President Umaro Sissoco Embalo speaks to the media in Bissau on Tuesday. He said the coup attempt failed several hours after heavy gunfire. (Radio Bantaba/ via Reuters) Country no stranger to coups The 15-nation West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS, already grappling with three other coups in member states over the last 18 months, said it was following the situation "with great concern." Portugal's Foreign Ministry said in a tweet that it strongly condemned the attack in its former colony. Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coup d'etats and more than a dozen attempted coups. Embalo, a former army general, was declared the winner of the December 2019 run-off vote, though the results were contested by his opponent. Embalo then started forming a new government with support from the military while a Supreme Court election challenge was still pending. Tuesday's coup attempt comes amid a wave of military takeovers in West Africa. Since August 2020, soldiers have grabbed power in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Despite international pressure for a return to constitutional rule, none of the military rulers have yet to organize new elections. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York, condemned the "terrible multiplication of coups" in the region, which he called "totally unacceptable."
