary group and although Jacques Foccart denied knowledge of the attempted coup after its failure, he did recognize that it had been backed-up by Gnassingbé Eyadéma (Togo), Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Ivory Coast), Omar Bongo (Gabon) and Hassan II (Morocco), all allies of France.[2]

The coup would be one of several against Kérékou who survived numerous attempts to oust him, including two coup attempts in 1988.[3]

gollark: There are still more "industry-oriented" options for studying it and some which are less so.
gollark: Computer science isn't software engineering, though. CS is meant to teach more theory-oriented stuff.
gollark: As in, you think the majority of them don't *ask* for it, or you think the majority don't need degree-related skills?
gollark: The entry-level desk job things will probably get increasingly automated away anyway.
gollark: I didn't say that that produces *good* outcomes for people involved.

References
  1. Adesina, Olutayo (2005). "Benin, Republic of (Dahomey) Kérékou, Mathieu (1935–)". In Shillington, Kevin (ed.). Encyclopedia of African History. pp. 242+.
  2. Bob Denard, chien de guerre Archived October 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, L'Humanité, 4 May 1999 (in French)
  3. "Benin profile – Timeline". BBC News. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
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