West Africa has experienced a wave of military coups. However, the attempted military takeover in Guinea-Bissau at the start of February highlighted the country's longstanding link to drug trafficking - a link that made it Africa's first narco-state. But despite claims by the president that he is on top of efforts to end the link to smuggling, all is not quite as it seems.
I love this country just because as a kid stamp collecting in late 80s and early 90s Romania we were flooded by beautiful Guinea Bissau stamps. Also Haiti and Rwanda were very present.
Guinea bissao is not a narco state. We are a poor country with a government that is not functioning. We don't have the tools and the money to guard our island costs and this is easy for drug dealers to hide there for their trafficking. Honestly I don't think that we are the only one country in west africa to have a drug problem because of a lack of data. But think about that we are not consumers and not producers, but European countries and united states are the consumers. Media love to put labels on something and stick to that. That people use us because we are a poor little country with a lot of ressources that are not managed. Next time get there do your investigation by yourself and then you can find the truth and tell everybody what you saw. Thank you 🙏🙏🙏.
Thank you. I really appreciate your comments. My channel tries to look at international relations and explain concepts and ideas through real world examples. Sadly, Guinea-Bissau is generally understood to be a ‘narco-state’, but you make an incredibly important point. These states are in fact more often better understood as failing or failed states. They are often poor countries where the allure of money from drugs naturally finds a home. It is incredible sad and tragic. Needless to say, I hope the country manages to find its way and become steadily more stable and prosperous.
Very well said.. Thank you. I am from Guinea Bissau born and bread there. Dont label our people as a narco state, just because our governments lie and do business dealings with these criminals. Our people don't take part in their nonsense. We are a peaceful loving country. A very safe country. Go there and see it for yourself
@@JamesKerLindsay He’s trying to say that the drug smuggling going on in Guinea Bissau doesn’t reach the level to be labeled a “narco-state” such as Mexico. Although it is indeed involved in narco-trafficking especially compared to other African countries. Either way, I think you did a good job in this video. Well balanced and fair commentary 👏🏼
Hi, I think what is meant as Narco state is the corruption inherent to the economical situations make's it an easy target for narcotic organizations to influence decisions. Although I am sure that contrary to Colombia, Mexico and Afghanistan there isn't a large portion of the populations living of the production and distribution of drugs. The quick decolonization left many of the Portuguese territories lost and unprepared.
I am a Citizen of Guinea-Bissau and your account of the country’s situation is very much accurate. I was born and raised there nowadays I live in UK but I still visit in regular basis. The actual regular people are not engaged in this drug business and most of them don’t even have knowledge of it. It’s our politicians and military that are profiting from it. Like @Margareth Mendy previously said we don’t produce never mind consume. Unfortunately it is a failed state, corruption is palpable everywhere. For the next 50 years this country will continue to be a failed state that is the price we will pay for greed, impunity, lack of education and the assassination of our founding father Amílcar Cabral.
Thank you so much. I must say that I really love doing these videos for that reason. It’s a chance to delve deeper into these issues that really don’t get much international attention. Hopefully, others also like these more obscure topics alongside the big picture issues.
I'm sure your country needs to sort itself out too. Bissau is not all in chaos, its actuallya very peaceful country..our government are the corrupt ones who fight amongst themselves
I am from Guinea-Bissau, and it is always a surprise to find a video about my country made by someone from somewhere else. Actually you would be able to find over 30 etnical groups. Of the almost 100 islands, only 16 are inhabited, leaving the rest empty and without any control its, easy to smuggle things, not only drugs, child sex traficking is also prevalent, with many people not even getting into the country through customs. I could also speak about the role of internacional organizations, ONGs and neighbouring countries, but it would make this comment really long. Good video but just one thing, those small clips showing the coup are not from Guinea Bissau, and a small detail, there wasnt a 5 hour fight between the group trying to make the coup and the army, there was a fight between them and the personal security of the president and members of government wich where neutralized in about an hour, the remaining 4 hours we have no idea who the insurgents where fighting against or who were they shooting at because none of the units stationed in the militar HQs moved (there are 2 less then 5 mins away from the place where it happened). It seems the atrackers just suddenly decided to up and leave, and the president went back to the city center.
