Liberia, 1985 — dissident coup attempt

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted dissident coupi in Liberia on 1 April 1985 against the military government of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, during the tense year in which Doe was managing a fraudulent transition to civilian rule while his increasingly tribalist and brutal regime faced mounting opposition. Under pressure from the United States and creditors, Doe had lifted the ban on political parties in 1984 and staged elections in October 1985 that he rigged to claim victory, all while cracking down on rivals and dissidents. Alleged coup plots surfaced repeatedly in this period, some real and some likely fabricated to justify purges.

A coup attempt or plot in April 1985 came within that atmosphere of conspiracyi and repression and did not unseat Doe. The far more serious challenge came later that year, in November 1985, when Doe's former ally General Thomas Quiwonkpa mounted an armed invasion that briefly seemed to succeed before being crushed, after which Doe unleashed savage reprisals against the Gio and Mano peoples that helped set the stage for Liberia's descent into civil war.