Timeline Guinea-Bissau
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West coast of Africa, west of Guinea. Formerly Portuguese Guinea.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)(WUD, 1994, p.629)
Guinea-Bissau is about the size of Massachusetts.
(AP, 9/16/03)
1446-1447 The first Portuguese arrive at Guinea-Bissau. It was subsequently administered as part of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands. The Guinea area becomes important in the slave-trade.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1879 Guinea-Bissau became a separate colony in the Portuguese Empire.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1956 Aristides Pereira (1924-2011) co-founded of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, or PAIGC, which operated in secret in Guinea-Bissau and in Cape Verde.
(AP, 9/22/11)
1973 Sep 24, The PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal. This became national day for Guinea-Bissau.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Guinea-Bissau)(SSFC, 9/22/13, p.M3)
1974 Guinea-Bissau became Independent following a guerrilla war.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso).
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1980 Nov 13, A military coup led by Joao Bernardo Viera deposed President Luis Cabral of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/golf/guineabissau1980.htm)
1994 Guinea-Bissau held democratic elections.
(AP, 10/6/03)
1998 Jan, Brig. Gen’l. Ansumane Mane was fired amid allegations of smuggling arms to separatists in Senegal.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 9, Senegal and Guinea sent troops to aid Pres. Vieira in Guinea-Bissau. Rebels led by Ansumane Mane had just staged a coup to end the 18-year rule of Pres. Vieira, who was accused of corruption.
(SFC, 6/10/98, p.A9)
1998 Jun 11, Between 1,500 and 2,000 foreigners, mostly Portuguese, were evacuated by ship from the capital of Guinea-Bissau, where civil war raged.
(AP, 6/11/03)
1998 Jun 12, Some 200 people drowned as they fled the country by boat.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 14, In Guinea-Bissau the fighting intensified and thousands of people sought escape routes.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 16, Senegal fired artillery into Guinea-Bissau to support Pres. Vieira.
(WSJ, 6/17/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 5, Heavy fighting covered the capital in smoke. A regional intervention force was being prepared.
(WSJ, 7/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 11, In Guinea-Bissau Radio Bombolon mixed music and junta rhetoric and featured the Iva and Ichy local hit duo.
(SFC, 7/11/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 26, Army rebels and the government agreed to a cease-fire and promised to open peace talks.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 21, In Guinea-Bissau heavy artillery fire rocked the capital and rebels claimed to have captured Bafata, the 2nd largest town.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)
1998 Nov 2, In Guinea-Bissau the government and rebels signed an agreement to end the 5-month civil war.
(SFC, 11/3/98, p.C12)
1999 Feb 1, In Guinea-Bissau thousands fled the capital as fighting intensified between rebels and loyalists. At least 15 people were reported killed. Most of the 6,000 member army joined the rebellion to depose Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 2, In Guinea-Bissau a grenade destroyed a church and killed 3 people. 35 people were reported killed since fighting began Jan 31.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 3, In Guinea-Bissau Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira agreed to a cease fire with rebel leader Ansumane Mane.
(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A12)
1999 May 7, Renegade troops forced the surrender of the 600-man presidential guard and ousted Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira, who sought refuge in the Portuguese Embassy.
(SFC, 5/8/99, p.C14)
1999 May 14, In Guinea-Bissau Malan Bacai Sanha (52), former head of parliament, was declared the 3rd president.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
2000 Jan, In Guinea-Bissau Kumba Yala won the presidency with 72% of the vote.
(Econ, 9/20/03, p.46)
2002 Guinea-Bissau Pres. Kumba Yala dissolved Parliament and delayed elections 3 times.
(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Sep 14, In the West Africa country of Guinea-Bissau the army launched a coup, arresting the president and ordering government ministers detained. Verissimo Correia Seabre and fellow senior officers arrested the elected president, Kumba Yala.
(AP, 9/14/03)
2003 Sep 16, Guinea-Bissau's army chief of staff who overthrew the West African nation's president has won an agreement from political leaders to have presidential powers until new elections are held.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Sep 28, In Guinea-Bissau senior army officers, who staged a recent coup, installed Henrique Rosa as civilian president and Artur Sanha as prime minister to govern the West African country until elections. Civil servants hadn't been paid in nearly a year and teachers hadn't been paid in two. Soldiers were getting bags of rice instead of paychecks.
(AP, 9/29/03)(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Guinea-Bissau’s population was about 1 million. Its average annual per capita gross domestic product was about $180.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2004 Mar 8, Guinea-Bissau soldiers released deposed Pres. Kumba Yala from house arrest, six months after he was ousted in a bloodless coup on Sep 14.
(AP, 3/9/04)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French speaking African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying currency with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn in old bills for new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 Oct 6, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers recently back from a U.N. peacekeeping mission and angry over unpaid wages staged a revolt, surrounding a main military building in the West African nation's capital.
(AP, 10/6/04)
2005 Jun 19, Guinea-Bissau began its first presidential election since a 2003 coup, with 13 contenders vying to become the West African country's leader. The candidates include the man the military ousted two years ago. It was later alleged that Colombian drug dealers funded the re-election of Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
(AP, 6/19/05)(Econ, 4/16/15, p.39)
2007 Jan 3, China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing arrived in the central African nation of Guinea-Bissau for cooperation talks. His 7-nation tour reflected Chinese interest in Africa.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 10, Former Guinea-Bissau PM Carlos Gomes Jr. sought asylum at the local UN office, three days after he said President Vieira was behind the assassination of an ex-military commander last week.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan, Guinea-Bissau officials learned that Whoopi Goldberg (51) had taken a DNA test that indicated her ancestors came from the indigenous Papel and Bayote tribes. They soon extended to her a formal invitation to visit.
(SFC, 2/8/07, p.A2)
2007 Apr 17, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Martinho Ndafa Cabi announced an opposition-dominated government after being chosen to lead the poor west African nation following a political crisis.
(AFP, 4/17/07)
2007 Jun 9, Recent large seizures of cocaine confirmed that Guinea-Bissau had become a major drug distribution hub. The cocaine from Latin America arrived by boat and plane and was sent on to markets mostly in Europe. Guinea-Bissau’s army controlled the local trade.
(Econ, 6/9/07, p.54)(Econ, 4/21/12, p.64)
2007 Aug 6, South Africa stated its readiness to assist Guinea Bissau in tackling drug trafficking as the tiny west African nation has been used as a transit hub for European-bound cocaine.
(AP, 8/6/07)
2007 Nov 1, A top UN official said South American traffickers are moving billions of dollars worth of cocaine through Guinea-Bissau, amid growing demand in Europe, an amount so large it dwarfs all other economic sectors combined and could destabilize the coup-prone country.