@@outerspace7391 without being privy to all details it is difficult to say as a matter of fact that this was staged by the current president and/or the current government, because taking in to account our country's history we cant rule out other parties having an interest of staging this, but all the governments actions up until now have been very suspicious so personally I will lean more on saying probably the president has something to do with is not sure to what extent the government as a whole would be aware of this. You see before this, since Umaro came into power there has been a lot of persecution, arrests, threats, violent acts torwards opposition parties, members of parliament and people critical of the current regime. There is a particular radio station they are very popular, they invite a lot of opposing voices (mainly people calling in expressing their views, but they also have a lot of debating panels) to their programs and so scrutinise a lot of what has been happening, that was attacked at night one and a half year ago , having all their equipments destroyed, they were able to get back up but a week after this supposed coup they were attacked again in plain daylight by armed men, shooting inside the radio station, destroying everything, about 6 journalist were injured, they had to jump over roofs to escape and 1 female journalist and to be taken urgently to portugal for treatment. The state attorney through the public ministry opened an inquiry to find out what happened in the "attempted coup", but even among the personal of the current regime there has been a lot of conflicting narratives, including the president himself, saying it was a " attempt at a coup", "retaliationg from the drug lords", "assassination attempt", "planned attack from the political opposition", etc...different people, saying different things, blaming different people before any investigation was made all the while admiting at the same time that they had no information about anything and didn't know anything specific about the attackers or the motivations. Up until today, nothing came out of that investigation but a lot of arrests have been made, including daylight kidnapping of people and a drive by shootings at the houses of 2 of the permanent panel members of that same radio. Its good to note that the state attorney is appointed directly by the president, and directly under his orders. So it is weird that people are attacking the president and government but also go on attacking people critical of the president and the government.
@@lilmbaye29 not exclusively Senegal, and I should clarify that when I say countries i mean different governments and instititutions representing those countries, not country as in the people in those countries. When and I talk about their roles i mean positive and negative impacts. That is the reason why I said it would be too long to talk about it in a comment.
Oh wow, this was an amazing video! I knew none of this! I vaguely remember hearing about the coup attempt, but I had no idea Guinea-Bissau was now a narco-state. Thanks for another fascinating video!
Thank you so much. I’m really glad. Sadly, these subjects doesn’t tend to get nearly as many views as my videos on big countries and topics, but I really like doing them. It’s important to look at these issues too.
Merci beaucoup pour ce vidéo! Vous êtes passionné et c'est en grande partie pour ça que je suis abonné à votre chaîne. J'apprends énormément, et sur des sujets qui ne sont parfois même pas mentionnés aux nouvelles... j'apprécie encore plus votre contenu, car vous ne le faites pas uniquement pour les visualisations. Merci!
I came across your channel a few days ago and thank you for uploading a video on Guinea Bissau. I did a case study on the country when I was at University back in 2007 for my 'Politics of the 3rd world' syllabus after watching a documentary about Guinea Bissau on Channel 4 (unreported world). And it is great to see a proper indepth look in to the situation there up until today. Love the channel and your videos btw.
Thank you so much! That’s incredibly kind of you to say. I’m really delighted to hear you like the channel. I do try to cover these lesser known cases from time to time.
First of all: thank you for making a video about Guinea-Bissau, which Eric Gable describes as 'out of the way even for Africa'. It's an understudied country in an understudied region on an understudied continent. I have lots of thoughts about this video but the one I'll content myself with sharing is that I wonder about the designation of Guinea-Bissau as a 'narcostate'. I know that you know such labels are for convenience, they offer insight into some aspect of a state rather than expressing some essential nature. Still, in Guinea-Bissau's case I'm not sure the utility is all that great. Your video didn't have time to discuss the complicated puzzle of authorities on the ground, fed into by the geography and demographics, so it's worth pointing out here that the reach of the state is extremely limited. In 2009, Bordonaro wrote of the 'irrelevance of the state' in Guinea-Bissau. The dual assassinations of Vieira and Tagme went by without much notice outside of the capital simply because who holds office does not impact the lives of most people. My worry with calling it a 'narcostate' is that it gives a misleading impression. 'The state' does not direct the resources and population toward the production or transfer of narcotics, it is an empty shell in which patronage networks, some of which but by no means all are involved in what is essentially foreign-led drug trafficking. Whatever impact the enrichment of those networks has had, it has not oriented political life around drugs for the vast majority of people. (I believe you can usefully contrast that with drug-funded political consolidation in Colombia or Afghanistan.) In that sense G-B is much more like a 'failed state', but I don't like that term either!
Thanks so much. Fantastic points. This is exactly the sort of really interesting and informed debate I always hope to see on the channel. You are right. Labels aren’t always helpful. In this case, narco-state can have various meanings. I went with the broader concept, where parts of the state are captured. In the case of Guinea-Bissau, it seems that is fairly extensive. More than in other countries that have also been given this label. But it does also have many of the hallmarks of a failed state. That said, it doesn’t quite feel like one as compared with others I have looked at, like Somalia and Haiti. It’s a truly fascinating case. Overall, I was keen to do this video partly because I hope to cover countries that really get very little attention. In any case, thank you so much for your clarifications and thoughts. Hopefully it will shed light on things for other viewers looking through the comments.
