On April 3, 1984 Colonel Lansana Conte seized power in Guinea in a bloodless military coup days after the death of the longtime dictator Ahmed Sekou Toure, deposing the interim leadership and ending the single-party state Toure had built. Sekou Toure, who had ruled Guinea since independence in 1958, died on March 26, 1984 during heart surgery in the United States. Under the constitution, Prime Minister Louis Lansana Beavogui became interim president, and the sole legal party, the Democratic Party of Guinea, was to select a new leader who would automatically become president.
Just hours before the party Politburo was to choose Beavogui, the military struck on April 3, 1984. Colonel Conte took power, suspended the constitution, dissolved the party and the National Assembly, and freed political prisoners. Beavogui was deposed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Interim President Louis Lansana Beavogui, deposed on April 3, 1984 by Conte's coup after Sekou Toure's death; the dataset codes his fate as exiled, and he was removed without physical harm.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Louis Lansana Beavogui (interim president deposed)
Lansana Conte (colonel who seized power)
Ahmed Sekou Toure (the late longtime president)
Sources
The 1984 Guinean coup was the bloodless military coup that took place on 3 April 1984, led by Colonel Lansana Conte, and led to the deposition of Prime Minister Louis Lansana Beavogui, who had held that office since 1972 and had been serving as interim president since 26 March, when longtime President Ahmed Sekou Toure died during an emergency heart operation at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States.
The military struck just hours before the Politburo of the Democratic Party of Guinea, the only legally permitted party, was to select a new leader who under the constitution would have been automatically elected to a seven-year term as president, with interim president Beavogui expected to win, and Colonel Conte suspended the constitution and dissolved the PDG, the National Assembly, and all mass organizations.
General Lansana Conte seized power on April 3, 1984 following the death of President Ahmed Sekou Toure in a Cleveland, Ohio hospital, taking advantage of the confusion that surrounded the paralysis of the civilian government after Toure's death to gain control.
SOURCE REVIEWEDUPI Archives, Recent coups in Africaopen source ↗
A power struggle later developed between Conte and a fellow member of the military committee, Lieutenant Colonel Diarra Traore, who briefly served as Prime Minister in April to December 1984 and was executed in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July 1985.
Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup, accurately, led by Colonel Lansana Conte, who seized power in the power vacuum after the death of the longtime dictator Sekou Toure and deposed the interim leadership before the ruling party could install a successor. Fate coding: the dataset codes the deposed interim president Louis Lansana Beavogui as exiled; the coup was bloodless and Beavogui was removed without physical harm. Trigger recorded: Sekou Toure's death on March 26, 1984 during heart surgery in the United States created the vacuum; the military struck on April 3 just hours before the PDG Politburo was to confirm Beavogui as Toure's successor. Historical weight recorded: the coup ended the single-party state Sekou Toure had built since independence in 1958, and Conte freed political prisoners and dismantled the PDG apparatus, including the notorious Camp Boiro detention system. Arc forward: Conte ruled Guinea until his death in 2008; a July 1985 coup attempt by Diarra Traore was followed by executions of Sekou Toure associates, separate later events recorded as documented context.
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:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Interim President Louis Lansana Beavogui, deposed on April 3, 1984 by Conte's coup after Sekou Toure's death; the dataset codes his fate as exiled, and he was removed without physical harm..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; exiled. 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
“Guinea’s military assumes control; Seals off Nation,” April 4, 1984
“Colonel is Named Guinean President,” by Clifford May, April 6, 1984
“EX-PREMIER SEIZES POWER IN GUINEA,” July 5, 1985
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 →