(AP, 11/3/07)
2007 Dec 19, Donors pledged millions of dollars at a conference in Spain to help Guinea Bissau, which a top UN official called "under siege" by drug cartels who might even sway the country's future polls.
(AFP, 12/19/07)
2008 Aug 8, Guinea Bissau's army announced it had arrested rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, the head of the navy, over an attempted coup.
(AFP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 12, Security forces in Gambia arrested Rear Adm. Bubo Na Tchuto, the suspected leader of an alleged plot to topple the government in nearby Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 8/12/08)
2008 Nov 16, Guinea Bissau, seen as a major African drugs hub, went to the polls for parliamentary elections, which observers hoped would bring stability to the West African nation. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which has been dominant since independence from Portugal in 1974, is favorite to win the election.
(AP, 11/16/08)(AFP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 23, In Guinea Bissau mutinous soldiers fought their way into the fortified residence of President Joao Bernardo Vieira's in a 3-hour gunbattle but did not hurt the head of state.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2009 Jan 10, In Guinea-Bissau a boat carrying passengers on the Geba River capsized in strong winds, leaving 42 people missing.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Mar 2, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers assassinated President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira in his palace hours after a bomb blast killed his rival. A pre-dawn gunfight at the palace erupted hours after armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie, a longtime rival of the president, was killed by a bomb blast at his headquarters. The military insisted no coup was taking place.
(AP, 3/2/09)
2009 Mar 3, Lawmakers in Guinea-Bissau voted to uphold the constitution by which parliament speaker Raimundo Pereira succeeds as interim president, following the assassination of the head of state. Pereira took the oath of office.
(AFP, 3/3/09)(SFC, 3/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 5, Guinea-Bissau authorities said they foiled an attempted coup, and security forces killed two people allegedly involved, including a candidate in the upcoming presidential ballot. Guinea-Bissau's intelligence service said the coup plot was masterminded by former Defense Minister Helder Proenca and that presidential candidate Baciro Dabo was also involved. Both men died in separate shootings.
(AP, 6/5/09)(SFC, 6/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 28, Guinea-Bissau held elections for a new leader to replace the late President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, who was assassinated more than three months ago. The population of Guinea-Bissau stood at about 1.5 million. Leading a pack of 11 candidates were three former presidents seeking to retake the post. The election was marked by one of the lowest turnouts ever. If no candidate wins an overall majority in the first round, the election will go to a run-off between the two highest-placed contenders on July 28.
(AP, 6/28/09)(AFP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jul 5, Guinea-Bissau said the second round of presidential elections has been brought forward to July 26 to enable farmers to continue harvesting unhindered.
(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 26, Guinea-Bissau voters went to the polls for a presidential runoff between two former heads of state. The West African country’s veteran leader was assassinated in March. On July 29 election officials announced that Malam Bacai Sanha was the new president. Sanha took 63.39% of the runoff vote, beating opponent Kumba Yala, who took 36.69%.
(AFP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 A US diplomatic cable, revealed by WikiLeaks, said Guinea-Bissau was in danger of becoming Africa's first narco-state.
(AP, 3/10/19)
2010 Feb 26, Sierra Leone and five other west African countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea) signed onto an action plan in Freetown for sustainable mangrove management.
(AFP, 2/27/10)
2010 Apr 1, In Guinea-Bissau renegade soldiers seized the head of the armed forces and briefly detained PM Carlos Gomes Jr. in an apparent coup attempt in the tiny, coup-plagued African nation where the president was assassinated last year. Hours later, the mutinous soldiers released the prime minister, but the head of the armed forces Zamora Induta remained under guard at a military base while Antonio Ndjai, his No. 2, appeared to be in control.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr, In Guinea-Bissau Colonel Samba Diallo, deputy director of military intelligence, was arrested with other top officers on suspicion of involvement in a March 2009 attack that killed armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie. Diallo He was released after 8 months in detention.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2010 May 31, French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened a France-Africa summit saying Africa will fuel world economic growth for decades to come and must have a stronger voice in global affairs. Guinea Bissau's Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha, among the 38 African leaders attending the summit in Nice, called for an international effort to help him fight drug trafficking in his west African country.
(AP, 5/31/10)(AFP, 5/31/10)
2010 Jul 22, The UN Security Council pressed for effective actions to combat the growing threat of drug trafficking and organized crime in the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau.
(AFP, 7/22/10)
2011 Jun 29, Guinea-Bissau’s economy ministry said the World Bank is to allocate 6.4 million dollars (nearly 4.5 million euros) to help it fight poverty and boost growth.
(AFP, 6/29/11)
2011 Jul 13, In Guinea-Bissau health workers began a five-day strike to press demands pay bonuses and better working conditions in the west African country.
(AFP, 7/13/11)
2011 Jul 19, In Guinea-Bissau thousands took to the streets of Bissau for the second rally in five days to demand the resignation of PM Carlos Gomes Junior, accused of hindering an assassination probe. The country is classified by the United Nations as one of the world's poorest, coming in at 175 out of 177 on the Human Development Index.
(AFP, 7/19/11)
2011 Aug 5, In Guinea-Bissau thousands took to the streets of Bissau for the third rally in three weeks to demand the resignation of PM Carlos Gomes Junior, who is accused of hindering an assassination probe.
(AFP, 8/5/11)
2011 Aug 31, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha was (64) evacuated to neighboring Senegal for medical care.
(AFP, 9/1/11)
2011 Sep 18, Guinea-Bissau's diabetic Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha returned home after being hospitalized in Senegal.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Oct, Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha appointed Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, labeled by the US Treasury Department as a drug kingpin, to head the Navy.
(AP, 1/9/12)
2011 Nov 22, The president of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha (64), was hospitalized in Senegal's capital Dakar and will later be transferred to Paris for treatment.
(AFP, 11/24/11)
2011 Dec 13, In Guinea-Bissau a transport strike paralyzed much of the country, forcing residents to trek into work by foot, as taxi drivers stayed off the roads to protest police extortion.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 26, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers demanding better pay attacked the headquarters of the armed forces and fanned out across the streets of the small west African state's capital as the country's president was undergoing treatment in France.
(AFP, 12/26/11)
2011 Dec 27, Guinea Bissau's army clashed with renegade forces overnight, leaving at least two dead as they combed the capital for suspects after thwarting an alleged coup attempt. Navy Chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, who has previously been accused of involvement in coup plans and in the drugs trade, was arrested for plotting a coup. Tchuto and 18 other co-accused were released on June 20, 2012.
(AFP, 12/27/11)(AFP, 6/21/12)
2011 Dec 28, Guinea-Bissau security forces executed police officer Major Yaya Dabo as he turned himself in over his role in what the regime describes as a coup bid.
