With the November vote looming, President Embalo’s regime expels Portuguese media and shuts off scrutiny. Critics warn: Guinea-Bissau is slipping into authoritarian rule.
Guinea-Bissau has just pulled the plug—on democracy, on accountability, and on foreign media.
On August 15, in a calculated strike cloaked in silence, the regime of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo expelled Portuguese outlets RTP, RDP, and Lusa—cutting a vital communications bridge between the country and its diaspora just three months before critical elections.
For journalists on the ground, the message is clear: don’t report, don’t ask, don’t speak. Indira Correia Balde, head of the journalists’ union SINJOTECS, describes it as “systematic obstruction.” First came bans from covering government matters. Then came blocked signals, armed raids, and mounting fear.
“This is anti-democratic,” Balde said. “It’s a blueprint for information warfare.”
The government won’t speak. Neither the prime minister nor the foreign minister responded to international press. But the silence is telling.
Critics say Embalo, who dissolved parliament last December under the guise of thwarting a coup and now rules by decree, is laying the groundwork for electoral manipulation. His mandate expired last year. The new elections were delayed. And now, with the press under siege, the ballot may be reduced to theater.
International condemnation has been swift. Reporters Without Borders and CPJ call it a “severe blow.” But Portugal, despite the media purge of its own state outlets, has taken the soft route—diplomacy over denunciation.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders are ringing the alarm bell. Former PM Baciro Dja warns this is “an irresponsible act to manipulate the elections.” Domingos Simões Pereira calls it what many now fear: “a slide into dictatorship.”
Guinea-Bissau, holding the rotating presidency of the CPLP, is now breaking the very principles it pledged to defend. With November 23 approaching, the world must decide: will it watch another African democracy collapse in silence?
