Guinea-Bissau swears in govt
2008-08-09 20:14
Bissau - Guinea-Bissau's president swore in
a new government on Saturday, a day after the armed forces said
military officers had tried to mount a coup to end a political
crisis in the West African country.
President Joao Bernardo Vieira made wholesale changes to his
team, keeping just four of the 21 ministers and seven
secretaries of state who served under Prime Minister Dafa Cabi
until he was replaced earlier this week.
Reflecting the uncertain political climate in the former
Portuguese colony, many of the new ministers are, like Prime
Minister Carlos Correira, close allies of the president from his
first stint in power, which ended after a war in 1998/99.
Guinea-Bissau is no stranger to coups or instability, having
been shaken by a series of crises since independence in 1974,
but it is now under intense international scrutiny over its role
as a hub in the multi-billion-dollar global cocaine trade.
The new team was announced in a presidential decree late on
Friday before Vieira swore in the ministers and told them their
duty was to lead the country to legislative elections on November 16.
The ministers of defence and foreign affairs kept their
jobs, as did Justice Minister Carmelita Pires, who has led the
fight against the drugs trade and said last week she had
received death threats as a result.
Key link in drug trade chain
International drug traffickers have turned Guinea-Bissau
into a key link in the transatlantic cocaine trade, taking
advantage of its long, jagged coastline and weak government.
Analysts say the Latin American smugglers act with the
complicity of some local officials, threatening state authority.
The confirmation on Friday that the head of the navy had
tried to stage a coup and had been arrested followed a political
crisis during which the president's broad-based coalition
government slowly fell apart.
November's parliamentary elections will be a test of how far
down the road to stability Guinea-Bissau has progressed.
Vieira ruled for two decades before he was overthrown and
went into exile in 1999. Since his return, and his controversial
election victory in 2005, the country has attracted more support
from foreign donors but its stability remains fragile.