On 17 January 1977, a group of French-led mercenaries tried and failed to overthrow the government of the People's Republic of Benin led by Mathieu Kérékou, whose communist party—the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB)—was the only allowed political party in the country. The coup, which was also known as Opération Crevette, included a failed invasion of the port city of Cotonou by mercenaries contracted by a group of exiled Beninese political rivals.