(AFP, 12/30/11)
2012 Jan 9, Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha (64) died in Paris after a lengthy hospitalization. He was elected in this tiny, coup-prone nation on Africa's western coast about two years ago after the previous leader was assassinated.
(AP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 10, Guinea-Bissau's opposition rejected the appointment of the National Assembly leader Raimundo Pereira as interim head of the chronically unstable state following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanha in Paris.
(AFP, 1/10/12)
2012 Feb 10, Guinea Bissau PM Carlos Gomes Junior named Adiato Djalo Nandigna, his current communications minister, to stand in for him until presidential polls on March 18 in which he is a candidate.
(AFP, 2/10/12)
2012 Mar 15, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers and para-military troops were the first to vote in presidential elections, three days before the rest of the country.
(AFP, 3/15/12)
2012 Mar 18, Guinea-Bissau began voting for a new president, an office nobody has held for a full five-year term. Chronic instability here has fed a booming cocaine trade. Ex-military intelligence deputy chief Colonel Samba Diallo was shot dead by men in military uniform in the capital hours after polls closed in a presidential vote. He was accused of involvement in a 2009 bombing that killed the country's then army chief.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2012 Apr 12, Guinea-Bissau soldiers arrested PM Carlos Gomes Jr., hours after the leader's home was attacked with grenades in what former colonial ruler Portugal described as a military coup. Gomes had been favored to win the April 29 runoff after his challenger Kumba Yala, a former president who was overthrown in a 2003 coup, said he would boycott the vote because of irregularities in the first round of balloting. President Raimundo Pereira was also arrested.
(AP, 4/13/12)(AFP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 13, In Guinea-Bissau a communique from an unidentified military commander was released claiming soldiers do not want to seize power, but instead were trying to halt an invasion from Angolan troops. The unidentified military commander claimed that PM Gomes was going to allow troops from Angola, another former Portuguese colony in Africa, to attack military forces in Guinea-Bissau. The UN Security Council unanimously condemned the coup.
(AP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 15, In Guinea-Bissau political parties met with the military junta in an attempt to reach a political situation days after soldiers arrested the prime minister. They agreed to set up a transitional body to run the country, a day ahead of talks with West African bloc ECOWAS.
(AP, 4/15/12)(AFP, 4/15/12)
2012 Apr 17, The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau's membership after a coup and the arrests of top officials.
(AFP, 4/16/12)
2012 Apr 18, Guinea-Bissau's former ruling party rejected the junta's plans for a transition government and demanded the release of top political leaders being held by the military rulers. Former secretary of state Fode Cassama was seized at his house by soldiers and taken to an unknown destination. The junta and opposition parties formally dissolved the government and called for a two-year transition period before new elections can be held.
(AFP, 4/18/12)
2012 Apr 19, Guinea-Bissau's junta named Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, a former parliamentary speaker and independent presidential candidate, to head a two-year transition government after a deal with the opposition, defying world calls for a return to democracy.
(AFP, 4/19/12)
2012 Apr 26, In Ivory Coast the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to send troops to coup-hit Mali and Guinea-Bissau to support their return to civilian rule and demanded coup leaders "return to barracks" in both countries. They also said Guinea-Bissau and Mali must prepare for legislative and presidential elections within a year.
(AFP, 4/27/12)
2012 Apr 27, Guinea-Bissau's coup leaders released the country's ousted prime minister and interim president after more than two weeks of captivity, allowing the former leaders to travel to Ivory Coast.
(AFP, 4/28/12)
2012 Apr 30, The West African bloc ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Guinea-Bissau's junta after talks in Banjul failed to yield any progress.
(AFP, 4/30/12)
2012 May 3, The European Union slapped an assets freeze and travel ban on six coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau.
(AFP, 5/3/12)
2013 May 4, Twelve Senegalese employees of a South African demining company were kidnapped in Senegal's southern Casamance region. On May 29 the rebels released 3 women who were kidnapped with the group. The 9 remaining employees were freed on July 12 in Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 5/6/13)(http://tinyurl.com/dx24cfh)(Reuters, 7/12/13)
2012 May 10, West African mediators (ECOWAS) entered crisis talks with Guinea-Bissau's former governing party to mediate a return to civilian rule after a military junta deposed the government last month.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 11, Guinea-Bissau coup leaders and west African mediators agreed that parliamentary speaker Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo will lead a transition government, ruling out the return of the toppled team.
(AFP, 5/11/12)
2012 May 16, Guinea-Bissau’s interim leader Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo named Rui Duarte Barros, a former finance minister, to serve as the new prime minister and help lead a transition following last month's coup.
(AFP, 5/16/12)
2012 May 17, In Guinea-Bissau some 70 ECOWAS soldiers arrived on a mission to restore stability after the country's April 12 coup, as transitional government PM Rui Duarte Barros took office.
(AFP, 5/17/12)
2012 May 18, The UN Security Council unanimously ordered sanctions against the leaders of last month's military coup in Guinea-Bissau and warned it was ready to take new measures.
(AFP, 5/18/12)
2012 May 19, Officials said Guinea-Bissau's junta, parliament and a group of political parties have signed a roadmap aimed at ending the crisis created by the April 12 coup.
(AFP, 5/19/12)
2012 May 22, Guinea-Bissau interim President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo signed a decree establishing the 27-member cabinet under PM Rui Duarte Barros, which includes as defense minister Colonel Celestino Carvalho, a member of the putschists who ousted the president. The armed forces vowed to return to their barracks.
(AFP, 5/22/12)
2012 May 31, The EU strengthened its sanctions against Guinea-Bissau's military junta, slapping an asset freeze and visa ban on a further 15 people.
(AFP, 5/31/12)
2012 Jun 6, Angolan troops, whose presence angered local soldiers and prompted a coup in April, began leaving Guinea-Bissau. The pullout was completed on June 9.
(AFP, 6/6/12)(AFP, 6/9/12)
2012 Oct 21, In Guinea-Bissau mutineers were defeated by military loyal to the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Antonio Indjai. 6 people were killed when a group of soldiers attempted to seize control of a military airbase near the capital. On Oct 27 Coup leader Pansau Ntchama was arrested outside the capital, Bissau. Ntchama had sought exile in Portugal after allegedly carrying out the 2009 assassination of Guinea-Bissau's former president.
(AP, 10/21/12)(AP, 10/28/12)
2012 The population of Guinea-Bissau was about 1.6 million.
(AP, 4/13/12)
2013 Jan 31, In Ghana former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan launched a commission to tackle drug trafficking in West Africa. Annan blamed the international community for ignoring the threat posed by corrupted states like Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 1/31/13)
2013 Apr 4, Cape Verde Islands Radiotelevisao Caboverdiana reported that Rear Adm. Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto and four other Guinea-Bissau nationals were apprehended by US authorities aboard a yacht in international waters in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The US Treasury Department designated Na Tchuto as a drug kingpin in 2010 for his alleged role in the cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau. Tchuto pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in jail, returning to Guinea-Bissau in October 2016.
