CAN PAIGC LIBERATE GUINEA-BISSAU AGAIN?

On 10th September 1974, Guinea-Bissau was finally recognised as a fully independent sovereign nation after a long armed struggle against the Portuguese colonisers. The revolutionary war was fought by the PAIGC - that is, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. The PAIGC soon gained support from revolutionary and progressive-minded people around the world, especially thanks to its leader, Amílcar Cabral, who was also a brilliant Pan-African theorist and intellectual.

But the PAIGC’s struggle isn’t over. It’s actively working to build a unified, socialist Africa. The party lost power in 2020 in a vote that’s widely thought to have been rigged and which saw Western backed Umaro Sissoco Embaló become president. He has the blessing of regional bloc ECOWAS and has strengthened Guinea-Bissau’s relationship with France, as well as with former coloniser Portugal. Embaló also threatened to invade Niger after the start of its anti-imperialist revolution.

Today, many in Guinea-Bissau are working hard to ensure the PAIGC regains power, and are trying to live up to the values and teachings of Amílcar Cabral. Former combatants who fought in the revolutionary struggle between 1963 and 1974 are guiding and educating the next generation. With elections due at the end of the year, West Africa could well soon boast yet another anti-imperialist, pan-African state.

A luta continua.