2003 São Tomé and Príncipe coup d'état

A faction of the armed forces of São Tomé and Príncipe led by Major Fernando "Cobó" Pereira overthrew the country's government in a coup d'état on 16 July 2003. It was São Tomé and Príncipe's second military coup following a similar revolt in 1995. The coup leaders claimed the coup was a response to government corruption and growing poverty.

The bloodless coup was conducted while President Fradique de Menezes was out of the country on a private trip to Nigeria, which Menezes's opponents had accused of having corrupt ties to him. Prime Minister Maria das Neves and other government ministers were detained in military barracks, and the coup leaders declared a military junta. The coup was backed by the Christian Democratic Front, an extra-parliamentary political party whose leadership consisted mostly of participants in a failed coup attempt in 1988, as well as former members of South Africa's 32 "Buffalo" Battalion.

Although Pereira and his co-conspirators initially succeeded in seizing power, international pressure and the threat of a foreign military intervention forced the junta to negotiate an immediate settlement. The coup ended a week later on 22 July, with a number of concessions made to the benefit of the military and ex-Buffalo soldiers.