Guinea-Bissau’s deposed president Umaro Sissoco Embalo arrived in Senegal on Thursday evening, one day after soldiers overthrew him in a swift military coup that has thrown the small West African nation into fresh turmoil.
The 52-year-old former brigadier-general, who had been detained in Bissau since Wednesday, was flown out on a Senegalese government-chartered military aircraft following discreet negotiations between Dakar and the new military leaders. Senegal’s foreign ministry confirmed he arrived safe and sound, highlighting its role in securing his release.
“The Republic of Senegal is ready to work with the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and all partners to promote dialogue and quickly restore constitutional order in our brother country,” the ministry said in a statement.
How the coup unfolded
The takeover came just hours before provisional results of Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections were expected. Embalo was seeking a second term against his main challenger Fernando Dias, with both candidates declaring victory in advance. The vote had been overshadowed by controversy after the historic opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde was disqualified from presenting a presidential candidate, leading to widespread accusations that the election lacked legitimacy.
On Wednesday evening, officers calling themselves the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order appeared on state television to announce they had seized total control. They immediately suspended the electoral process, closed all borders and imposed a night curfew.
New transitional leadership
By Thursday morning, army chief of staff General Horta Inta-A had been sworn in as transitional president for one year, with Major General Tomas Djassi named as his deputy. Inta-A defended the intervention, saying it had prevented a plot to rig the results and threaten national stability. Within hours he lifted the curfew and border closures and announced that schools would reopen on Friday, although soldiers continued to patrol a tense and largely shuttered Bissau.
Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony of 2.2 million people where most citizens live in poverty, has endured at least nine coups or attempted coups since independence in 1974. Its location on major smuggling routes for South American cocaine has long drawn parts of the military and political elite into drug-trafficking networks, deepening chronic instability.
International condemnation
Regional and international reaction was swift. The Economic Community of West African States suspended Guinea-Bissau from all its bodies after an emergency summit, condemned the serious violation of constitutional rule and demanded that the army return to barracks and release all detainees, including Embalo, Fernando Dias, former prime minister Domingos Simões Pereira and the interior minister. A mediation delegation is already on its way, with the threat of sanctions looming. The African Union and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also issued strong condemnations and called for a rapid return to civilian government.
For now, Embalo is safe in Senegal, but the future of Guinea-Bissau remains uncertain as the military junta consolidates power and opposition figures vow to resist the return of military rule.
Agencies contributed to this report
