In 1981, Charles’ government was threatened with two attempted coups. The first was led by Frederick Newton, commander of the Military of Dominica, who organised an attack on the police headquarters in Roseau which resulted in the death of a police officer. Newton and five other soldiers were found guilty in the attack and sentenced to death in 1983; the sentences of the five accomplices were later commuted to life in prison, but Newton was executed in 1986. A second occurred later in the year when the country was threatened with a takeover by mercenaries in Operation Red Dog, led by Mike Perdue and Wolfgang Droege. They tried to overthrow Charles as Prime Minister and reinstall ex-Prime Minister John in exchange for control over the country’s development. The FBI was tipped off, and the ship hired to transport the mercenaries never left dock. The mercenaries lacked formal military experience or training, and most of the crew had been misled into joining by the ringleader Mike Perdue. White supremacist Don Black was also jailed for his part in the attempted coup, which violated US neutrality laws.
The Charles government supported the 1983 American Invasion of Grenada, earning Dominica praise from the Reagan administration and an increase in financial aid.
By the end of the 1980s, the economy had begun to recover, however it weakened again in the 1990s due to a decrease in banana prices. Eugenia Charles won both the 1985 and 1990 general elections, however she lost the 1995 election to the United Workers’ Party (UWP), whose leader Edison James became Prime Minister. James attempted to diversify the Dominican economy away from over-reliance on bananas. The crop was largely destroyed by Hurricane Luis in 1995.
In the 2000 election, the UWP were defeated by the DLP, led by left-leaning Roosevelt P. “Rosie” Douglas; however Douglas died after only a few months in office. He was replaced by Pierre Charles, who also died in office in January 2004. Roosevelt Skerrit, also of the DLP, replaced Charles as Prime Minister, becoming the worlds youngest head of state. Under Skerrit’s leadership, the DLP won elections in May 2005 that gave the party 12 seats in the 21-member Parliament, to the UWP’s 8 seats. An independent candidate affiliated with the DLP won a seat as well. Later, the independent candidate joined the government and one UWP member crossed the aisle, making the total 14 seats for the DLP and 7 for the UWP.
In the 2009 election, the DLP won 18 of 21 seats. The UWP claimed campaign improprieties and boycotted Parliament; by-elections were conducted for two of its seats in July 2010, and the UWP again won the seats. The DWP under Skerrit went on to also win the 2014 Dominican general election.
On 17 September 2012 Eliud Thaddeus Williams was sworn in as President (a largely ceremonial role), replacing Dr. Nicholas Liverpool who was reportedly removed from office due to ill health. On 30 September 2013, former Trade Union Leader and agitator Charles Savarin was elected President having only days before resigned as a Minister of Government.