The African Union has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of Guinea-Bissau’s president, Umaro Embaló, after the military seized power.
In a statement posted on his X handle, AU chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf urged “the immediate and unconditional release of President Embaló and all detained officials,” adding that the body “unequivocally condemns” the coup.
On Wednesday afternoon, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, told journalists that the military had assumed control of the country “until further notice” after uncovering a plan involving “drug lords,” which allegedly included “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order.”
He said that, in addition to halting “the entire electoral process,” military forces had suspended “all media programming” and imposed a mandatory curfew. All land, air and sea borders were closed on Wednesday following the coup, but General Lassana Mansali said on Thursday that they had been reopened.
Embalo, who had been widely expected to win Sunday’s poll, was said to be inside a building behind military headquarters “with the chief of staff and the minister of the interior,” according to a senior military officer who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Guinea-Bissau is among the world’s poorest nations and serves as a major hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade enabled by decades of political instability. Political stability was a central issue in the election, given the nation’s turbulent history.
- Source: AFP
