Guinea-Bissau President Flees After Military Coup

Published: 28 November 2025 Friday. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online

Guinea-Bissau’s deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has arrived in neighbouring Senegal following his release by military forces that toppled his government this week, Senegal’s authorities have announced. His transfer came after negotiations by the regional West African bloc Ecowas, which worked to secure his safety amid rising tensions in Guinea-Bissau. Senegal’s foreign ministry confirmed that Embaló landed on a chartered military flight late on Thursday, arriving “safe and sound.”

The military in Guinea-Bissau has already sworn in a new transitional leader, General Horta N’Tam, who is set to govern the coup-prone nation for a year. Wednesday’s coup occurred just a day before authorities were due to release provisional results of the presidential and parliamentary elections. The military has suspended the electoral process and blocked the publication of the results, claiming it acted to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians allegedly supported by a well-known drug baron. The coup also led to the closure of borders and the imposition of a night-time curfew.

Guinea-Bissau, sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, has long been a notorious hub for drug trafficking, with the military historically playing a strong political role since independence from Portugal in 1974. Both Embaló and his closest rival, Fernando Dias, had claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential poll. Dias was backed by former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, who had been disqualified from running. Government sources earlier reported that Dias, Pereira, and Interior Minister Botché Candé had been detained.

The military junta has banned public protests and “all disturbing actions of peace and stability in the country.” Tension remained high in the capital, Bissau, with most shops and markets closed as soldiers patrolled the streets, AFP reported. Earlier, General N’Tam, the army’s chief of staff, had been designated the country’s new leader for a one-year term. In his speech, he asserted that the military acted “to block operations that aimed to threaten our democracy.” Shortly after his swearing-in, the military reopened land, air, and sea borders that had been closed during the coup.

The African Union (AU) and Ecowas condemned the coup, calling for respect for constitutional order. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed being “deeply concerned” over the situation in Guinea-Bissau and urged for an “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order.” Over the past five decades, Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups, reflecting a longstanding pattern of political instability in the nation.