The Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, condemned this Friday the “disturbing” coup attempt that occurred at dawn in Sao Tome and Principe, and called for the constitutional order to be “absolutely respected by all.”
“I had contact with the Prime Minister of Sao Tome and, at first, everything seemed to be back to normal and it was good news, [mas] Since then we have received news of the death of some of the rebels,” said João Gomes Cravinho.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Brussels at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council, on the Trade side, the head of Portuguese diplomacy added: “I have no final information on this matter, but it is naturally disturbing and we absolutely condemn any attempt to use violence to achieve political ends”.
“It is a situation that is still in a dynamic phase and, therefore, I do not want to make definitive comments on the subject, except to say that the constitutional order must be respected by absolutely everyone,” said Gomes Cravinho.
Already questioned if the guardianship had received any request for help from the Portuguese community in Santo Tomé, the Minister of Foreign Relations replied that he had “no indication in this regard.”
At least four people were killed in Sao Tome after the action, which Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada identified as an “attempted coup.”
According to information released by the head of government, around 00:40 local time (same Lisbon time), four men, civilians, attacked the barracks in the capital of São Tomé, presumably with the complicity of the military. The attackers took the officer on duty hostage, who was seriously injured after the attacks, but is out of danger.
The attack was neutralized shortly after 06:00 after the intervention of the Navy.
The former president of the National Assembly Delfim Neves and Arlécio Costa, a former officer of the ‘Buffalo Battalion’ convicted in 2009 for an alleged coup attempt, were reportedly identified by the assailants as the perpetrators of the attack, having both been detained by the military, in their respective homes, at dawn, and taken to the barracks.
Arlécio Costa and three of the robbers died, a source linked to the process told Lusa early in the afternoon.
“It is not a robbery, it is not a robbery. It is an attack with weapons of war on the country’s Armed Forces and we must first solve this problem,” the prime minister said this morning.
The head of government said that the “coup attempt” was an “extremely serious” situation, but then assured that “the Armed Forces have the situation under control.”
Patrice Trovoada called for the “strong hand” of justice for those responsible for the attempted coup, after announcing the arrest of Delfim Neves and Arlécio Costa by the military.
The leader of Acción Democrática Independiente (ADI), Patrice Trovoada, took office as prime minister two weeks ago, for the fourth time, after the victory by absolute majority in the legislative elections on September 25.
Delfim Neves presided over the Sao Tome parliament during the previous legislature (2018-2022) and ran for the legislative elections in September with the newly created Basta, having been one of the two elected to parliament by this movement. Currently his mandate is suspended, having been replaced in the National Assembly.
Source: TSF
