Current:Home > FinanceGuinea-Bissau’s leader calls a shootout an attempted coup, heightening tensions in West Africa-LoTradeCoin
Guinea-Bissau’s leader calls a shootout an attempted coup, heightening tensions in West Africa
View Date:2024-12-23 23:28:36
BISSAU, Guinea Bissau (AP) — A shootout in Guinea-Bissau’s capital Friday was an attempted coup, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said Sunday after a meeting with security forces, confirming fears over the latest threat to democracy in the increasingly volatile and coup-hit West Africa.
“They attempted a coup and failed to materialize their objective,” Embalo said, after members of the National Guard command improperly released two ministers detained over alleged corruption, resulting in a shootout with the Presidential Palace Battalion.
During a visit to the National Guard command in Bissau, Embalo said Victor Tchongo, the head of the National Guard, has been dismissed and “will pay dearly” for the attempt to depose the president.
“You are all betrayed by your commander … (and) this is why we advise you to distance yourself from politicians and do your service to the nation,” he told officers.
The attempted coup is the second in West and Central Africa in a week after last week’s failed coup in Sierra Leone. It further raises tensions in the region where coups have surged with eight military takeovers since 2020, including in Niger and Gabon this year.
West Africa’s regional economic bloc of ECOWAS — to which Guinea-Bissau belongs — noted the incident with “deep concern” and expressed “full solidarity with the people and constitutional authority of Guinea-Bissau.”
After returning from the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit on Saturday night, Embalo suggested to reporters that Tchongo of the National Guard was not acting alone.
“Tchongo was ordered by someone,” The Democrat, a local newspaper, quoted him as saying. “Tchongo is not crazy about blowing up the Judiciary Police cells and removing the minister of finance and the secretary of state. This is an attempted coup d’état and there will be serious consequences for everyone involved.”
The small nation of Guinea-Bissau has endured multiple coups since gaining independence from Portugal nearly five decades ago.
However, unlike in other coups in West Africa which have been inspired by perceived bad governance, the shootout in Guinea-Bissau started as the members of the Presidential Palace Battalion tried to rearrest two government officials — Economy and Finance Minister Suleimane Seidi and Treasury Secretary António Monteiro.
Both were being questioned over the use of government funds before the members of the National Guard secretly released them, local media reported.
Guinea-Bissau’s semi-presidential system limits the president’s powers by allowing the majority party in the parliament to appoint the Cabinet. As a result, the National Guard – which is under the Ministry of Interior – is largely controlled by the opposition-dominated parliament.
Tensions have also remained between Embalo and a coalition of opposition groups that won the majority in Guinea Bissau’s parliament in June, more than one year after the president dissolved the parliament.
Embalo, a former army general, was declared the winner of a December 2019 runoff presidential election which his opponent contested. He survived a February 2022 coup attempt that he asserted had “to do with our fight against narco-trafficking” and has since then cracked down on civic freedoms while government bodies have lost significant independence, according to analysts.
—-
Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.
veryGood! (98)
Related
- Denzel Washington Will Star in Black Panther 3 Before Retirement
- Alabama readies never-before-used execution method that some veterinarians won't even use for pets
- Two opposition leaders in Senegal are excluded from the final list of presidential candidates
- Missouri teacher accused of trying to poison husband with lily of the valley in smoothie
- How Ben Affleck Really Feels About His and Jennifer Lopez’s Movie Gigli Today
- Missouri teacher accused of trying to poison husband with lily of the valley in smoothie
- Sarah Ferguson shares malignant melanoma diagnosis just months after breast cancer
- Surprise ‘SNL’ guest Rachel McAdams asks Jacob Elordi for acting advice: ‘Give up’
- What’s the secret to growing strong, healthy nails?
- The main cause of dandruff is probably not what you think. Here’s what it is.
Ranking
- Will the NBA Cup become a treasured tradition? League hopes so, but it’s too soon to tell
- Chiefs-Bills marks Patrick Mahomes' first road playoff game. He's 'excited' for challenge.
- A pet cat thrown off a train died in cold weather. Now thousands want the conductor to lose her job
- Iran is ‘directly involved’ in Yemen Houthi rebel ship attacks, US Navy’s Mideast chief tells AP
- US inflation may have picked up in October after months of easing
- Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Diagnosed With Skin Cancer After Breast Cancer Battle
- French protesters ask Macron not to sign off on an immigration law with a far-right footprint
- Saudi Arabia won’t recognize Israel without a path to a Palestinian state, top diplomat says
Recommendation
-
Georgia remains part of College Football Playoff bracket projection despite loss
-
Why Vice President Harris is going to Wisconsin today to talk about abortion
-
Nick Dunlap becomes 1st amateur winner on PGA Tour since 1991 with victory at The American Express
-
Stabbing in Austin leaves one person dead and two injured
-
Man who stole and laundered roughly $1B in bitcoin is sentenced to 5 years in prison
-
Trump may testify in sex abuse defamation trial, but the court has limited what he can say
-
Stock market today: Asian shares follow Wall Street gains, Hong Kong stocks near 15-month low
-
'Wide right': Explaining Buffalo Bills' two heartbreaking missed kicks decades apart