Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Reuters
—
Guinea-Bissau’s military announced in a military statement on Thursday that it appointed Maj. Gen. Horta Ntana Mann as interim president, a day after soldiers ousted President Umaro Sissoko Embalo in a swift power grab after a disputed election.
Umaro Sissoko, president ousted in coup
Embalo arrived in Senegal on a special flight after the accident.
West African region, intervention by Senegal
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Thursday.
It was the ninth coup in West and Central Africa in the past five years.
Guinea-Bissau has been experiencing a pattern of instability for years.
A notorious cocaine shipping center with a long military history
Interference in politics.
The self-proclaimed “Supreme Military Command for the Restoration of Order” announced in a televised statement on Wednesday that Embalo had been expelled. They said the move was in response to a destabilization plot involving politicians and drug lords, but did not elaborate.
wearing military uniform and surrounded by other troops
Officials said it was Intaa’s first public appearance as party leader.
The ceremony was broadcast on state television on Thursday. he said this
It took a coup d’état to thwart a plot by “drug traffickers”
“We have won democracy for Guinea” and said the transition would continue.
One year starting soon.
At a swearing-in ceremony later Thursday, he said:
Maj. Gen. Thomas Jassi becomes Army Chief of Staff. The handover came a day before preliminary results were expected to be announced in the race between Embalo and Fernando Diaz, a 47-year-old political newcomer who has risen to the top of Embalo.
Presidential Vote Challenger.
Gunshots rang out before the coup was announced.
Spent about an hour in the capital Bissau near the elections on Wednesday.
Commission headquarters and presidential palace.
Embarro called French media to tell them he had been fired.
Previously released military statement dated Thursday
Senegal announced Embalo’s evacuation, saying he and other senior officials were “under the control of the military high command.”
African Union President Mahmoud Ali Yusuf condemned the incident.
They launched a coup d’état in a statement, calling for Embalo’s release.
All detained personnel. ”
Heads of State of the West African Region ECOWAS
also condemned the coup and held a virtual meeting afterwards.
According to X’s post, discuss the situation.
The screen capture shared in the post showed several regions
Participating leaders, including the President of Nigeria;
Senegal and Liberia, and Yusuf of the AU.
The European Union said the constitutional order should be
The vote count was restored and we were allowed to proceed.
Central Bissau was mostly quiet on Thursday, with soldiers still on the streets and many residents staying indoors after a curfew was lifted. Businesses and banks were shut down.
“I am very concerned about the current situation,” said Professor Julio Gonçalves, 30, a resident of Bissau.
“There are no pharmacies open. If someone gets sick, how can they buy medicine or go to the hospital?”
Before Mr. Inta’a was announced as president, Mr. Díaz, in a video statement, accused Mr. Embaro of staging a “fake coup attempt” to derail the election out of fear that he would lose.
In a statement to Reuters on Thursday, the coalition supporting Diaz called on authorities to allow the results of Sunday’s presidential election to be announced.
The coalition also called for the release of former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, who was detained on Wednesday, according to relatives and security officials.
Security forces used tear gas to break up a small protest outside the building where Pereira was reportedly being held. They also broke up a gathering near Diaz’s home on the outskirts of Bissau, where live ammunition was fired, witnesses said.
There were no reports of casualties related to the violence on Wednesday and Thursday.
Guinea-Bissau is a small coastal country located between Senegal and Guinea that is a notorious transit point for cocaine bound for Europe. Under Embalo, the cocaine trade appeared to be booming.
Lucia Byrd Luis Benítez de Lugo, director of the West African Illicit Economy Observatory, which tracks the cocaine trade, said a new coup is unlikely to change the situation.
“In this election, major traffickers financed the election campaign. There is no sign that cocaine’s influence on Bissau’s politics and governance will diminish,” she said.
The country had been rocked by at least nine coups and attempted coups between 1974, when it gained independence from Portugal, and 2020, when Embalo became president.
The African Union and ECOWAS election observers issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling for the immediate release of the arrested election officials.
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who was monitoring the vote as part of the West African Elders Forum, could not be reached on Thursday and was missing, ECOWAS spokesperson Joel Ahofoji told Reuters.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the safety of election observers should be guaranteed. “We warn that those behind this act will be held accountable for their actions,” the statement said.
