1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état

The 1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état was the bloodless military coup that took place in Guinea-Bissau on 14 November 1980, led by Prime Minister General João Bernardo Vieira.[1] It led to the deposition of President Luís Cabral, who held the office since 1973, while the country's War of Independence was still ongoing. Furthermore, it resulted in the abandonment of the proposed unification of Guinea-Bissau with Cape Verde, a fellow Lusophone West African country. The Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC party (the ruling party in both countries) broke away and formed the new PAICV party in January 1981 under the leadership of Aristides Pereira, President of Cape Verde and former Secretary-General of the PAIGC.[2]

1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état

Map of Guinea-Bissau.
Date14 November 1980
Location
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
11°51′N 15°34′W
Result

Coup attempt succeeds with minimum disruption.

Belligerents

Government of Guinea-Bissau

Revolutionary Council

Commanders and leaders
Luís Cabral João Bernardo Vieira
Casualties and losses
No casualties reported.
Nexus of coup in Bissau (marked green), Guinea-Bissau

General Vieira announced the creation of the Revolutionary Council, which would exercise all executive and legislative powers in the country. Eventually, a power struggle developed[3] between Vieira and Victor Saúde Maria, Prime Minister and Vice President of the Revolutionary Council, the only civilian member of the body, with the latter being forced into exile in Portugal in March 1984. Two months later a new Constitution was promulgated, proclaiming Vieira as President and returning the country to civilian rule.

Vieira himself was deposed in the 1998–99 Civil War and exiled to Portugal in June 1999,[4][5][6] but returned to the country in 2005[7] and was again elected to the presidency,[8] and held the office until his assassination by a group of soldiers on 2 March 2009.[9][10][11]

See also

References
  1. "1980 Coup in Guinea Bissau". roape.org. Archived from the original on 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  2. Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 113.
  3. "AROUND THE WORLD; Army Ousts Last Civilian In Guinea Bissau Regime". The New York Times. 15 March 1984. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  4. "Loyalist troops capitulate" Archived 2008-03-19 at the Wayback Machine, IRIN, 7 May 1999.
  5. "Guinea-Bissau palace ablaze", BBC News, 7 May 1999.
  6. "Deposed Guinea-Bissau's president arrives in Portugal", BBC News, 11 June 1999.
  7. "Nino Vieira returns from exile to a hero's welcome", IRIN, 7 April 2005.
  8. "Army man wins G Bissau election", BBC News, 28 July 2005.
  9. "Guinea-Bissau president shot dead ", BBC, 2 March 2009.
  10. "Guinea-Bissau president 'killed in clash between rival soldiers'", The Guardian, 2 March 2009.
  11. "President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau assassinated by army", Times Online, 2 March 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.