Guinea-Bissau army kills senior pols

The army in Guinea-Bissau has reportedly killed the minister of territorial administration (who was a candidate the June 28 presidential election) as well as a former defense minister, in a move described by the military as putting down a coup attempt. South Africa's Daily Mail and Guardian adds that local radio is also reporting that a former prime minister was also killed in the operation.

In March, the longtime-head of state was assassinated, apparently in revenge for the murder of the army chief.

Guinea-Bissau is considered Africa's first narco-state, which is a major cause of the country's dysfunction and instability.

Thai link to Guinea-Bissau murder?

Nigerian paper This Day reports that Guinea-Bissau's prime minister and defense minister both claimed a Thai link to the assassination of the country's army chief last week, which in turn apparently provoked the murder of the nation's president. Both officials claimed that the car bomb used to assassinate Brig. Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie came from Thailand.

Guinea-Bissau president, army chief assassinated; private broadcasters silenced

The Guinea-Bissau army has claimed it's not seeking power following the assassination of the country's president Joao Bernardo Vieira by members of the military. Earlier the same day, the army chief of staff, a rival of the president, was also slain. Observers believe Vieira's murder was in retaliation for the earlier killing.

The West African regional group ECOWAS is holding an emergency summit on the Guinea-Bissau crisis. African and Portugese diplomats flew into Bissau today to try to head off a possible military coup.

"The African Union appeals urgently to the political parties and actors of this country to exercise restraint and refrain from plunging the country once again into a spiral of power struggle," said a statement from the continental body.

Guinea-Bissau has been virtually taken over by cocaine traffickers, who use the country as a transit point between South America and Europe. It has been described as Africa's first narco-state and regional observers fear that cartels will overwhelm other West African countries with weak state institutions. In neighboring Guinea, the son of the country's late dictator (a long-time ally of Vieira) as well as several senior police officials were recently arrested on drugs trafficking charges.

I've seen nothing yet to suggest that the drugs barons were implicated in either assassination but the resulting power vacuum is sure to embolden them ever further.

The constitution, if respected, stipulates that the parliamentary speaker becomes acting president and must organize elections within 60 days.

Update: The army chief was killed by a remote-controlled bomb. Analysts have noted that this means of assassination is almost unheard of in Africa but very common in Latin America, which leads one to suspect the cocaine cartels.

Further update: Radio Netherlands Worldwide's Media Network is reporting that the all of Guinea-Bissau's privately-owned radio stations have been ordered to cease broadcasting. RNW quoted Media Foundation for West Africa's correspondent in the country as saying that the radio stations were ordered to cease broadcasting because they could spread false information about the mutiny. However, Samuel Fernandes, the army spokesman told the BBC that the closure was to ensure the security and safety of the journalists.

Cocaine trafficking in West Africa approaching crisis point?

Friends of Guinea blog has a piece on the drugs' cartels invasion of West Africa. Reprinted with permission.


The Washington Post has an article by the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on a problem that's causing increasing concern: drugs trafficking in West Africa.

The sub-region has become a major transit point for cocaine smuggling between Latin America and Europe. Originally, activity was centered in Guinea-Bissau, a borderline failed state that has been without a strong central government for a decade.

However, The Post's article reports that the cartels are threatening to branch out into Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Last month alone, more than 600 kilos [of cocaine] were seized in a plane with fake Red Cross markings at the airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and at the international airport in Bissau, several hundred boxes were unloaded from a jet.

It notes that fighting this problem will be difficult.

Poverty is the biggest problem. These countries are the worst performers on the human development index -- their populations at the bottom of the "bottom billion." Unemployed and desperate youths are vulnerable to being recruited as foot soldiers for criminal groups. West African countries must take control of their coasts and airspace. This requires hardware (boats, planes and radar), know-how (investigative techniques and container security) and counter-narcotics intelligence. Some of these capabilities can be developed nationally, but some assistance will have to come from abroad.

Another obstacle is those countries' public institutions, which are weak and plagued by corruption.

TIME also ran a piece on Guinea-Bissau becoming West Africa's first narco-state as did the UK Independent. A Russian news site reported on the seizure of a ship ferrying a huge load of cocaine of the coast of Conakry earlier this year. The UN's Office on Drugs and Crime has a thorough report on the West African cocaine trafficking problem.

How Guinea-Bissau became a narco-state

The BBC World Service has a good documentary explaining how the small West African state of Guinea-Bissau has become the central transit point for South American drugs traffickers ferrying their poison to Europe. And how these crime lords are taking over the country.

The country is hurt by its geography. The islands of Guinea-Bissau cover more territory than the mainland.

It's also hurt by its infrastructure that was neglected for decades... and what little that was left was destroyed during the late 90s civil war. In addition to having a barely functioning, understaffed, underresourced government, the country doesn't have a prison, according to the BBC.

No wonder it's considered an ideal location for gangsters.

Guinea-Bissau to shoot down drug planes

I wrote earlier about how Guinea-Bissau might become Africa's first narco-state. The government has responded by promising to shoot down suspected drug planes that enter the country's airspace.

How much of a deterrent this will represent is open to question. BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross says it is clear that the very people who should be countering it have been involved. Earlier this year a consignment of over 2.5 tonnes of cocaine was flown into a military airstrip. Two soldiers were later arrested in cars which had been packed with over 600kg (over 1300 lbs) of cocaine.

Guinea-Bissau cabinet minister warns of famine risk; NGOs unsure

After reports that Guinea-Bissau had become Africa's first narco-state, authorities are now worried that a famine might strike the unstable West African state.

Guinea-Bissau's agriculture minister recently warned on national radio on the imminence of a famine in the country, particularly in rural communities. The declaration, according to Jeune Afrique, 'left the humanitarian agencies perplexed.'

A Food and Agriculture Organization spokesman acknowledged that the lack of rain was a cause for concern but that "at this stage, [the FAO] doesn't have enough information or precise details to determine the amplitude of the problem."

The World Food Program said it was 'closely following the evolution of the situation.'

Drugs trafficking hits West Africa

It's no secret that failed states or countries with weak central authority are often havens for criminality, both internal and international. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Guinea-Bissau has already become a haven for drug traffickers and risks becoming West Africa's first narco-state.

Since 1998, the country has suffered from coups, civil wars, military mutinies and general political instability.

The CFR reports: Western officials estimate $150 million of cocaine flows into Guinea-Bissau per month from Latin America, equal to the country’s annual gross domestic product.

According to the Voice of America, the United Nations' special representative for West Africa also cites Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso as other hubs for drugs' smugglers.