(AP, 4/5/13)(AP, 3/10/19)
2013 Apr 25, Guinea-Bissau sentenced army captain Pansau Ntchama to serve five years in prison after being found guilty of treason and using illegal weapons while leading a failed coup last year.
(AP, 4/25/13)
2013 Aug 11, Guinea-Bissau made its first extradition of a suspected drug trafficker, part of an effort to shake off its international reputation as a 'narco-state'. The West African country handed over Telmo Perez Fernandes (48) to Spanish authorities. The Spanish citizen was arrested on June 5 at the request of the Spanish police.
(Reuters, 8/13/13)
2013 Dec 17, Guinea-Bissau's Interior Minister Antonio Suka Ntchama became the second minister to step down in the tiny West African country amid an investigation into how 74 Syrians boarded a flight to Portugal with fake passports.
(Reuters, 12/18/13)
2014 Apr 3, Former Guinea Bissau President Kumba Yala (61) died. He had ruled the West African nation from 2000 to 2003.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 13, Guinea-Bissau held watershed elections for a president and parliament aimed at ushering in a new era of stability in a country plagued by drugs and upended by a military coup.
(AFP, 4/13/14)
2014 May 18, Guinea-Bissau voted in a presidential runoff vote intended to restore constitutional order in a country known for coups and unrest. Voters chose between Jose Mario Vaz, whose party won a parliamentary majority in April's first round, against Nuno Gomes Nabiam, who is known for having close ties to military leaders. Jose Mario Vaz was elected as president.
(AP, 5/18/14)(AP, 3/10/19)
2014 Sep 26, In Guinea-Bissau at least 22 people were killed when a vehicle taking them to a funeral struck a landmine.
(Reuters, 9/27/14)
2015 Mar 6, Guinea-Bissau dismantled a criminal operation trafficking 54 children to Senegal, where it is believed they would have been forced by Islamic schools to beg on the streets.
(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Aug 12, Guinea Bissau's Pres. Jose Mario Vaz dismissed the government late today because of a deepening power struggle with PM Domingos Simoes Pereira.
(Reuters, 8/13/15)
2015 Aug 14, The ruling party in Guinea Bissau renominated Domingos Simoes Pereira as prime minister, three days after he was sacked by President Jose Mario Vaz.
(AFP, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 24, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Baciro Dja (39) sacked the chiefs of the state-owned radio and television services for "bias" in their reporting of a recent government shake-up. Dja was appointed last week after President Jose Mario Vaz fired his predecessor Domingos Simoes Pereira.
(AFP, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 9, Guinea-Bissau's PM Baciro Dja announced his resignation, just two days after his government was sworn in, plunging the chronically unstable African nation deeper into a simmering political crisis. His decision came after the country's Supreme Court declared that his unpopular appointment by President Jose Mario Vaz by presidential decree just weeks earlier had violated the constitution.
(AFP, 9/9/15)
2016 May 12, Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz sacked PM Carlos Correia and dissolved his government, in a move that threatened to deepen political turmoil in the tiny West African nation.
(Reuters, 5/12/16)
2016 May 27, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Baciro Dja was sworn in with a fresh cabinet also anticipated, but current ministers in the split ruling party have declared they will not leave their posts.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 Jul 15, The Supreme Court in Guinea-Bissau upheld the nomination of PM Baciro Dja, bolstering President Jose Mario Vaz in a power struggle with rival and former PM Carlos Correia.
(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2017 May 2, Greenpeace said authorities in West Africa have detained eight Chinese vessels for fishing illegally and the boat owners could be subject to millions of dollars in fines. Inspectors from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau boarded the ships off their respective coasts. They found them to be violating regulations on catching protected fish and using nets with small holes to facilitate bigger hauls.
(Reuters, 5/3/17)
2018 Feb 4, Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe, chairman of West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS, slapped sanctions on 19 lawmakers and associates of the president in Guinea-Bissau, including his son, over the continued failure to end a political impasse. The ECOWAS bloc hit Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz's political and business allies with sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes.
(AFP, 2/6/18)(Reuters, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 16, Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz appointed veteran politician Aristides Gomes as new prime minister.
(Reuters, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 19, Guinea Bissau's parliament met for the first time in nearly two years after the appointment of a consensus prime minister to end a dragging political crisis. Earlier this week President Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as premier, whom he described as a "consensus" candidate.
(AFP, 4/19/18)
2018 Aug 2, Guinea-Bissau PM Aristide Gomes said public-sector workers have secured a pay increase. The strike, launched on July 24, ended after the government agreed to increase minimum monthly pay from 19,200 CFA francs ($33.91, 29.28 euros) to 50,000 francs from September.
(AFP, 8/3/18)
2018 Oct 3, A Guinea-Bissau coast guard commander said around 60 migrants are missing and believed drowned after their boat was seen sinking off the country's coast.
(Reuters, 10/3/18)
2019 Mar 10, Guinea-Bissau, one of the world's poorest states, held key legislative elections aimed at ending a protracted political crisis.
(AFP, 3/10/19)
2019 Jun 22, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as prime minister, ending a political deadlock that dragged on since legislative elections in May.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Sep 3, Guinea-Bissau authorities said police have seized more than 1.8 tons of cocaine hidden in flour bags in the biggest seizure in the country's history. Police said the shipment was on its way to Islamist militants of the Arab Maghreb.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
2019 Nov 24, Guinea-Bissau held presidential elections. Twelve candidates ran for head of state, including incumbent Jose Mario Vaz, who has been in power since 2014.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Dec 29, Guinea-Bissau held elections. two former prime ministers vied for the presidency in the runoff election after the incumbent failed to reach the second round in the tumultuous West African country once described by the United Nations as a narco-state. Domingos Simoes Pereira faced Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2020 Feb 29, Guinea-Bissau had two presidents and two prime ministers as of today, after Umaro Cissoko Embalo, the inaugurated winner of December's election, swore in a new premier, but parliament appointed a rival interim president.
(Reuters, 2/29/20)
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West coast of Africa, west of Guinea. Formerly Portuguese Guinea.
(WSJ, 1/2/98, p.8)(WUD, 1994, p.629)
Guinea-Bissau is about the size of Massachusetts.
(AP, 9/16/03)
1446-1447 The first Portuguese arrive at Guinea-Bissau. It was subsequently administered as part of the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands. The Guinea area becomes important in the slave-trade.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1879 Guinea-Bissau became a separate colony in the Portuguese Empire.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1956 Aristides Pereira (1924-2011) co-founded of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, or PAIGC, which operated in secret in Guinea-Bissau and in Cape Verde.
