Surinam, 1982 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Suriname on 11 March 1982 against the military regime of Desi Bouterse, who had become the country's strongman since the February 1980 Sergeants' Coup. In March 1982 a serious countercoup was mounted by Sergeant Wilfred Hawker, a former ally who had turned against Bouterse's increasingly leftist and dictatorial course. Hawker's attempt briefly seized initiative but was quickly crushed by forces loyal to Bouterse.
Hawker was captured, and in a brutal display of the regime's ruthlessness he was executed shortly afterward, reportedly shot while tied to a stretcher. The failed countercoup hardened Bouterse's grip and foreshadowed the regime's most infamous atrocity later that year: in December 1982 fifteen prominent opponents, including lawyers, journalists, and academics, were rounded up and murdered at Fort Zeelandia in the notorious December Murders. Bouterse dominated Suriname through the 1980s and remained a powerful and controversial figure in its politics for decades afterward.
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
11503111982
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Desi Bouterse crushed Wilfred Hawker's March 1982 countercoup and had him executed, tightening his dictatorship.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. 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
Wikipedia
New York Times
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 →