No breakthrough in ECOWAS talks with Guinea-Bissau coup leaders

A high-level delegation from the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS ended a mediation mission to Guinea-Bissau on Monday with no breakthrough, but pledged to continue talks with coup leaders later this month.

Led by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, the regional bloc traveled to Bissau seeking a return to civilian rule following a military coup last Wednesday.

The junta, which has banned protests and strikes, argued it acted to restore security and stability in the small West African nation. “We’ve had today very fruitful discussions,” said Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba, speaking on behalf of Bio.

“The chair of the authority condemned the coup, and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order, which includes allowing the electoral process to a logical conclusion.”

ECOWAS has condemned the coup and called for the reinstatement of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who fled to Brazzaville after being detained. In his absence, the military installed former army chief Gen. Horta Inta-a as head of a transitional government that has already appointed a new cabinet, largely composed of allies of the ousted president.

Foreign Minister João Bernardo Vieira, appointed by the junta, said ECOWAS would remain engaged.

"The solution (to returning to constitutional order) is to continue collaborating with ECOWAS," Vieira said on Monday. "A one-year deadline had been set for the end of the transition, but the issue will be submitted to the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government on December 14. Depending on this decision or the one that follows from it, we will know what the next steps will be.”

ECOWAS suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies the day after the coup, pending a return to civilian rule.

The United Nations has also condemned the coup, with Secretary-General António Guterres urging the unconditional release of all detained political actors and warning that the will of the people expressed in the November 23 vote must be respected. The military take over happened as the country was waiting for the results of last month’s presidential election.

Guinea-Bissau has endured multiple coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.