Guinea-Bissau

History

Between the 13th and 15th centuries part of Guinea-Bissau fell under the Sahel Empire of Mali. Whilst the local Naula and Landurna tribes grew rice and traded salt, the empire masterminded the trans-Saharan gold trade, upon which several European powers depended. Eager to get to the source of this gold, in the 1400s Prince Henry of Portugal encouraged European explorers to check out West Africa. In 1450 Portuguese ships arrived in Guinea-Bissau to trade slaves, gold, ivory and pepper. The Sahel lost their trade monopoly on gold and whilst the interior suffered, coastal towns prospered.

By the late 17th century British, French and Dutch slave traders had joined the party and taken over the surrounding territories. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85 divided Africa between the European powers, leaving Portugal with Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and what are now Mozambique and Angola. (The Europeans were pleased with the results; the Africans were not invited to the conference.) Portugal started spreading inland shortly thereafter, although it didn't gain full control of the area until 1915, after a long series of wars with the local people.

The colonial administration was weak but repressive, and became even more brutal when the dictator Salazar came to power in Portugal in 1926. The end of WWII heralded cries of nationalism and independence from West African colonies and by the 1960s many Europeans had withdrawn, with some, particularly the British and French, maintaining good relations and trade links. But Portugal refused to budge. This refusal, coupled with anger over the Pidjiguiti massacre in 1959 (in which police shot 50 striking dockworkers in Bissau), prompted a bloody battle for liberation that was to last years.

With support from the Soviet Union and Cuba, the PAIGC (Partido Africano da Independêcia da Guiné e Cabo Verde), led by socialist Amílcar Cabral from Cape Verde, mobilised the peasants and waged a war on the Portuguese. The PAIGC gained ground and despite the assassination of their leader in 1973 proclaimed independence in their conquered territories, electing Amílcar Cabral's half brother, Luiz, president. Eighty countries quickly recognized the new government, although it wasn't until Salazar's government was overthrown a year later that Portugal did the same.

Portugal's legacy to Guinea-Bissau was dismal: poor infrastructure, high mortality rate, low literacy levels, diminished industry and substantial national debt. The new government didn't really help, allocating Bissau over half the country's resources and leaving destitute rural areas already ravaged by drought. When the PAIGC tried to implement their plan of union with Cape Verde, Cabral was overthrown and unification abandoned.

João ('Nino') Vieira (also of the PAIGC) became president in 1980. The country remained socialist, with arms provided by the Soviet Union and aid by the West. But Vieira's government didn't fare much better than Cabral's, and in 1986, after an attempted coup, Vieira began to reverse his policies. He devalued the currency and began selling off almost all the state businesses. Around this time he also cut the PAIGC/army relationship, resulting in resentment on the part of the army. Despite these seeds of trouble, Vieira narrowly won the presidential election in 1994. Life for civilians improved and the country enjoyed relative political stability.

But Guinea-Bissau was still one of the 10 poorest countries in the world and in 1997 teachers, health workers and students demonstrated about development funds that had apparently gone missing. In 1998, a coup was attempted by General Ansumane Mane, the former head of the military. Mane, who had been sacked for allegedly supplying arms to rebels in Senegal, was backed by the army and many locals. President Vieira relied on support from Senegal and Guinea. The resulting civil war killed many civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Fighting continued until February 1999's ceasefire and the subsequent arrival of a peacekeeping force. When they left, Mane's forces staged a final coup to overthrow Vieira in May of 1999 and PAIGC's Malam Balai Sanhá was appointed acting president.

January 16, 2000 Kumba Ialá of the Social Renewal Party (PRS) was elected president in what was seen by many as a positive sign of change. However, his young administration has been rocked by scandal, with ranking leaders including the prime minister, the attorney general and the interior minister sacked and replaced at an alarming rate.

Guinea-Bissau's political stability is fragile, and accusations of corruption and injustice are commonplace. Amnesty International is currently investigating human rights transgressions that allegedly took place during an attempted military coup in November 2000. Guinea-Bissau is inextricably linked to the guerrilla fighting that continues on the Casamance border with Senegal. The government cannot afford to pay its officials and despite a functioning agricultural industry, the economy is essentially propped up by foreign aid. Although onlookers are cautiously optimistic, Guinea-Bissau's future is far from certain.