Guinea-Bissau - A short history lesson

The portugese reached Guinea-Bissau in 1450 and began stealing gold, ivory, pepper and slaves.
In the 17th century, they got competition from other european colonizers when the British and the Dutch entered the slave trade. The imperialist powers sucked Africa out for centuries and things in Guinea-Bissau worsened when the portugese dictator Salazar came to power in 1926. The farmers of Guinea-Bissau were all forced to grow groundnuts (peanuts) for the repressive portugese state who punished and humiliated the people just as it pleased.
In 1959, fifty dockworkers on strike were shot to death by police at the Pidjiguti pier in Bissau. In the early 1960's, many african countries were gaining some independence from their european colonial rulers. But Portugal refused to relinquish their hold on the colony. Western countries, like USA, West Germany, Sweden and many others, were involved in the robbery of the small african country.

Liberation

The result was the longest liberation struggle in the history of Africa: a guerilla war waged by the Partido Africano da Independcência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) with help from the Soviet Union and Cuba. In 1961, the PAIGC entered ”Portugese” Guinea (today Guinea-Bissau) from neighbouring Guinea (today Guinea-Conakry) and began to arm and mobilise the peasants. The PAIGC was viewed as a model for revolutionary armies in many parts of the world, mainly because of it's political strategy during the war of liberation. It liberated one part of the country at the time, and helped villagers build schools and roads, provided medical services and promoted the farming of rice instead of groundnuts.
It also encouraged widespread political participation, and as the movement grew bigger more and more people got control over their own lives. From the very start, the people of Guinea-Bissau belived in what they were fighting for. It wasn't just about kicking the portugese out, but also to give the people the power back and make it a lasting revolution. In many villages, money was not used at all and the land was collectively owned.
As the PAIGC´s numbers grew to about 10.000 militants, the portugese responded by increasing their troops to 25.000 plus 10.000 conscripted africans. Despite this, within five years half of the country was in PAIGC hands.

Amilcar Cabral

The portugese continued to hold out in refugee-swollen Bissau (the capital), a few smaller towns and pockets in the northeast where some Fula (one of the country´s main ethnic groups) collaborated with the portugese in an attempt to preserve their social privileges. Their agents in Conakry (the capital Guinea-Conakry), where Amilcar Cabral the PAIGC leader was based, assasinated him in 1973.

 

 

 

Luiz Cabral

But the movement was too strong. The PAIGC organised nationwide elections in the liberated areas, and proclamed independence with Luiz Cabral (Amilcar Cabrals half-brother) as president.
Eighty countries quickly recognised the new goverment, but still it took Salazar´s overthrow in 1974 for Portugal to do the same.

Indepencence

Once in power, the new PAIGC goverment had huge fucking problems. The portugese had seen Guinea-Bissau as a little more than a cheap source of groundnuts and had done nothing to develop the country. 1 in 20 people could read, life expectancy was 35 years and 45% of children died before the age of five.
In 1980 the president Luiz Cabral (see picture) was overthrown in a bloodless coup while he was visiting Capo Verde. He fled to Portugal, and left his nice residence on the beatiful island of Bubaque in the Arquipélago dos Bijagós to fade away. See pictures of us exploring it under ”Urban Exploring Guinea-Bissau”.
João (Nino) Viera, also a PAIGC-man, took over and continued to follow the marxist path. Or at least, that's what they said. As many other ”marxists”, the leaders of the party talked a lot about the importance of solidarity and classless organization, but instead became a ruling class with endless power and privileges. Power corrupts, even those with noble intentions.
In 1986, following a serious coup attempt the previous year, the goverment officially completely reversed its policies, devalued the currency and began privatizing the land. The World Bank and the IMF were involved in this, off course. Things quickly worsened for the people of Guinea-Bissau, who once again were getting exploited by european and american economic interests (capitalist bastards).

Viera survived three coup attempts, while keeping the PAIGC in power. Guinea-Bissau remained extremely poor and, in 1997, teachers, health workers and other state employees went on strike to protest about, among other things, foreign aid money gone ”missing” in the hands of the goverment.
The goverment was corrupt and no good and everybody knew it.
On 6 june 1998, General Ansumane Mane, the head of the army, got sacked for providing the MFDC (Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de Casamance), the separatist rebel group in neighbouring Senegal, with arms. The following day, he took a majority of the countrys soldiers with him and declared war on the goverment. They were called Junta Militar and were backed up by the MFDC and most of the people of Guinea-Bissau who were fed up with the corrupt politicians. Goverment loyal troops were supported by Senegal (who hate the MFDC) and Guinea-Conakry.
As the two sides bombed and shelled each other, the surrounding residental district were caught in the crossfire and many people were killed.
Bissau, the capital, was in a state of chaos and hundreds of thousands fled. The Junta Militar had the support of the people, wich apparently made civilians legitimate targets in the eyes of the goverment troops and their allies. They attacked villages and killed and tortured people.
In august 1998, a cease-fire was agreed on but in october all fighting resumed with rebels taking control of most of the country.
In may 1999, the Junta Militar conquered Bissau, and left the presidental palace partly destroyed.
We explored it and you can see those pictures under Urban Exploring.
The Junta Militar were never interested in taking the power in Guinea-Bissau, only to get rid of the corrupt Viera, so they escorted him to the portugese embassy. The president of the national assembly became the new president.
Nowadays, the PAIGC are still in power and Guinea-Bissau is still one of the poorest countries of the world - and the west is still exploiting the country. Damn.

 

Facts from Lonely Planet "West Africa" and Gérard Chaliand "Lutte armée en Afrique" (Armed struggle in Africa)