“There was no coup. Sissoko saw that he would lose and handed power to the army.”

They heard this Wednesday at noon Shooting in the capital of Guinea-Bissau. This was in the city center, near the presidential palace. Shortly after this event began, a group of soldiers announced on television that they had overthrown the government.

That the acting president, Sissoko packed his belongings and was arrestedAnd that A curfew Accompanied by classics Border closure Which follows any illegal seizure of power.

Last Sunday he was there Presidential elections In Guinea-Bissau, the climate was tense; Among the candidates who aspire to defeat Embalo, Fernando Dias, an independent candidate, has emerged.

This lawyer by profession, a former minister, was Vice-President of the National Assembly of Bisaugenya until Embalo, after being accused of another alleged coup, decided to close down the Popular Chamber (where he had a minority) from December 2023 until today.

After the Electoral Court barred the candidate of the main opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, from running, claiming that he had submitted his electoral records late, Dias was the chosen candidate To receive support from PAIGC.

Elections happened. Before the official results are announced… The Count prevented Dias’s victorywhich was quickly announced on television. It was not until noon the next day that shots were heard and Embalo was arrested.

Domingos Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde who should have run in the elections, was also arrested during a meeting with other opposition leaders (some of whom were also under arrest) and Hidden diyas To the new authorities.

Spanish It was Reaching the opposition candidate In these difficult hours that your country is going through. He claims to be fine and safe, though his spirit is a little worn down by the persecution he’s been subjected to.

It is already known that It was “released” packed By the coup plotters and is now safe in the capital of Senegal.

However, Dias confirms, “Domingos Pereira, Octavio López and other public judges and representatives of the National Electoral Commission remain in prison; they have not been released to date. The President of the National Electoral Commission has taken refuge in the UN building.”

‘There was no coup’

It begins to form a rumor that is already ringing loudly in Bissau, although it says frankly: “There was no coup“It’s just that Sissoko saw that he would lose power and transferred it to the army.” And what he says, seeing his situation, makes sense. He is the opposition candidate. He’s in hiding, Domingos is still in prison… and Sissoko is, inexplicably, in Dakar. free.

He goes on to say that “the fact that the people most loyal to Embalo hold senior positions at this time. The interim president, the prime minister, and the chief of general staff. This is the explanation that shows that Sissoko Embalo was the one who orchestrated this false coup attempt, with the aim of defending his interests and those of his group.”

And it’s not without reason either. The new interim president, a military man, is General Horta Nta. Embalo appointed Nta as Chief of the General Staff of Bisaugenya in 2023, and just a month earlier appointed him as Chief of his own General Staff (no one really knows what this means).

This weekend, days before the supposed coup and in the middle of the electoral process, The Acting President met with his military leadershipincluding N’ta, for some reason has already been interrogated.

What issues might the incumbent president raise with the military leadership on election weekend? “No names of anyone disloyal to Sissoko have been mentioned,” Dias asserts.

Once again, he refuses to describe what happened as a coup and refers to Embalo: “He had the phone to talk to all the people since he said he was detained, and at this moment he left Guinea-Bissau and is in Dakar, free, as if nothing had happened.” The new Prime Minister, Elidio Vieira T, was Embalo’s Minister of Finance and, to make matters worse, he was the manager of his last election campaign.

We must know at this stage that Guinea Bissau is a country with a population of one and a half million people, located on the western coast of Africa, and the majority consider it a country. anesthetic. Tons of cocaine coming from South America land on its islands and then continue on their way north towards Spain.

Packed He was accused Over and over again to be a part of Drug traffickingand senior members of the Bisaujini army became targets of the US Drug Enforcement Administration. This is the case of Antonio Indjay, former Chief of the General Staff and Embalo collaborator, for whom the US government is still offering a $5 million reward.

That “group” and those “interests” have names and proper names at the ground level in Bissau. Everyone knows what the system is.

To the international community, Dias sends a powerful message that sounds like a call for help: “You have to realize this There was no real coup“But Sissoko coordinated all this with his collaborators.” He cites among them Thomas Djasi, the new chief of staff, appointed by the coup plotters, but who, curiously, “was Embalo’s bodyguard throughout the election campaign.”

He doesn’t doubt it. “There was no coup,” he repeats. Just a chart. And perhaps, if everything was as he says and he won the election, it could be said that there had been a coup, even though it had to be against Fernando Dias himself.