On 25 February 1980, Bouterse, Horb and fourteen other sergeants overthrew the Henck Arron government with a violent military coup d'état, now known as the Sergeants Coup. This marked the beginning of the military dictatorship that dominated Suriname from 1980 to 1991. The sergeants who accomplished this coup were known as the "Groep van zestien" (Group of Sixteen). Bouterse was the leader of the "Groep van zestien." After the coup, he became chairman of the National Military Council of Suriname, which replaced the democratic government, and effectively ruler of the government.