Yearbook 2011
Guinea Bissau. Drug smuggling via Guinea-Bissau continued to cause concern in the country. In 2010, both the EU and the US had suspended their support for the country, after General António Indjai was appointed Army commander despite his leading role in a military insurgency. In addition, José Américo Bubo Na Tchuto, who, according to the United States, was deeply involved in drug traffic, had regained his post as head of the Navy. In order to resume its assistance, in the spring, the EU demanded that all high-ranking soldiers involved in violence or other crime must go, which was considered to threaten Indjai’s and Bubo Na Tchuto’s positions of power, and that a long-planned defense reform should be implemented. Angola promised to shoot up to US $ 32 million for the latter to get rid of. The Angolans also sent a smaller military force to the country (later also Brazil and several neighboring countries would send soldiers). After that there was some stabilization of the situation in the country.Visit ABBREVIATIONFINDER for the acronym of GNB that stands for the country of Guinea-Bissau.
According to Countryaah official site, China has also increased its support for Guinea-Bissau. In May, lenders in the so-called Paris Club also pledged to write off debts of the equivalent of US $ 256 million.
During the summer, the opposition organized demonstrations criticizing the government’s inability to investigate the assassinations of President João Bernardo Vieira and two other high-ranking politicians, Baciro Dabó and Helder Proença, and expressed dissatisfaction with the increasingly high food prices. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior was accused of being involved in the murders of Dabó and Proença, and demands were raised on his departure. In August, several ministers were allowed to resign or change responsibilities after a decree from President Malam Bacai Sanhá. Gomes Júnior, despite his criticism of him, was allowed to remain as prime minister. The month after, the president left the country to seek medical care abroad.
There was some resentment when Prime Minister Gomes Júnior in September offered a sanctuary to Libyan leader Muammar al-Khadaffi. President Sanhá withdrew from this. Libya had previously made a number of investments in Guinea-Bissau and provided some support to the Guinean military.
At the beginning of December, President Sanha’s health deteriorated and he was flown to France for health care (he had previously suffered from severe diabetes). At the end of the same month, reports came of a coup attempt and of fire fighting in the capital. It was difficult to determine whether it was really a coup attempt or whether it was a dissatisfaction from a group of soldiers. There were also rumors that there was, in fact, a settlement between two army factions over the control of drug trafficking. At least a dozen people were arrested, including the commander of Navy Bubo Na Tchuto and a number of PAIGC politicians who were in opposition to Prime Minister Gomes Júnior.