Djibouti, 1991 — dissident coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 8 January 1991, during a period of rising ethnic tension and Afar dissatisfaction with the Issa-dominated one-party regime of President Hassan Gouled Aptidon of Djibouti, months before the outbreak of the Djiboutian Civil War in late 1991. Gouled, an Issa, had ruled since independence in 1977, and from 1981 governed as a one-party state under the People's Rally for Progress, leaving many in the Afar community feeling politically marginalized. Dissatisfaction grew through the late 1980s, sharpened by the collapse of the neighboring Siad Barre and Mengistu regimes in 1991, and several Afar-aligned opposition movements were formed in 1991, including the Djibouti Patriotic Resistance Front, the Alliance of Forces for Democracy, and Action for a Review of Order in Djibouti, which regrouped in mid-1991 into the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy.
The 8 January 1991 coding sits in this pre-civil-war climate of anti-Gouled Afar opposition and conspiracy, before the FRUD launched its guerrilla insurgency in late 1991.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
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
52201081991
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Gouled remained in power through the ensuing civil war and ruled until 1999.
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
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
New African
The Annual Register. Volume 233. A Record of World Events 1991, by Day, Alan J (ed.), pp 251-252
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 →