I agree with what you've said in your last paragraph. I'm from Guinea Bissau born and breed there, I don't like this label that is being put on our country, its not true. Our Governments are doing deals with these criminals it is NOT a reflection of our people. We don't care for drugs
Thanks so much Roger. It really didn’t get any international attention. I just thought it was a good chance to tell what is hopefully an interesting story about a country few people know anything about. (I know lots of people want videos on big issues. But I do still like to do these ones - even if they don’t get as many views.) Anyway, have a great weekend!
Thank you so much. I am never sure how people will respond to topics like these. I know that they don't tend to do as well as 'mainstream' topics. But I think it is important to cast some light on lesser known issues. As a friend said to me last night, the channel is becoming a bit of a library for international issues. I really like that idea. :-)
Thanks Prof. Both fascinating and saddening. Guinea-Bissau has had more turnover than McDonalds. In the current moment the country does sound like a prime country for money laundering as well, I don't know if that is the case, but I do know a lot of Russian Oligarchs are looking for a new safe haven, could this be possible? Have a wonderful weekend.
Always love to know more about the situation in Africa, considering how little I know about it (did not know of Guinée-Bissau being a narco state). Could a failed coup provide justification to Embalo for turning more authoritarian and reckless in this war against drugs - like Dutertre in Philippines ? Keep up the good work, have a good weekend.
First of all, thank you for making a video about Guinea-Bissau. The thing is Guinea Bissau is far away from been the Africa´s first and most persistent narco state and to even say is recognize by Internacional community. Guinea Bissau has many basic issues still to get on with, but to be the top narco state for that you might need to go more deep on research to get what really goes on in country not just some international analyses or news.
Great video Prof James. Thank you for showing us affairs that usually we don't see in the first pages of a news website. Also, i would like to suggest you a topic: Bring to us what's happening in Yemen, we barely know what comes from there, and the country is being devastated by a civil war. Keep up the good work and hugs from Brazil.
Thank you so much. I should really try to revisit the awful situation in Yemen. I did a video on it a while ago explaining the background, but it could well be worth updating th-cam.com/video/UdWWm8tBUps/w-d-xo.html In the meantime, sending you my very warmest wishes from London!
I think you’d be surprised. The DEA know exactly where this place is! :-) Seriously, it’s incredible. This is a country where the military rulers were literally drug traffickers.
Very interesting, love the video, thank you for doing this topic! Knew almost nothing about this. It seems like the country is totally captured, from just the military earlier I to now possibly the entire civilian bureaucracy Brutal situation for anyone there, thanks again for the insight!
Thanks so much LocalLt. It is a really good question. Embalo insists that he is trying to tackle the problem, but it seems that there is a lot of scepticism about just how effective this is; although it seems there aren't suggestions that he is directly involved. That said, given how pervasive it is, he would perhaps be a brave leader to be really working to eradicate it. I hoped it might at least be useful to cast some light on a situation and a country that doesn't get much coverage.
Your views are absolutely on point. Beside corruption, greed , the major issue is ( lack of responsibility from those governing the country) . There' s no broader future when we continue to support the illiterate individuals in positions to decide the future of a country . I hate to be a pessimist but I don't see the silver lining when it comes to Guine -Bissau
I wonder what will happen with these narco states now that a lot of countries will legalize more drugs even hard drugs are becoming legal in some countries probably a lot more will follow until its most of the world.
you completely made invisible the resistance movement that fought independence from Portugal led by Amilcar Cabral that liberated what are today Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. That would be a bit of an insult for Bissau Guineans, Panafricans, and their allies
Thank you for another great video. Like other people have commented, it's a part of the planet I don't know much about. IRecently I did watch a short video about one of the dictators of Equatorial Guinea . I found it hard to believe what I was hearing. Perhaps that's a country to put on your list sometime..
Video seems pretty accurate to my knowledge but I’d like to point out that the video with the military corps on the street is in Guine Conakry and not Guine Bissau
Thanks so much for the clarification! I took it from a social media post on a news site which had clearly marked as Guinea-Bissau. Let that be a lesson. Unfortunately, having never been I didn't spot that it was the wrong Guinea. Oops!
Thanks. I really wanted to go into the Cape Verde angle in the video - not least of all because I have been there and really loved it - but it started to become a little too complicated. But one can see the problems that would have emerged had it happened. Maybe I should come back to this at some point.
@@JamesKerLindsay yes please do. Very little is known of that island-nation. Reminds me of Zanzibar til now there's still an issue of separatism though not a violent one.
Papa P.... I'm a bissau-Guinean myself and you're 100% right. The best thing cape verde has ever done after colonization was choosing their own ways. Hard to believe that we've started together now cape verde is heading miles away from us. Politicians in Guinea-Bissau are something of a joke. They have always been and always will be power-hungry seekers(if that's even a word). The worst is that ordinary citizens still think that politicians are their owners and the whole country owns those head politicians something. And oh, about drugs traffickers, hahaha... unfortunately that's real. There are bunch of houses built by narcos guys and everyone knows about. That's not even big of a deal, mostly because Guinea-Bissau is not the target market and have no users
@User 15 I assume you're a Guinean-bissau citizen just like me. Hahaha. Glad to see a comment from a fellow citizen who understands what's going on with a our country, especially those who moved out of the country and now they can see from outside view, how far behind Guinea-bissau is now.
