On 26 November 2025 military officers in Guinea-Bissau seized power and arrested President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, one day before official results were due from a disputed election in which he had sought re-election. The 23 November presidential and legislative vote had been clouded from the start: the main opposition party, the PAIGC, and its leader had been barred from the presidential race, and after the polls both Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias each claimed a first round victory before the electoral commission could announce results. On 26 November gunfire broke out near the presidential palace, the interior ministry, and the electoral commission in the capital Bissau.
A group calling itself the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order then appeared on television, read out by Brigadier General Denis N'Canha, head of the presidency's own military office, announcing that they were deposing Embalo, suspending all institutions and the electoral process, closing the borders, and imposing a curfew. Embalo himself phoned foreign media to say he had been arrested in his office and deposed, without violence. The army chief of staff and the interior minister were detained as well.
General Horta Inta-A Na Man was named head of a one year transition. This was at least the ninth coup or attempt since independence in 1974. Notably, some observers and the opposition questioned whether the takeover was staged, and Embalo was soon evacuated to Senegal.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, arrested in his office by the military and deposed; detained, then evacuated into exile in Senegal
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Umaro Sissoco Embalo (president arrested and deposed)
Denis N'Canha (head of the presidential military office who read the takeover statement)
Horta Inta-A Na Man (general named transitional leader)
Fernando Dias (opposition candidate)
Sources
On 26 November 2025 the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, was arrested as part of a coup carried out by the head of the Military Office of the Presidency, Brigadier General Dinis Incanha; military officers declared total control and established the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order, a day before the results of the 23 November election were expected.
A group of military officers claimed total control a day after two leading candidates in a tightly contested presidential election each declared victory, reading a statement on television declaring the immediate suspension of the electoral process, the closure of all borders, and an overnight curfew, after sustained gunfire near the election commission, the presidential palace, and the interior ministry.
Embalo told Jeune Afrique he had been arrested at about 1pm in his office in what he called a coup led by the head of the presidential military office, and told France 24 by phone that he had been deposed, stating he had not been subjected to violence, while the armed forces chief of staff, his deputy, and the interior minister were arrested at the same time.
It was the ninth coup or attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau since independence from Portugal in 1974, with the last successful coup in 2012, and the two most recent attempts in 2022 and 2023 had also targeted Embalo; the ousted president arrived in Senegal following an ECOWAS intervention, and General Horta Inta-A was installed as transitional leader.
AFTER the training cutoff (Nov 2025); researched fresh this session from multiple sources (Wikipedia, Al Jazeera x2, The Africa Report, CNN, PBS/AP, FIDH). Coded fate arrested/jailed then exiled is verified: Embalo was arrested in his office, detained, then evacuated to Senegal. Coded as a military coup on 11-26, matching the sources. The distinctive detail is that the takeover was led by the head of the presidency's own military office (N'Canha), the man meant to protect the president. It came amid a disputed election (opposition PAIGC barred, both Embalo and Dias claiming victory). Some observers, including Senegal's PM and election observer Goodluck Jonathan, questioned whether it was a staged or ceremonial coup by Embalo himself; the summary notes that doubt without adjudicating. Ties directly to Guinea-Bissau's chronic coup history already in the dataset (1999, 2003, 2012 records), the ninth such event since 1974.
How It Unfolded
Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.
Led by
Military
How long it took
2 days from first move to resolution
Detention or expulsion of the incumbent leader
Seizure of broadcasters / coup declaration on state media
Closure of national borders
Suspension of the constitution or dissolution of institutions
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:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, arrested in his office by the military and deposed; detained, then evacuated into exile in Senegal.
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; arrested or jailed; exiled. 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
“Guinea-Bissau: West African bloc ECOWAS condemns Guinea-Bissau coup,” December 1, 2025
“Guinea-Bissau: General sworn in as new Guinea-Bissau leader, ousted president arrives in Senegal,” December 2, 2025 “World: Another coup in Africa! Guinea-Bissau falls,” December 3, 2025
Asia News Monitor
“Guinea-Bissau rocked by coup, president’s arrest,” November 27, 2025
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 →