Abstract
Portugal was the major power in the area throughout the colonial period. In 1974, after the Portuguese revolution, Portugal abandoned the struggle to keep Guinea-Bissau and independence was formally recognized on 10 Sept. 1974. In 1975 Cape Verde also became independent but the two countries remained separate sovereign states. On 14 Nov. 1980 a coup d’état was in part inspired by resentment in Guinea-Bissau over the privileges enjoyed by Cape Verdians. Guineans obtained a more prominent role under the new government. On 16 May 1984 a new constitution was approved based on Marxist principles but after 1986 there was a return to private enterprise in an attempt to solve critical economic problems and to lift the country out of poverty. A year-long civil war broke out in 1998 between army rebels and the country’s long-time ruler. Neighbouring Senegal and Guinea sent troops in to aid the government. On 7 May 1999 President João Bernardo Vieira was ousted in a military coup led by former chief of staff Gen. Ansumane Mané, whom the president had dismissed in 1998. Following the coup Mané briefly headed a military junta before National Assembly speaker Malam Bacai Sanhá took power as acting president. After presidential elections in Nov. 1999 and Jan. 2000 Kumba Ialá gained the presidency in a landslide victory.
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Further Reading
Forrest, J. A., Guinea-Bissau: Power, Conflict and Renewal in a West African Nation. Boulder (CO), 1992
Galli, Rosemary, Guinea-Bissau. [Bibliography] ABC-Clio, Oxford and Santa Barbara (CA), 1990
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© 2004 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Turner, B. (2004). Guinea-Bissau. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook 2005. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271333_176
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230271333_176
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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