The Surinamese coup d'état of 1980, usually referred to as the sergeants coup occurred on 25 February, when a group of sergeants of the Surinamese army took control of Suriname's government. The group declared the country to be a Socialist Republic, and stated that they would collectively run the country.[1] In spite of this, Sergeant Major Desi Bouterse, Chairman of the National Military Council, quickly established his rule of the country.
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President Johan Ferrier was forced out of office in August 1980, and several months after the coup d'état by Bouterse most of the political authority transferred to the military leadership. From then until 1988, the titular Presidents were essentially army-installed by Bouterse, who ruled as a de facto leader with few practical checks on his power.
On 8 December 1982, a group of fifteen academics, journalists, lawyers, union leaders, and military officials, who opposed the military rule in Suriname were executed in Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo. Fourteen of those executed were Surinamese; Frank Wijngaarde was a Dutch national. The events are known as the December murders. Desi Bouterse is alleged to be the mastermind of the killings, and has since claimed political responsibility.
In 1986 a massacre occurred in the Maroon village of Moiwana, as part of the Suriname Guerrilla War.
Elections were held in 1987 and a new constitution was adopted, which among other things allowed Bouterse to remain in charge of the army. Dissatisfied with the government, Bouterse summarily dismissed them in 1990, by telephone. This event became popularly known as "the telephone coup". Bouterse's power began to wane after the 1991 elections however, and a brutal civil war between the Suriname army and the Maroons, loyal to the rebel leader Ronnie Brunswijk, further weakened his position during the 1990s.