@@JamesKerLindsay absolutely. Unfortunately the world is never short of a sad situation, and as someone who has an interest in geopolitics and current affairs, I had no idea this was going on. You're doing a good thing bringing it to our attention and, as ever, in a very informative way.
@JamesKerLindsay, why don't you make a similar video about my country titled “ALBANIA | How did it become a narco-state?” I'm sure you'll find a lot of information from journalists about what happened in 2016.
Thanks. Really great suggestion. I actually have this on my really long list of topics to cover. It is so interesting. In the meantime, keep an eye out for my next video. I’m going to tackle another normalisation process Turkey is engaged in.
My dad is Portuguese, he fought there amd left in 1970. He said the country was a paradise with FERTILE soil. But sadly communism didn't work, even in a lush paradise
I am not a follower of this channel so I am not aware of past contributions. My question is have there been any investigative pieces on the rich drug consumer states without whom drug commerce would not exist? Second, Colombia is the world’s leading cocaine producer and exporter, yet is an American ally and given a free pass. Ironically, it is Maduro of Venezuela who is labeled a drug trafficker and his country is under devastating sanctions for political reasons. Please explain. Thanks for the piece on Guinea Bissau.
A fascinating diversion from the constant hammering I see about the Ukraine war. Well done. As a history fan, as well as a geography fan, it seems to me that the larger the country, the more stable it is. Not a hard and fast rule, but there seems to be a kind of correlation there, to me. All of the problems of Africa are usually blamed on colonialism, and that's certainly true to some extent, but many issues were in play before colonialism, and linger after freedom is obtained. It's a sad thing for the citizens, to be sure. One tragedy after another. Terrible situation there. Answers to these problems are not forthcoming, and I have none, either. It's a real mess.
The world should legalize/regulate drugs at this point. More small states (and even large ones) will continue turning into narcostates until the large illicit profits keep being generated as a result of prohibition.
The country population has problem of poverty and hunger. The concern for the world is the drugs being exported. Why shouldn't they just export stuff openly
it was ideally situated for the Portuguese slave trade to Brasil and now it's ideally located for the drug trade to Portugal, Europe. Goes around, comes around. Portugal legalized individual drug consumption
My African geopolitical knowledge is a bit hazy. Basically anything post 2010 is a blank. I've watched your videos for a while and realized I wasn't subscribed. Needless to say, I am now.
لا الہ الا اللہ و اللہ اکبر Islam, Rivals of Islam, Decisions accepted Islam, to obey to learn crafts, clashes, Accept, obey, until done. State human presence. People accepted Islam will die as accepted Islam People die,did not accepted Islam. Written murders Murder punishment
@User 15 No most of us don't speak Portuguese. I can speak Portuguese but not write. Don't disrespect our flag 🇬🇼 by putting it next to the Portuguese one.
Tudo que está a ser dito neste vídeo é pura mentira. Vocês quando não têm o que fazer, inventam histórias mesturados com uma série de mentiras sem nexo. É uma vergonha para esse analista que finge em estar a falar a verdade. Mentirosos 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥...
I have family in this nation, I can tell that the ones of most dangerous nation in the world. Things are worse than what he said on the video. The nation lacks an effective legal , police and justice system.
Thank you so much. It is a really tragic situation. The country is basically a failed state that has been captured by the drug trade and organised crime.
West Africa has experienced a wave of military coups. However, the attempted military takeover in Guinea-Bissau at the start of February highlighted the country's longstanding link to drug trafficking - a link that made it Africa's first narco-state. But despite claims by the president that he is on top of efforts to end the link to smuggling, all is not quite as it seems.
Will the discussion of narco states be in your upcoming book?
0:18, 8:44 this images are not from guinea bissau
I love this country just because as a kid stamp collecting in late 80s and early 90s Romania we were flooded by beautiful Guinea Bissau stamps. Also Haiti and Rwanda were very present.
Stamp collecting is how I learnt about geography and history as a kid
Guinea bissao is not a narco state. We are a poor country with a government that is not functioning. We don't have the tools and the money to guard our island costs and this is easy for drug dealers to hide there for their trafficking. Honestly I don't think that we are the only one country in west africa to have a drug problem because of a lack of data. But think about that we are not consumers and not producers, but European countries and united states are the consumers. Media love to put labels on something and stick to that. That people use us because we are a poor little country with a lot of ressources that are not managed.
Next time get there do your investigation by yourself and then you can find the truth and tell everybody what you saw. Thank you 🙏🙏🙏.
