Coup Atlas Research Database
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40403272024ConspiracyDissident coup

Guinea-Bissau, 2024 — dissident coup conspiracy

Guinea-Bissau (GNB)West Africa, AfricaMarch 27, 2024

Event Summary

This entry is coded 27 March 2024 in Guinea-Bissau and falls within a documented period of recurring coup allegations and institutional crisis under President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, though no discrete coup plot precisely on that date is confirmed in the sources located for this entry. Guinea-Bissau, long one of the world's most coup-prone states, saw a February 2022 coup attempt against Embalo, a late-2022 mutiny he condemned as a coup attempt, and an alleged coup attempt in early December 2023 that Embalo used as a pretext to dissolve the opposition-dominated parliament, after which the country had no sitting legislature. Through 2024 tensions persisted over the timing of elections and the legitimacy of Embalo's mandate, which the opposition said expired in February 2025.

The 27 March 2024 coding sits in this window of post-dissolution instability. It is distinct from the well-documented later events: an alleged coup plot at the end of October 2025 in which senior officers were arrested, and the 26 November 2025 coup that ousted Embalo around the disputed election. The coding is best understood against this recurring crisis rather than a single confirmed plot on the day.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Embalo repeatedly cited alleged plots amid recurring institutional crises
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo (target of the era's alleged plots)
the armed forces (long the arbiter of power)
opposition figures barred or sidelined

Sources

Embalo used an alleged coup plot in December 2023 as a pretext to dissolve the opposition-dominated legislature, and the country did not have a sitting legislature thereafter, while critics accused him of manufacturing crises to crack down on the opposition.
SOURCE REVIEWED The Conversation: Guinea-Bissau's military takeover highlights the nation's sorry history of coups open source ↗
Since 2020 Guinea-Bissau had suffered a coup attempt in February 2022 and a late-2022 mutiny that Embalo condemned as a coup attempt, illustrating the recurring instability targeting his government.
SOURCE REVIEWED The Conversation: Guinea-Bissau's military takeover highlights the nation's sorry history of coups open source ↗
The November 2025 coup that ousted Embalo was foreshadowed by an alleged coup plot revealed at the end of October 2025, when a number of senior officers were arrested, part of a pattern in which coups beget more coups.
SOURCE REVIEWED The Conversation: Guinea-Bissau's military takeover highlights the nation's sorry history of coups open source ↗

Editorial Note

CONTEXT: no discrete coup plot precisely dated 27 Mar 2024 was confirmed in the sources located this session. Framed from the documented recurring coup allegations and post-dissolution crisis under Embalo (Feb 2022 attempt; Dec 2023 alleged plot used to dissolve parliament). Distinct from the Oct 2025 plot and the Nov 2025 coup. First Guinea-Bissau record in the run (a second, Oct 2025, follows later this batch).

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
40403272024

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Embalo repeatedly cited alleged plots amid recurring institutional crises.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

BBC

“Son of Guinea-Bissau’s Ex-President Jailed in US for Trafficking Drugs to Fund Coup,” March 27, 2024

Capitol News

“Son of Guinea-Bissau’s Ex-President Jailed in US for Trafficking Drugs to Fund Coup,” March 27, 2024

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) press release

“Former Guinea-Bissau President’s Son Sent to U.S Prison for International Drug Trafficking,” March 27, 2024

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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