(AP, 9/22/11)
1973 Sep 24, The PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal. This became national day for Guinea-Bissau.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Guinea-Bissau)(SSFC, 9/22/13, p.M3)
1974 Guinea-Bissau became Independent following a guerrilla war.
(BBC, 3/12/20)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso).
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1980 Nov 13, A military coup led by Joao Bernardo Viera deposed President Luis Cabral of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/golf/guineabissau1980.htm)
1994 Guinea-Bissau held democratic elections.
(AP, 10/6/03)
1998 Jan, Brig. Gen’l. Ansumane Mane was fired amid allegations of smuggling arms to separatists in Senegal.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 9, Senegal and Guinea sent troops to aid Pres. Vieira in Guinea-Bissau. Rebels led by Ansumane Mane had just staged a coup to end the 18-year rule of Pres. Vieira, who was accused of corruption.
(SFC, 6/10/98, p.A9)
1998 Jun 11, Between 1,500 and 2,000 foreigners, mostly Portuguese, were evacuated by ship from the capital of Guinea-Bissau, where civil war raged.
(AP, 6/11/03)
1998 Jun 12, Some 200 people drowned as they fled the country by boat.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 14, In Guinea-Bissau the fighting intensified and thousands of people sought escape routes.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Jun 16, Senegal fired artillery into Guinea-Bissau to support Pres. Vieira.
(WSJ, 6/17/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 5, Heavy fighting covered the capital in smoke. A regional intervention force was being prepared.
(WSJ, 7/6/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 11, In Guinea-Bissau Radio Bombolon mixed music and junta rhetoric and featured the Iva and Ichy local hit duo.
(SFC, 7/11/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 26, Army rebels and the government agreed to a cease-fire and promised to open peace talks.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 21, In Guinea-Bissau heavy artillery fire rocked the capital and rebels claimed to have captured Bafata, the 2nd largest town.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)
1998 Nov 2, In Guinea-Bissau the government and rebels signed an agreement to end the 5-month civil war.
(SFC, 11/3/98, p.C12)
1999 Feb 1, In Guinea-Bissau thousands fled the capital as fighting intensified between rebels and loyalists. At least 15 people were reported killed. Most of the 6,000 member army joined the rebellion to depose Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
(SFC, 2/2/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 2, In Guinea-Bissau a grenade destroyed a church and killed 3 people. 35 people were reported killed since fighting began Jan 31.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 3, In Guinea-Bissau Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira agreed to a cease fire with rebel leader Ansumane Mane.
(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A12)
1999 May 7, Renegade troops forced the surrender of the 600-man presidential guard and ousted Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira, who sought refuge in the Portuguese Embassy.
(SFC, 5/8/99, p.C14)
1999 May 14, In Guinea-Bissau Malan Bacai Sanha (52), former head of parliament, was declared the 3rd president.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A14)
2000 Jan, In Guinea-Bissau Kumba Yala won the presidency with 72% of the vote.
(Econ, 9/20/03, p.46)
2002 Guinea-Bissau Pres. Kumba Yala dissolved Parliament and delayed elections 3 times.
(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Sep 14, In the West Africa country of Guinea-Bissau the army launched a coup, arresting the president and ordering government ministers detained. Verissimo Correia Seabre and fellow senior officers arrested the elected president, Kumba Yala.
(AP, 9/14/03)
2003 Sep 16, Guinea-Bissau's army chief of staff who overthrew the West African nation's president has won an agreement from political leaders to have presidential powers until new elections are held.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Sep 28, In Guinea-Bissau senior army officers, who staged a recent coup, installed Henrique Rosa as civilian president and Artur Sanha as prime minister to govern the West African country until elections. Civil servants hadn't been paid in nearly a year and teachers hadn't been paid in two. Soldiers were getting bags of rice instead of paychecks.
(AP, 9/29/03)(AP, 10/6/03)
2003 Guinea-Bissau’s population was about 1 million. Its average annual per capita gross domestic product was about $180.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2004 Mar 8, Guinea-Bissau soldiers released deposed Pres. Kumba Yala from house arrest, six months after he was ousted in a bloodless coup on Sep 14.
(AP, 3/9/04)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French speaking African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying currency with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn in old bills for new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 Oct 6, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers recently back from a U.N. peacekeeping mission and angry over unpaid wages staged a revolt, surrounding a main military building in the West African nation's capital.
(AP, 10/6/04)
2005 Jun 19, Guinea-Bissau began its first presidential election since a 2003 coup, with 13 contenders vying to become the West African country's leader. The candidates include the man the military ousted two years ago. It was later alleged that Colombian drug dealers funded the re-election of Pres. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
(AP, 6/19/05)(Econ, 4/16/15, p.39)
2007 Jan 3, China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing arrived in the central African nation of Guinea-Bissau for cooperation talks. His 7-nation tour reflected Chinese interest in Africa.
(AP, 1/4/07)
2007 Jan 10, Former Guinea-Bissau PM Carlos Gomes Jr. sought asylum at the local UN office, three days after he said President Vieira was behind the assassination of an ex-military commander last week.
(AP, 1/10/07)
2007 Jan, Guinea-Bissau officials learned that Whoopi Goldberg (51) had taken a DNA test that indicated her ancestors came from the indigenous Papel and Bayote tribes. They soon extended to her a formal invitation to visit.
(SFC, 2/8/07, p.A2)
2007 Apr 17, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Martinho Ndafa Cabi announced an opposition-dominated government after being chosen to lead the poor west African nation following a political crisis.
(AFP, 4/17/07)
2007 Jun 9, Recent large seizures of cocaine confirmed that Guinea-Bissau had become a major drug distribution hub. The cocaine from Latin America arrived by boat and plane and was sent on to markets mostly in Europe. Guinea-Bissau’s army controlled the local trade.
(Econ, 6/9/07, p.54)(Econ, 4/21/12, p.64)
2007 Aug 6, South Africa stated its readiness to assist Guinea Bissau in tackling drug trafficking as the tiny west African nation has been used as a transit hub for European-bound cocaine.
(AP, 8/6/07)
2007 Nov 1, A top UN official said South American traffickers are moving billions of dollars worth of cocaine through Guinea-Bissau, amid growing demand in Europe, an amount so large it dwarfs all other economic sectors combined and could destabilize the coup-prone country.
(AP, 11/3/07)
2007 Dec 19, Donors pledged millions of dollars at a conference in Spain to help Guinea Bissau, which a top UN official called "under siege" by drug cartels who might even sway the country's future polls.
(AFP, 12/19/07)
2008 Aug 8, Guinea Bissau's army announced it had arrested rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, the head of the navy, over an attempted coup.