Thank you. I really appreciate your comments. My channel tries to look at international relations and explain concepts and ideas through real world examples. Sadly, Guinea-Bissau is generally understood to be a ‘narco-state’, but you make an incredibly important point. These states are in fact more often better understood as failing or failed states. They are often poor countries where the allure of money from drugs naturally finds a home. It is incredible sad and tragic. Needless to say, I hope the country manages to find its way and become steadily more stable and prosperous.
well said!! thanks for getting the real truth out there!!!!!
Very well said.. Thank you. I am from Guinea Bissau born and bread there. Dont label our people as a narco state, just because our governments lie and do business dealings with these criminals. Our people don't take part in their nonsense. We are a peaceful loving country. A very safe country. Go there and see it for yourself
@@JamesKerLindsay He’s trying to say that the drug smuggling going on in Guinea Bissau doesn’t reach the level to be labeled a “narco-state” such as Mexico. Although it is indeed involved in narco-trafficking especially compared to other African countries. Either way, I think you did a good job in this video. Well balanced and fair commentary 👏🏼
Hi, I think what is meant as Narco state is the corruption inherent to the economical situations make's it an easy target for narcotic organizations to influence decisions. Although I am sure that contrary to Colombia, Mexico and Afghanistan there isn't a large portion of the populations living of the production and distribution of drugs. The quick decolonization left many of the Portuguese territories lost and unprepared.
I am a Citizen of Guinea-Bissau and your account of the country’s situation is very much accurate. I was born and raised there nowadays I live in UK but I still visit in regular basis. The actual regular people are not engaged in this drug business and most of them don’t even have knowledge of it. It’s our politicians and military that are profiting from it. Like @Margareth Mendy previously said we don’t produce never mind consume. Unfortunately it is a failed state, corruption is palpable everywhere. For the next 50 years this country will continue to be a failed state that is the price we will pay for greed, impunity, lack of education and the assassination of our founding father Amílcar Cabral.
I'm always astounded by how little I know about Africa. Thank you!
Thank you so much. I must say that I really love doing these videos for that reason. It’s a chance to delve deeper into these issues that really don’t get much international attention. Hopefully, others also like these more obscure topics alongside the big picture issues.
The chaos in Guinea-Bissau after gaining independence is mind blowing. Hopefully they'll manage to sort themselves out sooner rather than later
I'm sure your country needs to sort itself out too. Bissau is not all in chaos, its actuallya very peaceful country..our government are the corrupt ones who fight amongst themselves
Seems they were doing amazing with Portugal. 😔.
I am from Guinea-Bissau, and it is always a surprise to find a video about my country made by someone from somewhere else.
Actually you would be able to find over 30 etnical groups.
Of the almost 100 islands, only 16 are inhabited, leaving the rest empty and without any control its, easy to smuggle things, not only drugs, child sex traficking is also prevalent, with many people not even getting into the country through customs.
I could also speak about the role of internacional organizations, ONGs and neighbouring countries, but it would make this comment really long.
Good video but just one thing, those small clips showing the coup are not from Guinea Bissau, and a small detail, there wasnt a 5 hour fight between the group trying to make the coup and the army, there was a fight between them and the personal security of the president and members of government wich where neutralized in about an hour, the remaining 4 hours we have no idea who the insurgents where fighting against or who were they shooting at because none of the units stationed in the militar HQs moved (there are 2 less then 5 mins away from the place where it happened). It seems the atrackers just suddenly decided to up and leave, and the president went back to the city center.
So as a Bissau-Guinean, do you think the government staged all this or is it actually trying to crack down on the drug traffickers?
@@outerspace7391 without being privy to all details it is difficult to say as a matter of fact that this was staged by the current president and/or the current government, because taking in to account our country's history we cant rule out other parties having an interest of staging this, but all the governments actions up until now have been very suspicious so personally I will lean more on saying probably the president has something to do with is not sure to what extent the government as a whole would be aware of this.
You see before this, since Umaro came into power there has been a lot of persecution, arrests, threats, violent acts torwards opposition parties, members of parliament and people critical of the current regime.
There is a particular radio station they are very popular, they invite a lot of opposing voices (mainly people calling in expressing their views, but they also have a lot of debating panels) to their programs and so scrutinise a lot of what has been happening, that was attacked at night one and a half year ago , having all their equipments destroyed, they were able to get back up but a week after this supposed coup they were attacked again in plain daylight by armed men, shooting inside the radio station, destroying everything, about 6 journalist were injured, they had to jump over roofs to escape and 1 female journalist and to be taken urgently to portugal for treatment.
The state attorney through the public ministry opened an inquiry to find out what happened in the "attempted coup", but even among the personal of the current regime there has been a lot of conflicting narratives, including the president himself, saying it was a " attempt at a coup", "retaliationg from the drug lords", "assassination attempt", "planned attack from the political opposition", etc...different people, saying different things, blaming different people before any investigation was made all the while admiting at the same time that they had no information about anything and didn't know anything specific about the attackers or the motivations.
