Guinea-Bissau National Day Message
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
September 24, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Guinea-Bissau as you celebrate your Independence Day this September 24. We share the desires of the people of Guinea-Bissau for reforms that will lead to democracy, good governance and economic development, including free and fair elections early next year. As you celebrate your independence, I wish all Bissau-Guineans a year of peace, reconciliation and prosperity.
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK BACKGROUND ON BUINEA-BISSAU
Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable political and military upheaval. In 1980, a military coup established authoritarian dictator Joao Bernardo 'Nino' VIEIRA as president. Despite setting a path to a market economy and multiparty system, VIEIRA's regime was characterized by the suppression of political opposition and the purging of political rivals. Several coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him. In 1994 VIEIRA was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military mutiny and resulting civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIEIRA's ouster in May 1999. In February 2000, a transitional government turned over power to opposition leader Kumba YALA after he was elected president in transparent polling. In September 2003, after only three years in office, YALA was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup, and businessman HenriqueVIEIRA was re-elected president pledging to pursue economic development and national reconciliation; he was assassinated in March 2009. Malam Bacai SANHA was elected in an emergency election held in June 2009, but he passed away abruptly in January 2012. A military coup on 12 April 2012 prevented Guinea-Bissau's second-round presidential election - to determine SANHA's successor - from taking place.