(AFP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 12, Security forces in Gambia arrested Rear Adm. Bubo Na Tchuto, the suspected leader of an alleged plot to topple the government in nearby Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 8/12/08)
2008 Nov 16, Guinea Bissau, seen as a major African drugs hub, went to the polls for parliamentary elections, which observers hoped would bring stability to the West African nation. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which has been dominant since independence from Portugal in 1974, is favorite to win the election.
(AP, 11/16/08)(AFP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 23, In Guinea Bissau mutinous soldiers fought their way into the fortified residence of President Joao Bernardo Vieira's in a 3-hour gunbattle but did not hurt the head of state.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2009 Jan 10, In Guinea-Bissau a boat carrying passengers on the Geba River capsized in strong winds, leaving 42 people missing.
(AP, 1/13/09)
2009 Mar 2, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers assassinated President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira in his palace hours after a bomb blast killed his rival. A pre-dawn gunfight at the palace erupted hours after armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie, a longtime rival of the president, was killed by a bomb blast at his headquarters. The military insisted no coup was taking place.
(AP, 3/2/09)
2009 Mar 3, Lawmakers in Guinea-Bissau voted to uphold the constitution by which parliament speaker Raimundo Pereira succeeds as interim president, following the assassination of the head of state. Pereira took the oath of office.
(AFP, 3/3/09)(SFC, 3/4/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 5, Guinea-Bissau authorities said they foiled an attempted coup, and security forces killed two people allegedly involved, including a candidate in the upcoming presidential ballot. Guinea-Bissau's intelligence service said the coup plot was masterminded by former Defense Minister Helder Proenca and that presidential candidate Baciro Dabo was also involved. Both men died in separate shootings.
(AP, 6/5/09)(SFC, 6/6/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 28, Guinea-Bissau held elections for a new leader to replace the late President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, who was assassinated more than three months ago. The population of Guinea-Bissau stood at about 1.5 million. Leading a pack of 11 candidates were three former presidents seeking to retake the post. The election was marked by one of the lowest turnouts ever. If no candidate wins an overall majority in the first round, the election will go to a run-off between the two highest-placed contenders on July 28.
(AP, 6/28/09)(AFP, 6/29/09)
2009 Jul 5, Guinea-Bissau said the second round of presidential elections has been brought forward to July 26 to enable farmers to continue harvesting unhindered.
(AFP, 7/5/09)
2009 Jul 26, Guinea-Bissau voters went to the polls for a presidential runoff between two former heads of state. The West African country’s veteran leader was assassinated in March. On July 29 election officials announced that Malam Bacai Sanha was the new president. Sanha took 63.39% of the runoff vote, beating opponent Kumba Yala, who took 36.69%.
(AFP, 7/26/09)(AP, 7/29/09)
2009 A US diplomatic cable, revealed by WikiLeaks, said Guinea-Bissau was in danger of becoming Africa's first narco-state.
(AP, 3/10/19)
2010 Feb 26, Sierra Leone and five other west African countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea) signed onto an action plan in Freetown for sustainable mangrove management.
(AFP, 2/27/10)
2010 Apr 1, In Guinea-Bissau renegade soldiers seized the head of the armed forces and briefly detained PM Carlos Gomes Jr. in an apparent coup attempt in the tiny, coup-plagued African nation where the president was assassinated last year. Hours later, the mutinous soldiers released the prime minister, but the head of the armed forces Zamora Induta remained under guard at a military base while Antonio Ndjai, his No. 2, appeared to be in control.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr, In Guinea-Bissau Colonel Samba Diallo, deputy director of military intelligence, was arrested with other top officers on suspicion of involvement in a March 2009 attack that killed armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie. Diallo He was released after 8 months in detention.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2010 May 31, French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened a France-Africa summit saying Africa will fuel world economic growth for decades to come and must have a stronger voice in global affairs. Guinea Bissau's Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha, among the 38 African leaders attending the summit in Nice, called for an international effort to help him fight drug trafficking in his west African country.
(AP, 5/31/10)(AFP, 5/31/10)
2010 Jul 22, The UN Security Council pressed for effective actions to combat the growing threat of drug trafficking and organized crime in the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau.
(AFP, 7/22/10)
2011 Jun 29, Guinea-Bissau’s economy ministry said the World Bank is to allocate 6.4 million dollars (nearly 4.5 million euros) to help it fight poverty and boost growth.
(AFP, 6/29/11)
2011 Jul 13, In Guinea-Bissau health workers began a five-day strike to press demands pay bonuses and better working conditions in the west African country.
(AFP, 7/13/11)
2011 Jul 19, In Guinea-Bissau thousands took to the streets of Bissau for the second rally in five days to demand the resignation of PM Carlos Gomes Junior, accused of hindering an assassination probe. The country is classified by the United Nations as one of the world's poorest, coming in at 175 out of 177 on the Human Development Index.
(AFP, 7/19/11)
2011 Aug 5, In Guinea-Bissau thousands took to the streets of Bissau for the third rally in three weeks to demand the resignation of PM Carlos Gomes Junior, who is accused of hindering an assassination probe.
(AFP, 8/5/11)
2011 Aug 31, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha was (64) evacuated to neighboring Senegal for medical care.
(AFP, 9/1/11)
2011 Sep 18, Guinea-Bissau's diabetic Pres. Malam Bacai Sanha returned home after being hospitalized in Senegal.
(AP, 9/19/11)
2011 Oct, Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha appointed Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, labeled by the US Treasury Department as a drug kingpin, to head the Navy.
(AP, 1/9/12)
2011 Nov 22, The president of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Bacai Sanha (64), was hospitalized in Senegal's capital Dakar and will later be transferred to Paris for treatment.
(AFP, 11/24/11)
2011 Dec 13, In Guinea-Bissau a transport strike paralyzed much of the country, forcing residents to trek into work by foot, as taxi drivers stayed off the roads to protest police extortion.
(AFP, 12/13/11)
2011 Dec 26, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers demanding better pay attacked the headquarters of the armed forces and fanned out across the streets of the small west African state's capital as the country's president was undergoing treatment in France.
(AFP, 12/26/11)
2011 Dec 27, Guinea Bissau's army clashed with renegade forces overnight, leaving at least two dead as they combed the capital for suspects after thwarting an alleged coup attempt. Navy Chief Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, who has previously been accused of involvement in coup plans and in the drugs trade, was arrested for plotting a coup. Tchuto and 18 other co-accused were released on June 20, 2012.
(AFP, 12/27/11)(AFP, 6/21/12)
2011 Dec 28, Guinea-Bissau security forces executed police officer Major Yaya Dabo as he turned himself in over his role in what the regime describes as a coup bid.
(AFP, 12/30/11)
2012 Jan 9, Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha (64) died in Paris after a lengthy hospitalization. He was elected in this tiny, coup-prone nation on Africa's western coast about two years ago after the previous leader was assassinated.
(AP, 1/9/12)
2012 Jan 10, Guinea-Bissau's opposition rejected the appointment of the National Assembly leader Raimundo Pereira as interim head of the chronically unstable state following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanha in Paris.
(AFP, 1/10/12)
2012 Feb 10, Guinea Bissau PM Carlos Gomes Junior named Adiato Djalo Nandigna, his current communications minister, to stand in for him until presidential polls on March 18 in which he is a candidate.
(AFP, 2/10/12)
2012 Mar 15, In Guinea-Bissau soldiers and para-military troops were the first to vote in presidential elections, three days before the rest of the country.
(AFP, 3/15/12)
2012 Mar 18, Guinea-Bissau began voting for a new president, an office nobody has held for a full five-year term. Chronic instability here has fed a booming cocaine trade. Ex-military intelligence deputy chief Colonel Samba Diallo was shot dead by men in military uniform in the capital hours after polls closed in a presidential vote. He was accused of involvement in a 2009 bombing that killed the country's then army chief.
(AFP, 3/18/12)
2012 Apr 12, Guinea-Bissau soldiers arrested PM Carlos Gomes Jr., hours after the leader's home was attacked with grenades in what former colonial ruler Portugal described as a military coup. Gomes had been favored to win the April 29 runoff after his challenger Kumba Yala, a former president who was overthrown in a 2003 coup, said he would boycott the vote because of irregularities in the first round of balloting. President Raimundo Pereira was also arrested.
(AP, 4/13/12)(AFP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 13, In Guinea-Bissau a communique from an unidentified military commander was released claiming soldiers do not want to seize power, but instead were trying to halt an invasion from Angolan troops. The unidentified military commander claimed that PM Gomes was going to allow troops from Angola, another former Portuguese colony in Africa, to attack military forces in Guinea-Bissau. The UN Security Council unanimously condemned the coup.
(AP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 15, In Guinea-Bissau political parties met with the military junta in an attempt to reach a political situation days after soldiers arrested the prime minister. They agreed to set up a transitional body to run the country, a day ahead of talks with West African bloc ECOWAS.
(AP, 4/15/12)(AFP, 4/15/12)
2012 Apr 17, The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau's membership after a coup and the arrests of top officials.
(AFP, 4/16/12)
2012 Apr 18, Guinea-Bissau's former ruling party rejected the junta's plans for a transition government and demanded the release of top political leaders being held by the military rulers. Former secretary of state Fode Cassama was seized at his house by soldiers and taken to an unknown destination. The junta and opposition parties formally dissolved the government and called for a two-year transition period before new elections can be held.
(AFP, 4/18/12)
2012 Apr 19, Guinea-Bissau's junta named Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, a former parliamentary speaker and independent presidential candidate, to head a two-year transition government after a deal with the opposition, defying world calls for a return to democracy.
(AFP, 4/19/12)
2012 Apr 26, In Ivory Coast the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to send troops to coup-hit Mali and Guinea-Bissau to support their return to civilian rule and demanded coup leaders "return to barracks" in both countries. They also said Guinea-Bissau and Mali must prepare for legislative and presidential elections within a year.
(AFP, 4/27/12)
2012 Apr 27, Guinea-Bissau's coup leaders released the country's ousted prime minister and interim president after more than two weeks of captivity, allowing the former leaders to travel to Ivory Coast.
(AFP, 4/28/12)
2012 Apr 30, The West African bloc ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Guinea-Bissau's junta after talks in Banjul failed to yield any progress.
(AFP, 4/30/12)
2012 May 3, The European Union slapped an assets freeze and travel ban on six coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau.
(AFP, 5/3/12)
2013 May 4, Twelve Senegalese employees of a South African demining company were kidnapped in Senegal's southern Casamance region. On May 29 the rebels released 3 women who were kidnapped with the group. The 9 remaining employees were freed on July 12 in Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 5/6/13)(http://tinyurl.com/dx24cfh)(Reuters, 7/12/13)
2012 May 10, West African mediators (ECOWAS) entered crisis talks with Guinea-Bissau's former governing party to mediate a return to civilian rule after a military junta deposed the government last month.
(AFP, 5/10/12)
2012 May 11, Guinea-Bissau coup leaders and west African mediators agreed that parliamentary speaker Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo will lead a transition government, ruling out the return of the toppled team.
(AFP, 5/11/12)
2012 May 16, Guinea-Bissau’s interim leader Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo named Rui Duarte Barros, a former finance minister, to serve as the new prime minister and help lead a transition following last month's coup.
(AFP, 5/16/12)
2012 May 17, In Guinea-Bissau some 70 ECOWAS soldiers arrived on a mission to restore stability after the country's April 12 coup, as transitional government PM Rui Duarte Barros took office.
(AFP, 5/17/12)
2012 May 18, The UN Security Council unanimously ordered sanctions against the leaders of last month's military coup in Guinea-Bissau and warned it was ready to take new measures.
(AFP, 5/18/12)
2012 May 19, Officials said Guinea-Bissau's junta, parliament and a group of political parties have signed a roadmap aimed at ending the crisis created by the April 12 coup.
(AFP, 5/19/12)
2012 May 22, Guinea-Bissau interim President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo signed a decree establishing the 27-member cabinet under PM Rui Duarte Barros, which includes as defense minister Colonel Celestino Carvalho, a member of the putschists who ousted the president. The armed forces vowed to return to their barracks.
(AFP, 5/22/12)
2012 May 31, The EU strengthened its sanctions against Guinea-Bissau's military junta, slapping an asset freeze and visa ban on a further 15 people.
(AFP, 5/31/12)
2012 Jun 6, Angolan troops, whose presence angered local soldiers and prompted a coup in April, began leaving Guinea-Bissau. The pullout was completed on June 9.
(AFP, 6/6/12)(AFP, 6/9/12)
2012 Oct 21, In Guinea-Bissau mutineers were defeated by military loyal to the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Antonio Indjai. 6 people were killed when a group of soldiers attempted to seize control of a military airbase near the capital. On Oct 27 Coup leader Pansau Ntchama was arrested outside the capital, Bissau. Ntchama had sought exile in Portugal after allegedly carrying out the 2009 assassination of Guinea-Bissau's former president.
(AP, 10/21/12)(AP, 10/28/12)
2012 The population of Guinea-Bissau was about 1.6 million.
(AP, 4/13/12)
2013 Jan 31, In Ghana former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan launched a commission to tackle drug trafficking in West Africa. Annan blamed the international community for ignoring the threat posed by corrupted states like Guinea-Bissau.
(AP, 1/31/13)
2013 Apr 4, Cape Verde Islands Radiotelevisao Caboverdiana reported that Rear Adm. Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto and four other Guinea-Bissau nationals were apprehended by US authorities aboard a yacht in international waters in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The US Treasury Department designated Na Tchuto as a drug kingpin in 2010 for his alleged role in the cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau. Tchuto pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in jail, returning to Guinea-Bissau in October 2016.
(AP, 4/5/13)(AP, 3/10/19)
2013 Apr 25, Guinea-Bissau sentenced army captain Pansau Ntchama to serve five years in prison after being found guilty of treason and using illegal weapons while leading a failed coup last year.
(AP, 4/25/13)
2013 Aug 11, Guinea-Bissau made its first extradition of a suspected drug trafficker, part of an effort to shake off its international reputation as a 'narco-state'. The West African country handed over Telmo Perez Fernandes (48) to Spanish authorities. The Spanish citizen was arrested on June 5 at the request of the Spanish police.
(Reuters, 8/13/13)
2013 Dec 17, Guinea-Bissau's Interior Minister Antonio Suka Ntchama became the second minister to step down in the tiny West African country amid an investigation into how 74 Syrians boarded a flight to Portugal with fake passports.
(Reuters, 12/18/13)
2014 Apr 3, Former Guinea Bissau President Kumba Yala (61) died. He had ruled the West African nation from 2000 to 2003.
(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2014 Apr 13, Guinea-Bissau held watershed elections for a president and parliament aimed at ushering in a new era of stability in a country plagued by drugs and upended by a military coup.
(AFP, 4/13/14)
2014 May 18, Guinea-Bissau voted in a presidential runoff vote intended to restore constitutional order in a country known for coups and unrest. Voters chose between Jose Mario Vaz, whose party won a parliamentary majority in April's first round, against Nuno Gomes Nabiam, who is known for having close ties to military leaders. Jose Mario Vaz was elected as president.
(AP, 5/18/14)(AP, 3/10/19)
2014 Sep 26, In Guinea-Bissau at least 22 people were killed when a vehicle taking them to a funeral struck a landmine.
(Reuters, 9/27/14)
2015 Mar 6, Guinea-Bissau dismantled a criminal operation trafficking 54 children to Senegal, where it is believed they would have been forced by Islamic schools to beg on the streets.
(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Aug 12, Guinea Bissau's Pres. Jose Mario Vaz dismissed the government late today because of a deepening power struggle with PM Domingos Simoes Pereira.
(Reuters, 8/13/15)
2015 Aug 14, The ruling party in Guinea Bissau renominated Domingos Simoes Pereira as prime minister, three days after he was sacked by President Jose Mario Vaz.
(AFP, 8/15/15)
2015 Aug 24, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Baciro Dja (39) sacked the chiefs of the state-owned radio and television services for "bias" in their reporting of a recent government shake-up. Dja was appointed last week after President Jose Mario Vaz fired his predecessor Domingos Simoes Pereira.
(AFP, 8/24/15)
2015 Sep 9, Guinea-Bissau's PM Baciro Dja announced his resignation, just two days after his government was sworn in, plunging the chronically unstable African nation deeper into a simmering political crisis. His decision came after the country's Supreme Court declared that his unpopular appointment by President Jose Mario Vaz by presidential decree just weeks earlier had violated the constitution.
(AFP, 9/9/15)
2016 May 12, Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz sacked PM Carlos Correia and dissolved his government, in a move that threatened to deepen political turmoil in the tiny West African nation.
(Reuters, 5/12/16)
2016 May 27, Guinea-Bissau's new PM Baciro Dja was sworn in with a fresh cabinet also anticipated, but current ministers in the split ruling party have declared they will not leave their posts.
(AFP, 5/28/16)
2016 Jul 15, The Supreme Court in Guinea-Bissau upheld the nomination of PM Baciro Dja, bolstering President Jose Mario Vaz in a power struggle with rival and former PM Carlos Correia.
(Reuters, 7/16/16)
2017 May 2, Greenpeace said authorities in West Africa have detained eight Chinese vessels for fishing illegally and the boat owners could be subject to millions of dollars in fines. Inspectors from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau boarded the ships off their respective coasts. They found them to be violating regulations on catching protected fish and using nets with small holes to facilitate bigger hauls.
(Reuters, 5/3/17)
2018 Feb 4, Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe, chairman of West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS, slapped sanctions on 19 lawmakers and associates of the president in Guinea-Bissau, including his son, over the continued failure to end a political impasse. The ECOWAS bloc hit Guinea-Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz's political and business allies with sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes.
(AFP, 2/6/18)(Reuters, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 16, Guinea-Bissau's President Jose Mario Vaz appointed veteran politician Aristides Gomes as new prime minister.
(Reuters, 4/16/18)
2018 Apr 19, Guinea Bissau's parliament met for the first time in nearly two years after the appointment of a consensus prime minister to end a dragging political crisis. Earlier this week President Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as premier, whom he described as a "consensus" candidate.
(AFP, 4/19/18)
2018 Aug 2, Guinea-Bissau PM Aristide Gomes said public-sector workers have secured a pay increase. The strike, launched on July 24, ended after the government agreed to increase minimum monthly pay from 19,200 CFA francs ($33.91, 29.28 euros) to 50,000 francs from September.
(AFP, 8/3/18)
2018 Oct 3, A Guinea-Bissau coast guard commander said around 60 migrants are missing and believed drowned after their boat was seen sinking off the country's coast.
(Reuters, 10/3/18)
2019 Mar 10, Guinea-Bissau, one of the world's poorest states, held key legislative elections aimed at ending a protracted political crisis.
(AFP, 3/10/19)
2019 Jun 22, Guinea-Bissau Pres. Jose Mario Vaz appointed Aristide Gomes as prime minister, ending a political deadlock that dragged on since legislative elections in May.
(AFP, 6/22/19)
2019 Sep 3, Guinea-Bissau authorities said police have seized more than 1.8 tons of cocaine hidden in flour bags in the biggest seizure in the country's history. Police said the shipment was on its way to Islamist militants of the Arab Maghreb.
(Reuters, 9/3/19)
2019 Nov 24, Guinea-Bissau held presidential elections. Twelve candidates ran for head of state, including incumbent Jose Mario Vaz, who has been in power since 2014.
(AP, 11/24/19)
2019 Dec 29, Guinea-Bissau held elections. two former prime ministers vied for the presidency in the runoff election after the incumbent failed to reach the second round in the tumultuous West African country once described by the United Nations as a narco-state. Domingos Simoes Pereira faced Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
(AP, 12/29/19)
2020 Feb 29, Guinea-Bissau had two presidents and two prime ministers as of today, after Umaro Cissoko Embalo, the inaugurated winner of December's election, swore in a new premier, but parliament appointed a rival interim president.
(Reuters, 2/29/20)
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