Up until today, nothing came out of that investigation but a lot of arrests have been made, including daylight kidnapping of people and a drive by shootings at the houses of 2 of the permanent panel members of that same radio.
Its good to note that the state attorney is appointed directly by the president, and directly under his orders.
So it is weird that people are attacking the president and government but also go on attacking people critical of the president and the government.
Well said brother 👏 Couldnt agree more
@@widibang By neighbouring country do you mean Senegal?
@@lilmbaye29 not exclusively Senegal, and I should clarify that when I say countries i mean different governments and instititutions representing those countries, not country as in the people in those countries.
When and I talk about their roles i mean positive and negative impacts. That is the reason why I said it would be too long to talk about it in a comment.
Oh wow, this was an amazing video! I knew none of this! I vaguely remember hearing about the coup attempt, but I had no idea Guinea-Bissau was now a narco-state. Thanks for another fascinating video!
I love this sort of content, particularly as it relates to lesser known states. More like this please.
Thank you so much. I’m really glad. Sadly, these subjects doesn’t tend to get nearly as many views as my videos on big countries and topics, but I really like doing them. It’s important to look at these issues too.
Merci beaucoup pour ce vidéo! Vous êtes passionné et c'est en grande partie pour ça que je suis abonné à votre chaîne. J'apprends énormément, et sur des sujets qui ne sont parfois même pas mentionnés aux nouvelles... j'apprécie encore plus votre contenu, car vous ne le faites pas uniquement pour les visualisations. Merci!
I came across your channel a few days ago and thank you for uploading a video on Guinea Bissau. I did a case study on the country when I was at University back in 2007 for my 'Politics of the 3rd world' syllabus after watching a documentary about Guinea Bissau on Channel 4 (unreported world). And it is great to see a proper indepth look in to the situation there up until today.
Love the channel and your videos btw.
Thank you so much! That’s incredibly kind of you to say. I’m really delighted to hear you like the channel. I do try to cover these lesser known cases from time to time.
First of all: thank you for making a video about Guinea-Bissau, which Eric Gable describes as 'out of the way even for Africa'. It's an understudied country in an understudied region on an understudied continent.
I have lots of thoughts about this video but the one I'll content myself with sharing is that I wonder about the designation of Guinea-Bissau as a 'narcostate'. I know that you know such labels are for convenience, they offer insight into some aspect of a state rather than expressing some essential nature. Still, in Guinea-Bissau's case I'm not sure the utility is all that great.
Your video didn't have time to discuss the complicated puzzle of authorities on the ground, fed into by the geography and demographics, so it's worth pointing out here that the reach of the state is extremely limited. In 2009, Bordonaro wrote of the 'irrelevance of the state' in Guinea-Bissau. The dual assassinations of Vieira and Tagme went by without much notice outside of the capital simply because who holds office does not impact the lives of most people.
My worry with calling it a 'narcostate' is that it gives a misleading impression. 'The state' does not direct the resources and population toward the production or transfer of narcotics, it is an empty shell in which patronage networks, some of which but by no means all are involved in what is essentially foreign-led drug trafficking. Whatever impact the enrichment of those networks has had, it has not oriented political life around drugs for the vast majority of people. (I believe you can usefully contrast that with drug-funded political consolidation in Colombia or Afghanistan.)
In that sense G-B is much more like a 'failed state', but I don't like that term either!
Thanks so much. Fantastic points. This is exactly the sort of really interesting and informed debate I always hope to see on the channel. You are right. Labels aren’t always helpful. In this case, narco-state can have various meanings. I went with the broader concept, where parts of the state are captured. In the case of Guinea-Bissau, it seems that is fairly extensive. More than in other countries that have also been given this label. But it does also have many of the hallmarks of a failed state. That said, it doesn’t quite feel like one as compared with others I have looked at, like Somalia and Haiti. It’s a truly fascinating case. Overall, I was keen to do this video partly because I hope to cover countries that really get very little attention. In any case, thank you so much for your clarifications and thoughts. Hopefully it will shed light on things for other viewers looking through the comments.
I agree with what you've said in your last paragraph. I'm from Guinea Bissau born and breed there, I don't like this label that is being put on our country, its not true. Our Governments are doing deals with these criminals it is NOT a reflection of our people. We don't care for drugs
Very well put. I agree with most of your comments.
Your channel is so addictive. Great work Sir. Love from India🇮🇳
Goodness me I genuinely had no idea that a coup was attempted in Guinea-Bissau! Thank you very much for this video!
Thanks so much Roger. It really didn’t get any international attention. I just thought it was a good chance to tell what is hopefully an interesting story about a country few people know anything about. (I know lots of people want videos on big issues. But I do still like to do these ones - even if they don’t get as many views.) Anyway, have a great weekend!
