Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Embalo says he was arrested inside the presidential palace on Wednesday, Nov. 26, during what he calls a ‘coup d’etat,’ which he says was led by the army chief of staff.
According to Embalo, the chief of staff, General Biague Na Ntan, deputy chief of staff General Mamadou Traore, and Interior Minister Botche Cande were arrested alongside him.
He added that no force was used against him. Reporters in the capital also confirmed hearing gunfire near the National Electoral Commission headquarters.
The country has been waiting for results from Sunday’s presidential election, which Embalo had claimed to have won with 65 percent of the vote.
Both his camp and that of opposition candidate Fernando Dias de Costa have declared a first-round victory.
Military officers later announced they were taking “total control” of the country, suspending the electoral process and closing the borders three days after voters cast their ballots, according to reports by AFP.
General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, addressed journalists while surrounded by armed soldiers, saying all branches of the armed forces would lead the country “until further notice.”
He claimed they uncovered a plot involving “national drug lords” aimed at destabilising the constitutional order.
The military has imposed a mandatory curfew, halted media programming, and frozen election activities in a country long plagued by political instability, repeated coups, and its role as a trafficking hub between Latin America and Europe.
