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1988 São Tomé And Príncipe Coup Attempt
The 1988 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état attempt was a failed paramilitary operation undertaken by the exile National Resistance Front of São Tomé and Príncipe – Renewal ( FRNSTP-R) that sought to overthrow the ruling Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe, MLSTP government. Launched on 8 March with the arrival of 44 mostly unarmed personnel on the island of São Tomé via small boats, the attempted coup was quickly suppressed, with three of the pustchists being killed and one policeman wounded. Afonso dos Santos, leader of the FRNSTP-R, who was captured during the attempt, was subsequently tried, convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison in 1989, along with 38 co-defendants who received terms ranging from two to 21 years. However, following the end of single party rule in 1990, President Pinto da Costa granted an amnesty to those convicted. The coup attempt has been described as an "amazingly amateurish operation". Background The National Res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
São Tomé
São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álvaro Caminha founded the colony of São Tomé in 1493. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugarcane. The island was uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime around 1470. São Tomé, situated about north of the equator, had a climate wet enough to grow sugarcane in wild abundance. In 1497, 2,000 Jewish children, eight years old and under, were kidnapped from the Iberian peninsula, and forcefully converted to receive catholic education, following the national policy of conversion to Catholicism. The nearby African Kingdom of Kongo eventually became a source of slave labor as well. The island of São Tomé was the main center of sugar production in the sixteenth century; it was overtaken by Brazil b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |