Portugal has been speaking “with some discretion” with Lusophone partners, particularly Angola and Brazil, in an effort to help Guinea-Bissau return to democracy following the military coup in November, said the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs today.
“We are trying to find a way to overcome this moment, which is really a difficult time, but it is also important that Guinea returns to [being] a democracy and that, ultimately, this period of military intervention can end,” stated Paulo Rangel, speaking to journalists after a visit to the Consulate General in Paris, on the second and final day of his trip to the French capital.
The Portuguese diplomat added that he has been in contact with other members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), with the Timorese pro tempore presidency, and particularly with his counterparts in Angola and Brazil.
“All of this is being done discreetly and with some confidentiality, as diplomacy obviously requires,” he said.
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“What we all want is that very quickly relations between Portugal, but also other CPLP countries, can be fully reestablished with Guinea-Bissau, and that the Guinean people can finally live in democracy,” he emphasized, acknowledging: “This is a process with its particularities and difficulties.”
From Portugal’s side, he reiterated that cooperation projects in the areas of health and education with Guinea-Bissau remain ongoing.
The military coup interrupted the process of the general, presidential, and legislative elections scheduled for November 23, 2025, with official results still unknown, while the opposition to the former president and candidate, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, claimed victory.
The transitional president scheduled new general elections for December 6 after the National Transitional Council amended the Constitution, granting additional powers to the President of the Republic.
The former president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, is currently in an unknown location. Fernando Dias, the candidate who claimed victory in the presidential elections, has remained silent, while Domingos Simões Pereira, the historic PAIGC party leader who was barred from elections by judicial decision, is under house arrest.
