Rismadar Voice Reporter, November 27, 2025
Military authorities in Guinea-Bissau have announced the reopening of the country’s borders, barely 24 hours after taking control of the state and halting the electoral process in the coup-prone West African nation.
“All borders are now open,” General Lansana Mansali, Inspector General of the Armed Forces, told AFP, reversing Wednesday’s shutdown of all land, air, and sea entry points.
Military officers had declared “total control” of the country, suspended the electoral process, and sealed the borders, three days after general elections.
This followed heavy gunfire near the presidential palace, with soldiers occupying the main access routes to the building.
By early afternoon, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, announced that a unified military command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” would take over leadership of the country until further notice.
He made the declaration seated at a table surrounded by armed personnel.
Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was considered the frontrunner in Sunday’s vote, was said to be inside a building behind military headquarters “with the chief of staff and the minister of the interior,” a senior officer told newsmen.
It remains unclear whether he has been detained.
Both Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias had already claimed victory ahead of the official provisional results expected Thursday.
Guinea-Bissau has a long history of political upheaval, having recorded four coups since independence and several attempted takeovers.
N’Canha said the military intercepted a plot involving “national drug lords,” alleging that weapons had been trafficked into the country to “alter the constitutional order.”
The military also halted the electoral process, suspended “all media programming,” and imposed a curfew.
Guinea-Bissau remains one of the world’s poorest nations and a known transit hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a situation worsened by its chronic political instability.