@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you so much!
My country 🇬🇼. I still have hope That one day this beautiful country will raise and become one of the most important countries in Africa ✊🏿✊🏿
Interesting as always. Thanks for the broad selection of subjects of your videos.
Thank you so much. I am never sure how people will respond to topics like these. I know that they don't tend to do as well as 'mainstream' topics. But I think it is important to cast some light on lesser known issues. As a friend said to me last night, the channel is becoming a bit of a library for international issues. I really like that idea. :-)
Thanks Prof. Both fascinating and saddening. Guinea-Bissau has had more turnover than McDonalds. In the current moment the country does sound like a prime country for money laundering as well, I don't know if that is the case, but I do know a lot of Russian Oligarchs are looking for a new safe haven, could this be possible? Have a wonderful weekend.
Always love to know more about the situation in Africa, considering how little I know about it (did not know of Guinée-Bissau being a narco state). Could a failed coup provide justification to Embalo for turning more authoritarian and reckless in this war against drugs - like Dutertre in Philippines ?
Keep up the good work, have a good weekend.
I am from Guinea-Bissau born and breed, Guinea bissau is NOT a narco-state!
First of all, thank you for making a video about Guinea-Bissau. The thing is Guinea Bissau is far away from been the Africa´s first and most persistent narco state and to even say is recognize by Internacional community. Guinea Bissau has many basic issues still to get on with, but to be the top narco state for that you might need to go more deep on research to get what really goes on in country not just some international analyses or news.
Great video Prof James. Thank you for showing us affairs that usually we don't see in the first pages of a news website. Also, i would like to suggest you a topic: Bring to us what's happening in Yemen, we barely know what comes from there, and the country is being devastated by a civil war.
Keep up the good work and hugs from Brazil.
Thank you so much. I should really try to revisit the awful situation in Yemen. I did a video on it a while ago explaining the background, but it could well be worth updating th-cam.com/video/UdWWm8tBUps/w-d-xo.html In the meantime, sending you my very warmest wishes from London!
@@JamesKerLindsay oh I didn't know there is already a video about it, i'm gonna check this out. Thank you!
Thanks for the video, Professor Ker-Lindsay.
Damn most people when I tell them where im from they don’t even know where Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼is but now that’s going to change….
@User 15 bro we don’t even talk about this issue among our community. That’s scary
Does this channel have an animation team or animator? If not, how did you made such a good map animation while explaining the drug route?
It's so obscure as a former Portuguese African colony that isn't Angola or Mozambique that the DEA probably literally can't find it on a map.
I think you’d be surprised. The DEA know exactly where this place is! :-) Seriously, it’s incredible. This is a country where the military rulers were literally drug traffickers.
Very interesting, love the video, thank you for doing this topic! Knew almost nothing about this.
It seems like the country is totally captured, from just the military earlier I to now possibly the entire civilian bureaucracy
Brutal situation for anyone there, thanks again for the insight!
Thanks so much LocalLt. It is a really good question. Embalo insists that he is trying to tackle the problem, but it seems that there is a lot of scepticism about just how effective this is; although it seems there aren't suggestions that he is directly involved. That said, given how pervasive it is, he would perhaps be a brave leader to be really working to eradicate it. I hoped it might at least be useful to cast some light on a situation and a country that doesn't get much coverage.
Your views are absolutely on point. Beside corruption, greed , the major issue is ( lack of responsibility from those governing the country) . There' s no broader future when we continue to support the illiterate individuals in positions to decide the future of a country . I hate to be a pessimist but I don't see the silver lining when it comes to Guine -Bissau
Thank you. I really hope that things can change. It’s truly worrying how much the drug trade has taken over.
Thank you so much for always covering Africa
Thanks. I do try to make sure that I cover Africa. It is so important and yet so often missed in international news.
I wonder what will happen with these narco states now that a lot of countries will legalize more drugs even hard drugs are becoming legal in some countries probably a lot more will follow until its most of the world.
They might be failed states at that point.
Very interesting! Maybe one day a talk on Amilcar Cabral? If possible!
you completely made invisible the resistance movement that fought independence from Portugal led by Amilcar Cabral that liberated what are today Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde. That would be a bit of an insult for Bissau Guineans, Panafricans, and their allies
It would be very interesting to complete this analysis with data corresponding precisely to drug trafficking increase in Guinea-Bissau.
Hey the new maps are looking great!
Thanks. Always experimenting! :-)
Hey, ever though about a video on Latam and it's geopolitical situation ?
He can make a whole video series with the geopolitical messes of LatAm lol
Thank you for another great video. Like other people have commented, it's a part of the planet I don't know much about.
IRecently I did watch a short video about one of the dictators of Equatorial Guinea . I found it hard to believe what I was hearing. Perhaps that's a country to put on your list sometime..
