Overview
- Officers calling themselves the High Military Command suspended the electoral process, deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and initially closed borders and imposed a curfew.
- Gen. Horta N'Tam, previously army chief of staff, was sworn in to lead a one-year transition and to head the High Command.
- Authorities later reopened borders and lifted the curfew while maintaining tight controls, including bans on protests and media programming.
- Regional and international bodies condemned the takeover, with ECOWAS suspending Guinea-Bissau from decision-making and the UN, AU and EU urging a return to constitutional order.
- Both Embaló and challenger Fernando Dias had claimed election victory before results were due; Dias now alleges the takeover was organized to block his win, a claim not independently verified.