Failed Coup Attempt in Gabon

Abstract

On January 7, a small group of Gabonese soldiers seized the state broadcasting building in Gabons capital, Libreville, and declared their intention to overthrow the government of President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Within hours, security forces retook the building and put down the coup attempt. The attempt followed months of political uncertainty after the president (aged 59) suffered a stroke in Saudi Arabia in October 2018; he has since remained outside the country and is currently convalescing in Morocco. Separately, the coup attempt came days after President Trump announced the deployment, beginning on January 2, of approximately 80 U.S. military personnel to Libreville as a standby force to protect U.S. citizens, personnel, and diplomatic facilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), should the security situation there deteriorate in the wake of December 2018 elections. Shortly after the coup attempt, a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) spokesperson stated that there is no change in the status of that deployment, and that U.S. forces were not presently tasked with securing diplomatic assets (or any other mission) in Gabon.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 09, 2019
Accession Number
AD1172126

Entities

People

  • Alexis Arieff
  • Tomas F. Husted

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Construction Materials
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of State
  • Elections
  • European Union
  • Governments
  • Maritime Security
  • Materials
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Training
  • Political Systems
  • Radio Stations
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Security
  • United States
  • United States Africa Command
  • United States Government

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security