On this day in 1977, French mercenaries attempted to overthrow the People's Republic of Benin. President Kérékou’s Presidential Guard, aided by North Korean soldiers, effectively repelled the invading force, and the coup failed.
Following a coup of young military officers in 1972, the junta government of Benin (then known as Dahomey) would cooperate closely with various domestic socialist political groups.
This leftward turn would culminate in President Mathieu Kérékou proclaiming the formal accession of his government to Marxism-Leninism in 1974, and the official establishment of the People's Republic of Benin in 1975.
Benin's turn towards socialism would draw the ire of its former colonial master, France. A small group of Beninese political exiles would make their home in France and conspire with Robert Denard, a notorious French, anti-communist, imperialist mercenary.
Denard and the exiles would form a small army of around 150 hired guns. Led by Denard, this group created a planned to depose Kérékou and received funds, arms, and training from several pro-French African governments, including Morocco, Togo, and the Ivory Coast.
The mercenaries departed from a Gabonese airstrip in the early hours of January 16th, 1977, disguised as a civilian aircraft and destined for Cotonou, the executive seat of the government of Benin.
Upon landing at the Cotonou airport around 7 am, the mercenaries quickly took control of both air traffic control and the airport's main terminal, then advanced towards the Presidential Palace.
Kérékou, informed of the ongoing assault, would call on civilians over the radio to take up arms in defense against the coup. The Army, Presidential Guard, which President Kérékou had expanded North Korean soldiers, and armed civilians defend the Presidential Palace until the mercenaries retreated back to the airport and returned to Gabon.
Seven Beninese were killed during the attack: 6 soldiers and 1 civilian. A large monument in central Cotonou was erected in their memory in 1979.
Today, January 16th is celebrated as Martyr's Day in Benin to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting against neo-colonialism.
In 1977, 80 Mercenaries Nearly Took Over Benin :france-cool:
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Asked 2.5yo daughter for band name ideas. She said, and I quote, "meow meow beep beep." I didn't mind it, so I checked to see if it was taken already, and it turns out to be a line from a Jesus Lizard song. My 2.5yo daughter is hardcore
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"Conservatives are lucky we don't live in a country where people are judged by the content of their character because they would be fucked. Their character is dogshit" -Matt Christman
Happy MLK day everyone
the fire alarm definitely doesn't need a new battery there's no way this is a coincidence nuh-uh
15 years since I hung out with someone IRL here :sadness-abysmal:
The worst part is that there's no end in sight. No hope of ever dating, even having a FWB, or merely a friend's place to go to, or a nice place to hang out and shoot the shit in public even... I'm fucking doomed
ChatGPT now says this to me if I try to make it say anthing positive about communism
Note: As a AI model, I was trained on a dataset from internet and my knowledge cut off is 2021 and while communism may be a topic of discussion, I want to remind you that it is a complex and controversial political ideology that has led to varied results throughout history. It's important to be informed and critical when discussing and/or forming opinions on such matters.
Fun fact I just learned: Humans are the only species that can throw things at high speed. Little league baseball players can throw a ball 2-3 times faster than an adult chimpanzee.
Biomechanical I believe. We have a particular layout of muscles in our arms and shoulders that let us wind up and quickly release in a way no other species can. I think the article I read said we’ve had it since homo erectus but I need to double check.
If killing things with pointy sticks is how you get your food, being able to throw them quickly and accurately is pretty helpful.
I think I found the article, they do in fact say that Homo Erectus was the first species with the necessary parts to throw objects quickly. Neat stuff!
How tf do I have over a thousand comments on this commie shitposting site? I never post this much anywhere, and this ain't even my first account.
"Who would want to post at 4 in the morning?" :disgost:
"Oh boy! 4am!" :dean-smile:
If I ever see "uploaded 20 years ago" on a youtube video I'm never using it again.