BISSAU-GUINEA
THE MILITARY SEIZE POWER
(December 4, 2025)
BISSAU. On November 26, at around noon, the armed forces of Bissau-Guinea carried out a bloodless coup. It was the President of the Republic, Umaro Sissoko Embaló, himself who reported the news, calling the French weekly Jeune Afrique: “Soldiers,” he said, “are arresting me.”
A few hours later, confirmation arrived: at a press conference, the top ranks of the army declared they had full control of the country, imposed a night-time curfew from 7 PM to 6 AM, and closed the borders.
On the 27th, Gen. Horta N’Tam became President of the Republic: “The command of the high general staff has just been entrusted to me,” he said, adding: “The country is going through a very difficult period. Urgent measures are therefore necessary, and everyone’s contribution will be needed.”
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EXCUSATIO NON PETITA
In the hours of the coup, while the new regime was consolidating, General Denis N’Canha declared: “A high command for the restoration of order, composed of all branches of the armed forces, has taken the lead of the country until further notice. What drove us to take this step was the discovery by the security services of a plan to destabilize the country, involving drug lords.”
It seems like an excusatio non petita (an unasked-for excuse): Curiously, the intervention of the high-ranking officers occurred the day before the electoral commission was due to announce the results of the presidential election held on November 23.
What was emerging from the ballot count? Who was winning? Did those in the barracks have reasons to prevent a changing of the guard at the head of the State?
In the two days preceding the putsch, both main contenders, Umaro Sissoko Embaló and Fernando Dias da Costa, had already proclaimed themselves winners, but no figures had been provided.
It was known that the outgoing President would do the impossible to prevent the return to power of PAIGC, a political force that had dominated the national scene for years.
However, the military’s intervention has changed the situation, and it is unclear whether their intrusion can be interpreted as support for Embaló or a pause in the conflict between the former Head of State and his opponents.
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COCAINE HUB
In N’Canha’s words, one can also read that “drug lords” are now all-powerful: it has been known for some time that Bissau has become one of the hubs for international cocaine trafficking.
Since 2000, ships full of narcotics have been arriving here from Latin America, which are then traded in Africa and Europe and contribute to the easy enrichment of many.
BISSAU-GUINEA
GEOGRAPHY
The Republic of Bissau-Guinea (República da Guiné-Bissau) occupies an area of and has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants.
The territory, located in West Africa, borders Senegal to the north and Guinea Conakry to the east and south. Off the coast of the capital Bissau, which is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, lies the Bijagos archipelago: 120 islands, some very small, and partly uninhabited.
The official language is Portuguese, but the population speaks several local languages and a Creole dialect that blends African terms with the language inherited from the colonizers.
Most inhabitants profess local cults or are of the Muslim faith: there is a significant Catholic minority (15% of the total).
The economy is based on cashew exports; however, the country possesses oil and bauxite, which are currently being exploited.
Since 2009, it has been part of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and has adopted the CFA Franc. This choice is justified by the need to enter the economic area formed by the states that emerged from the dissolution of French West Africa, which created the Economic Community of West African States (CEDEAO-ECOWAS).
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HISTORY
The events that have involved this small State from the days of independence to the present have been quite turbulent, with frequent coups d’état, internal wars, and political assassinations.
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STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
A Portuguese colony since the 16th century, primarily used for the slave trade from Africa to Brazil, it has been involved in a liberation movement aimed directly at decolonization since the 1950s.
In 1956, the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) was founded, taking the lead of the guerrilla warfare. Gradually, also relying on the support of other African countries and the communist world, it extended territorial control over vast areas. In 1973, the Portuguese killed Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral (1924–1973), the historical leader of the anti-colonial struggle, in Conakry, but this did not stop the advance of the guerrillas, who unilaterally proclaimed the Republic in September. This was not recognized by Lisbon, but the United Nations General Assembly admitted it as a member. They had to wait for the “Carnation Revolution” (April 25, 1974) for the former colonial power to accept the new reality.
In the subsequent 50 years, Guinea-Bissau has had a very tumultuous political life: a dozen coups d’état, both failed and successful, a bloody internal war, and numerous political assassinations.
In 1980, the first President Luis Cabral was overthrown by a coup orchestrated by Prime Minister João Bernardo Vieira, who would subsequently become the country’s leader from 1984 until the coup d’état of May 7, 1999, when the armed forces deposed him.
A civil war, fragile governments, and other coups followed: in 2005, Vieira returned to the presidency, but on March 2, 2009, he was assassinated by military personnel who wanted to seize the State.
More years of strong instability followed until José Mario Váz was elected president in 2014, later accused of corruption.
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EMBALÓ
In 2019, Umaro Sissoko Embaló was elected President of the Republic. Initially seen as a liberator after decades of PAIGC dominance, he later emphasized an authoritarian attitude that led him to dissolve the National Assembly and concentrate increasingly broad powers in his hands.
He periodically denounced plots against him to extend his mandate, which theoretically should have ended in February 2025 but which he claimed ended in September.
During the electoral campaign, he also played the ethnic division card, targeting the Balanta, one of the peoples living in the country who mostly vote for PAIGC.
All this increased tension ahead of the vote, which nonetheless took place calmly. However, we will never know its outcome.
For his part, the former President has gone into exile in Congo Brazzaville.
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A YEAR OF TRANSITION
The military has promised to hold power for one year, then return it to civilians. What will happen in the next twelve months? Will the constitution be rewritten? Will truly pluralistic elections be organized, managed by a body independent of those in power?
Or will the high-ranking officers decide to keep the power “until further notice”?
In other West African countries — Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Guinea Conakry — that is what has happened, even though CEDEAO-ECOWAS, the African Union, and others have condemned the coups carried out since 2020.
PIER LUIGI GIACOMONI
