The president of Guinea-Bissau, decorated this Tuesday by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with the Great Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, affirmed that he is a man of the people, a disciplinarian and not a dictator.
“I managed to reposition Guinea-Bissau in the concert of nations, there are no small states, only small countries, we are all equal, but to achieve this we must have stability, and many times in Africa when we want to restore order and discipline, the people treat us like dictators, when [queremos] He is a disciplinarian, he is a dictator; now, I don’t have anything of ditadura, sou a people afável, sou like President Marcelo, sou um homem do povo, não posso ser um ditador”, said Sissoco Embaló at the end of a meeting with the Portuguese counterpart, not Palácio de Belém , in Lisbon.
This week, Guinean students and workers wrote a manifesto against the visit of the President of Guinea-Bissau to Portugal, accusing the Portuguese head of State and Government of “sanitizing” the image of Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
In a letter addressed to the President of the Republic, the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the Portuguese Prime Minister, the Firkidja di Púbis movement, which brings together Guinean activists, students and workers in Portugal, expresses its “deep indignation at the support that the Portuguese State has provided to Umaro Sissoco Embaló”.
The subscribers define Sissoco as an “authoritarian president and leader of a dictatorship that seeks to be reborn, after the sovereign people of Guinea-Bissau decreed the beginning of its end with the devastating defeat, in the last legislative elections, of the political parties who accompany them in their project to eliminate democratic freedoms, an inalienable conquest of the Guinean people”.
“For three and a half years, our people were forced to live in an environment of political persecution, through the instrumentalization of justice institutions, fundamental for any State that wants to be based on law and democracy,” with “kidnappings and beatings.” of citizens who dare to counter the systematic violations of fundamental civil rights and liberties, that is, the freedoms of expression, press, union, demonstration and assembly,” they write.
In statements without the right to questions from journalists, the president of Guinea-Bissau affirmed that his priority in foreign policy is the relationship with Portugal, considering that it is crucial for the foreign image of the country, which recently held the presidency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), will occupy the leadership of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) and also aspires to hold the presidency of the African Union.
“The strong relationship with Portugal is very important for us and for the world. In Europe, the first thing they ask me in meetings is what the relationship with Portugal is like,” said the official, adding that also when the state visit of the Portuguese president to Senegal, when José Mário Vaz was head of State of Guinea-Bissau, the local president, Macky Sall, stressed the importance of “working to increase confidence [entre Portugal e a Guiné-Bissau]”.
In his speech, Sissoco Embaló also said that he realized that it had been 31 years since there had been a visit by the President of Portugal to Guinea-Bissau, but added that he was saddened when Marcelo went to Senegal.
“I felt sadder when President Marcelo went to Senegal and passed through Bissau, we are the ones who have to present, take the president to Senegal, just as President Marcelo can take us to Spain and other countries,” he noted.
“Today, all the bases of political stability and coexistence have been laid, of which President Marcelo is a pioneer. We have gained a lot from this experience of coexistence, Cape Verde and I,” said the head of State of Guinea-Bissau.
On the first state visit by a Guinean president to Portugal in the last five decades, Sissoco Embaló debated whether to consider himself proud or not: “I don’t know if I can say that I am proud, it saddens me to be the first.” state visit to Portugal, I wish it had been Cabral or Nino, but there is always the first, it is me and I am very grateful,” he said.
Sissoco Embaló’s state visit continues with a working lunch with the Prime Minister, António Costa, in which, he stated, the issues of visas and former Portuguese soldiers in Guinea-Bissau will be addressed.
Source: TSF
