➡️President Umaro Sissoco Embaló arrested today at the presidential palace along with top generals and Interior Minister Botché Candé. Military sources claim a coup d’état is underway.
➡️Heavy gunfire reported across Bissau before detentions. Key government buildings, including the election commission, were surrounded.
➡️The arrests come just days after disputed presidential & parliamentary elections on Nov 23. Both Embaló and opposition leader Fernando Dias da Costa (who was also arrested by the military) claimed victory in the first round.
➡️Official election results were supposed to be released on Thursday, but the Election commission seems to be blocked by the coup as well.
🟢 Backgroud: This would be the 10th coup in Guinea-Bissau since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. Embalo was attempting to become the first president in the last 30 years to secure a second term in office.
In 2023 he dissolved the previous parliament following an "attempted coup", the country hasn't had a functioning legislative body since. The government barred the strongest and oldest opposition party, that led the struggle for countries independence from Portugal, from the ballot on a technicality - and the entire opposition then rallied behind Dias.
The country was a Portuguese 'wedge' between two French colonies ( Senegal and Guinea, or 'French Guinea'). It has a significant resource wealth in Bauxite (aluminium), phosphates (agriculture), which are just being developed by Chinese investments, and substantial offshore oil fields - 90% of the oil industry in GB is controlled by US company Chevron.
🐻We'll not yet guess on who and why, because we simply don't know (yet), but we see the most similar pattern...
The easiest tell is always just looking at who Reuters, AP and AFP support - and then going the exact opposite. Or simply looking at who is already "in" and who is trying to keep the competitors "out" - and keep the local population "down".