Guinea Bissau: The presence of a foreign force criticised

A mission, comprising officials of Cape Verde, Angola and Brazil, was expected to arrive yesterday to Bissau to discuss the deployment of a foreign force, wanted by the government to stabilise a country regularly plagued by violence, most often caused by the military.

The divided army, and the opposition do not see any “utility” of this mission, but the president of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Sanha Bacaï does when he declared: “If the arrival of this mission will help to stabilise the country, it would be welcomed”.
Since its independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has never found stability, facilitating then the activities of drug traffickers who have turned the country in a West African hub.
The objectives of this force are clear and ambitious: First off all, it should be a “deterrent” force, it should “guarantee the safety of the civilian authorities, stop the political-military upheavals, discourage the military coups and support the reforms within the army and the security forces.
The military hierarchy has conditionally accepted the principle of the presence of a foreign force, but “many officers” see it in reality “as a mean of tracking down suspects in the assassination of President Vieira and the drug traffickers’ associates”.
For its part, the Party for Social Renovation (PRS) – the main opposition party – is totally rejecting the project, stating “not to see at all its usefulness. One party leader, Braima Sori Djalo added: “All the institutions work normally and the security of the state is not threatened or in danger”.

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