I don’t want to use this moment to talk about poor Guinea-Bissau. It’s late, and this is not the time. I want to tell you what I experienced earlier today. At the time, I was in a meeting with the ECOWAS Mission for Guinea-Bissau.
I was there with the African Union delegation, led by Filipe Nyusi. Everyone was present. Suddenly, we heard commotion and gunfire in the area. Because of the shooting, we—the international observers—prepared to leave and return to the hotel for safety. We had no idea what was happening.
A few moments later, three police vehicles passed by at high speed. Inside, the police were trying to arrest Domingos Simões Pereira and the rest of our team. Many young people were there trying to protect them, fighting to prevent the arrest. These youths understood that the country was about to be split in two. They resisted strongly and managed to help them escape. They didn’t manage to get to 5th Avenue. I was chased in several ways myself.
Fortunately, I managed to escape and reach a safe place. Please listen to me carefully. We have become targets of a false coup attempt, and for one simple reason: I won the elections.
Yes, I won the elections. I have a certificate confirming that I won in the first round. How can those who lost elections be the ones celebrating, while those who won are targeted? Those who lost are satisfied with the situation, not those who won.
Weapons were taken from the Ministry of Interior with the intention of attacking the polling stations. They tried to attack the polling stations in Mansoa, Bafatá, Catió, Bubaque, and Biombo—everywhere. But the people came out in massive numbers to block them.
What happened today were actions meant to prevent the final electoral results from being published. All that remains is for the acts to be signed, compiled, and the winner confirmed. So if Umaro (Sissoco Embaló) is sure he won, why fabricate a coup d’état?
Let me also say: we were arrested and taken to the Air Base. But now the coup narrative keeps changing. People at the Presidency are involved, those who came masked, wearing red hoods, thinking they would not be recognized. But they can be recognized. How could they not?
Now, the President changed the narrative again. The so-called coup is being justified by those in power. I am not against the people of Guinea-Bissau. Once again, what happened today was planned long ago, ever since he (the President) realized he lost the election and preferred to hand power to the military.
Instead of admitting defeat, he chose to punish the people of Guinea-Bissau, create chaos, and spread fear, all based on a plan he prepared long before, even coordinating with certain allies.
It is shameful that we are being hunted as if we were criminals. We are not criminals.
They sent forces to capture us. And at one point, Domingos Simões Pereira was shot at and taken to the second police squad. Many of you saw this.
You must demand the release of Domingos Simões Pereira, and not just him—all of us.
Guinea-Bissau is a democratic country. The only solution is to allow the electoral results to be published. If we allow fabricated coups to decide elections, then democracy means nothing. This is simply a strategy by those who do not want the real results to be known.
No organization, ECOWAS, the African Union, the UN, or the EU—should be misled by this false narrative. What did we do wrong? Nothing.
I accepted the results. I was ready to go to a second round if necessary and allow Guinea-Bissau to return to stability. After six years of mismanagement, we were ready to move forward as a nation.
There is no coup d’état. The President invented the coup because he knew he could not win the elections. He saw the preliminary results from the National Electoral Commission and realized that tomorrow the final results would be announced—so he fabricated this “coup attempt.”
If there truly was a coup d’état, why are people close to the President leading the entire operation? Why are they the ones controlling everything? Who else is in this supposed “state coup”? No one. It is the President’s people, the same ones who chased us.
Fortunately, with the support of the youth and the people, we managed to escape and reach a safe place.
Right now, we are calling on the people of Guinea-Bissau to stay alert, and we call on the international community—your attention and action are critical at this moment.
The African Union must take a clear position, because what happened occurred in its presence. ECOWAS must also take responsibility—they monitored the entire electoral process and were aware of all the irregularities we reported. We had no state security, no ECOWAS security—we warned them.
How can someone with no personal security, no ECOWAS protection, no state protection, be accused of planning a coup d’état? The story makes no sense.
This coup narrative was invented by someone who lost the election and does not want to leave power. It is not a real coup.
We demand the unconditional release of:
Domingos Simões Pereira and Otávio Lpoes, who is currently detained at the second police squad and all others who have been arrested.
Finally, we ask the international community to assess the situation calmly and not be misled by false arguments or fabricated narratives.
Thank you.
Credit: WADR
