An illegitimate seizure of power is unfolding in Guinea-Bissau, but the "coup" involves the outgoing president, his loyalists, and their efforts to undo the will of the people in that nation.
Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.
BAP’s U.S. Out of African Network & Africa Team co-sign the positions of our comrade, member organizations A-APRP & PAIGC
It is important that African (Black) people around the world not fall for the latest amateurish attempt by the neo-colonialist puppet government in Guinea-Bissau, led by President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, to subvert the democratic will of the Bissau-Guinean people. Before completing the country’s November 23rd election process, military leaders loyal to Embaló suspended it and seized “total control” of the country, claiming to have done so to prevent election manipulation.
The Black Alliance for Peace’s (BAP) Africa Team and U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) unite with the assessments and positions of our member organization, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), and the African Party of Independence of Guinea-Bissau (PAIGC) that holds representation on the USOAN Steering Committee:
“Upon completion of voting, official reports to the Regional Electoral Commissions (CRE) from the 10 Regions indicate that Fernando Dias da Costa won the election with a confirmed vote tally of 54%, while Embaló Sissoco, the illegitimate president seeking re-election, garnered 44% of the vote.”
This declaration was backed up by both domestic and international observers who reportedly agreed that Embaló was voted out of the presidency and that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) was about to publish the results that opposition candidate Fernando Dias won.
Embaló then claimed that he was arrested by the military, yet was still able to make the declaration in interviews with media outlets RFI, France 24 and Jeune Afrique. Meanwhile, the armed forces installed as the new head of state one of Sissoco Embaló’s own appointees, Major General Horta Inta-A. Embaló was able to leave for Dakar, Senegal, and then on to Congo Brazzaville, while his opponents were held in custody. On November 29th, armed masked men raided the headquarters of the PAIGC.
As far as BAP and USOAN are concerned, the Umaro Sissoco Embaló government was already an illegitimate one, having circumvented the 2023 electoral victory of PAIGC candidate Domingos Simões Pereira. In February of 2024, BAP mobilized a demonstration on the African Union (AU) Representational Mission to the USA in Washington, DC to protest the acquiescence of this crime by the AU and bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations.
BAP is under no illusions that a people(s)-centered democratic process for Guinea-Bissau in particular and Africa in general spells the beginning of the end for Western plunder of the continent. The ex-president of Guinea-Bissau was one of five “Atlantic-facing West African” nations hosted last July by U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-level summit in Washington. Guinea-Bissau forces have participated in the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) led training programs beginning in 2023 and signed a defense cooperation agreement with Washington that same year, providing a legal framework for training, military assistance, and so-called security collaboration.
It must be perfectly understood that the neo-colonialist repression in Guinea-Bissau emanates from the same general policy as the U.S. war on Venezuela, the zionist genocide against Palestine, or the militarized domestic repression of African and non-white communities within the bowels of the U.S settler colonialist state.
The Trump administration's closure of Venezuela’s airspace is essentially a “no-fly zone," a standard imperialist precursor to an outright military attack on a country. BAP and the USOAN understand that the masses must not simply be spectators of these acts. From the streets of all the major cities in the U.S. to Palestine, throughout Latin America/Caribbean, war is being waged on us! It is in the interest of imperialism to dismantle Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolutionary project, just as it is in its interest to prevent a PAIGC-led revolutionary process in Guinea-Bissau.
We demand:
- The immediate release of Domingos Simões Pereira and all citizens who have been illegally detained;
- The cessation of military hostility and harm to the people. HARM NO ONE!
- That all military troops return to the barracks and cede civilian control;
- That the electoral process be allowed to go forward with the official proclamation of the vote count and announcement of the winners of the presidential elections of 23 November 2025.
No compromise! No retreat!
BAP Africa Team & U.S. Out of Africa Network
BAP SOURCES:
Urgent Message: Military Attempting To Stop Electoral Process In Guinea-Bissau, November 27, 2025
Open Peoples National Assembly (ANP) in Guinea-Bissau, Monday, February 26, 2024
Attack on Democracy in Guinea-Bissau, The House of African Independence (webinar video), January 4, 2024
AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #22, February 25, 2021
NEWS STORIES:
Guinea-Bissau: Manufactured coup or real military takeover? | The Africa Report
Pan-African Progressive Front’s commemoration of 80 years of the historic 5th Pan-African Congress | People’s Dispatch
Guinea-Bissau: A coup staged to protect the neocolonial order? | People’s Dispatch
Claiming to be under arrest, President Embaló has left the country while his opponents remain in custody after a military coup a day ahead of the announcement of the final results
Deposed Guinea-Bissau President Embaló arrives in neighboring Senegal as soldiers name junta leader | Associated Press (AP)
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