Sao Tome and Principe, 2003 — military coup

Event Summary

On 16 July 2003 a faction of the armed forces of Sao Tome and Principe, led by Major Fernando Cobo Pereira and backed by the Christian Democratic Front, seized power in a bloodless coup while President Fradique de Menezes was abroad on a visit to Nigeria. The plotters, who included former members of South Africa's apartheid era Buffalo Battalion, said they acted out of frustration at grinding poverty and government corruption despite the imminent arrival of an oil boom in the small Gulf of Guinea island state, and out of grievances over the poor state of the military. Pereira's men, around two hundred soldiers, secured strategic sites, captured the radio and television stations, and detained Prime Minister Maria das Neves and other ministers, declaring a Military Juntai of National Salvation.

The takeover was swiftly condemned internationally and, under pressure and the threat of foreign intervention, the juntai negotiated a settlement. A memorandum of understanding signed on 22 July, mediated by Nigeria, Portugal, Brazil, the United States, and African states, restored constitutional order in exchange for an amnesty for the plotters and concessions on the military and oil revenue. Menezes returned to the country on 23 July, accompanied by Nigerian President Obasanjo, and resumed the presidency.