Guinea-Bissau failed coup linked to drug trafficking, president says

At least six people were killed during a failed coup in Guinea-Bissau, during which perpetrators attempted to overthrow President Umaro Sissoco Embaló.

The attack, around the government palace on Tuesday, lasted hours. “What I can guarantee is that the situation is under control,” said Mr Embaló. “When I was elected president of the republic, I promised to [fight] two things: corruption and drug trafficking. And this is also linked to that, and I knew what the price was, but the fight continues.”

Guinea-Bissau, a west African coastal country with a population of about two million, has experienced at least nine coups or attempted coups over the past 42 years. It is one of the poorest countries in the world and in 2020 ranked 175th out of 189 countries globally in the Human Development Index, which creates a ranking based on life expectancy, education and per-capita income.

It gained independence from Portugal in 1974, and in the 2000s became a transit point for cocaine passing between South America and Europe.

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Mr Embaló won an election in December 2019 and came to power the following February.

“For the past 18 months, every few weeks in Guinea-Bissau, people have told me a coup is around the corner,” tweeted journalist Ricci Shryock, who has worked extensively in the country. “Whatever today’s outcome, Bissau-Guineans live in too much central government instability that impacts access to education, healthcare, and more. The story is not just today.”

African coups

In 2021, there were four successful coups in west and central Africa, the most since 1999, leading United Nations secretary general António Guterres to call it "an epidemic of coup d'états"and one African analyst to write a column called "Keeping Up With the Coup-dashians".

Over the past two years, military takeovers have taken place in Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Chad, as well as in Sudan in north Africa.

Guinea-Bissau's attempted coup was condemned by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Early last month, Ecowas suspended Mali, imposing sanctions and cutting diplomatic ties, because the ruling junta failed to hold elections after multiple coups.

In August 2020, Col Assimi Goita led a group of army officers to oust Mali's president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keith; then Col Goita staged what was effectively a second coup in May 2021, forcing out an interim government.

Burkina Faso, which has a population of about 21 million people, was suspended from Ecowas last week as a result of its coup on January 24th. Burkina Faso’s new military government has now announced Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba as president.

Last year, Guinea-Conakry’s 83-year-old president, Alpha Conde, was ousted by an elite special forces unit. Guinea, with a population of about 20 million, was also suspended by Ecowas.