His transfer followed negotiations led by the West African regional bloc Ecowas, which intervened amid rising tensions in the coup-hit country. Senegal’s foreign ministry said Embaló landed “safe and sound” on a chartered military flight late Thursday night.
The Guinea-Bissau military has already installed a transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, who is expected to govern for one year. The coup unfolded on Wednesday, one day before authorities were due to announce provisional results from presidential and parliamentary elections. The junta has suspended the entire electoral process and blocked the release of the vote tally.
Military leaders say they acted to prevent an alleged plot by unnamed politicians “supported by a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country. They imposed a nighttime curfew, banned public protests, and prohibited any actions they said could disturb “peace and stability.”
Guinea-Bissau, positioned between Senegal and Guinea, has long struggled with political turbulence and has earned a reputation as a major drug-trafficking hub. The military has played a dominant role in national politics since independence from Portugal in 1974.
Tensions remained high in the capital, Bissau, on Thursday, with most businesses closed and soldiers patrolling the streets. Shortly after Gen N’Tam was sworn in as transitional president, the military reopened land, air, and sea borders, which had been sealed at the start of the coup.
Some civil society groups have accused Embaló of orchestrating a “simulated coup” with the military to prevent the publication of election results he feared he might lose. Dias made similar allegations, calling the takeover an “organised coup.” He told AFP he considers himself the president-elect, claiming to have secured around 52% of the vote. Embaló has not responded to the accusations.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced at least nine coups or attempted coups over the past five decades, making it one of West Africa’s most politically unstable states.
