The rivers of Guinea and the islands of Cape Verde were among the
first areas in Africa explored by the Portuguese in the 15th
century. Portugal claimed Portuguese Guinea in 1446, but few trading
posts were established before 1600. In 1630, a "captaincy-general"
of Portuguese Guinea was established to administer the territory.
With the cooperation of some local tribes, the Portuguese entered
the slave trade and exported large numbers of Africans to the
Western Hemisphere via the Cape Verde Islands. Cacheu became one of
the major slave centers, and a small fort still stands in the town.
The slave trade declined in the 19th century, and Bissau, originally
founded as a military and slave-trading center in 1765, grew to
become the major commercial center.
Portuguese conquest and consolidation of the interior did not begin
until the latter half of the 19th century. Portugal lost part of
Guinea to French West Africa, including the center of earlier
Portuguese commercial interest, the Casamance River region. A
dispute with Great Britain over the island of Bolama was settled in
Portugal's favor with the involvement of U.S. President Ulysses S.
Grant.
Before World War I, Portuguese forces, with some assistance from the
Muslim population, subdued animist tribes and eventually established
the territory's borders. The interior of Portuguese Guinea was
brought under control after more than 30 years of fighting; final
subjugation of the Bijagos Islands did not occur until 1936. The
administrative capital was moved from Bolama to Bissau in 1941, and
in 1952, by constitutional amendment, the colony of Portuguese
Guinea became an overseas province of Portugal.
In 1956, Amilcar Cabral and Raphael Barbosa organized the African
Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC)
clandestinely. The PAIGC moved its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea,
in 1960 and started an armed rebellion against the Portuguese in
1961. Despite the presence of Portuguese troops, which grew to more
than 35,000, the PAIGC steadily expanded its influence until, by
1968, it controlled most of the country.
It established civilian rule in the territory under its control and
held elections for a National Assembly. Portuguese forces and
civilians increasingly were confined to their garrisons and larger
towns. The Portuguese Governor and Commander in Chief from 1968 to
1973, Gen. Antonio de Spinola, returned to Portugal and led the
movement that brought democracy to Portugal and independence for its
colonies.
Amilcar Cabral was assassinated in Conakry in 1973, and party
leadership fell to Aristides Pereira, who later became the first
President of the Republic of Cape Verde. The PAIGC National Assembly
met at Boe in the southeastern region and declared the independence
of Guinea-Bissau on September 24, 1973. Following Portugal's April
1974 revolution, it granted independence to Guinea-Bissau on
September 10, 1974. The United States recognized the new nation that
day. Luis Cabral, Amilcar Cabral's half-brother, became President of
Guinea-Bissau. In late 1980, the government was overthrown in a
relatively bloodless coup led by Prime Minister and former armed
forces commander Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira.
From November 1980 to May 1984, power was held by a provisional
government responsible to a Revolutionary Council headed by
President Joao Bernardo Vieira. In 1984, the council was dissolved,
and the National Popular Assembly (ANP) was reconstituted. The
single-party assembly approved a new constitution, elected President
Vieira to a new 5-year term, and elected a Council of State, which
was the executive agent of the ANP. Under this system, the president
presided over the Council of State and served as head of state and
government. The president also was head of the PAIGC and commander
in chief of the armed forces.
There were alleged coup plots against the Vieira government in 1983,
1985, and 1993. In 1986, first Vice President Paulo Correia and five
others were executed for treason following a lengthy trial. In 1994,
the country's first multi-party legislative and presidential
elections were held. An army uprising against the Vieira government
in June 1998 triggered a bloody civil war that created hundreds of
thousands of displaced persons and resulted in President Vieria
having to request assistance from the governments of Senegal and
Guinea, who provided troops to quell the uprising. The President was
ousted by a military junta in May 1999. An interim government turned
over power in February 2000 when opposition leader Kumba Yala,
founder of the Social Renovation Party (PRS), took office following
two rounds of transparent presidential elections.
Despite the elections, democracy did not take root in the succeeding
3 years. President Yala neither vetoed nor promulgated the new
constitution that was approved by the National Assembly in April
2001. The resulting ambiguity undermined the rule of law. Impulsive
presidential interventions in ministerial operations hampered
effective governance. On November 14, 2002, the President dismissed
the government of Prime Minister Alamara Nhasse, dissolved the
National Assembly, and called for legislative elections. Two days
later, he appointed Prime Minister Mario Pires to lead a caretaker
government controlled by presidential decree. Elections for the
National Assembly were scheduled for April 2003, but later postponed
until June and then October. On September 12, 2003, the President of
the National Elections Commission announced that it would be
impossible to hold the elections on October 12, 2003, as scheduled.
The army, led by Chief of Defense General Verrisimo Correia Seabra,
intervened on September 14, 2003. President Yala announced his
"voluntary" resignation and was placed under house arrest. The
government was dissolved and a 25-member Committee for Restoration
of Democracy and Constitutional Order was established. On September
28, 2003, businessman Henrique Rosa was sworn in as President. He
had the support of most political parties and of civil society.
Artur Sanha, PRS President, was sworn in as Prime Minister. On March
28 and 30, 2004, Guinea-Bissau held legislative elections which
international observers deemed acceptably free and fair. On May 9,
2004, Carlos Gomes Junior became Prime Minister. |
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