Great video!
The description of the events of February 1st is misleading. The video shown is not from Guinea-Bissau, but rather neighboring Guinea-Conakry.
I strongly recommend that Netflix kickstarts the new season of NARCOS (Worth a Portuguese Guinea).
Video seems pretty accurate to my knowledge but I’d like to point out that the video with the military corps on the street is in Guine Conakry and not Guine Bissau
Besides the fact that the building isn’t located in Bissau you can clearly see Alpha Conte’s name spelled out on the street pavement itself
Thanks so much for the clarification! I took it from a social media post on a news site which had clearly marked as Guinea-Bissau. Let that be a lesson. Unfortunately, having never been I didn't spot that it was the wrong Guinea. Oops!
I don't know why everyone is so obsessed with saying that my country is a narco state, but there are some mistakes in the video
Cabo Verde was lucky not being merged with Guinea-Bissau.
What changes in the weather in Aug/September/Oct in cape Verde that the hurricanes are the strongest off the island.
Thanks. I really wanted to go into the Cape Verde angle in the video - not least of all because I have been there and really loved it - but it started to become a little too complicated. But one can see the problems that would have emerged had it happened. Maybe I should come back to this at some point.
@@JamesKerLindsay yes please do. Very little is known of that island-nation. Reminds me of Zanzibar til now there's still an issue of separatism though not a violent one.
Papa P.... I'm a bissau-Guinean myself and you're 100% right. The best thing cape verde has ever done after colonization was choosing their own ways. Hard to believe that we've started together now cape verde is heading miles away from us. Politicians in Guinea-Bissau are something of a joke. They have always been and always will be power-hungry seekers(if that's even a word). The worst is that ordinary citizens still think that politicians are their owners and the whole country owns those head politicians something. And oh, about drugs traffickers, hahaha... unfortunately that's real. There are bunch of houses built by narcos guys and everyone knows about. That's not even big of a deal, mostly because Guinea-Bissau is not the target market and have no users
@User 15 I assume you're a Guinean-bissau citizen just like me. Hahaha. Glad to see a comment from a fellow citizen who understands what's going on with a our country, especially those who moved out of the country and now they can see from outside view, how far behind Guinea-bissau is now.
Great video as always James 👍
Thank you so much. I was in two minds about switching away from Ukraine. However, I think it is important to still look at other issues.
@@JamesKerLindsay absolutely. Unfortunately the world is never short of a sad situation, and as someone who has an interest in geopolitics and current affairs, I had no idea this was going on. You're doing a good thing bringing it to our attention and, as ever, in a very informative way.
Thanks as always! :-)
@JamesKerLindsay, why don't you make a similar video about my country titled “ALBANIA | How did it become a narco-state?” I'm sure you'll find a lot of information from journalists about what happened in 2016.
So although illegal the drugs never boost the country's economy?
Man, I really need a primer on modern subsaharan Africa. Anyone has any book recommendations?
Could you make a video about the normalisation talks between Turkey(Turkiye) and Armenia🇹🇷🇦🇲
Thanks. Really great suggestion. I actually have this on my really long list of topics to cover. It is so interesting. In the meantime, keep an eye out for my next video. I’m going to tackle another normalisation process Turkey is engaged in.
My country ❤
My Africa, unrelenting power struggles.
I have been there in 2014, I saw myself the foreign cartel leaders in the capital city with the military generals.
Guiné Bissau is not a narco state
My dad is Portuguese, he fought there amd left in 1970. He said the country was a paradise with FERTILE soil. But sadly communism didn't work, even in a lush paradise
All political upheaval in Africa is directly related to the former colonial rulers.
I am not a follower of this channel so I am not aware of past contributions. My question is have there been any investigative pieces on the rich drug consumer states without whom drug commerce would not exist? Second, Colombia is the world’s leading cocaine producer and exporter, yet is an American ally and given a free pass. Ironically, it is Maduro of Venezuela who is labeled a drug trafficker and his country is under devastating sanctions for political reasons. Please explain. Thanks for the piece on Guinea Bissau.
Nobody mentions the role of Mark Thatcher the son of Margaret Thatcher former prime minister of Britain.
I didn't know that Guinea-Bissau or even any African countries are involved in Drug trafficking
You forget morocco the bigest narco stat in africa
A fascinating diversion from the constant hammering I see about the Ukraine war. Well done.
As a history fan, as well as a geography fan, it seems to me that the larger the country, the more stable it is. Not a hard and fast rule, but there seems to be a kind of correlation there, to me.
All of the problems of Africa are usually blamed on colonialism, and that's certainly true to some extent, but many issues were in play before colonialism, and linger after freedom is obtained.
It's a sad thing for the citizens, to be sure. One tragedy after another. Terrible situation there.
Answers to these problems are not forthcoming, and I have none, either. It's a real mess.
❤️🇬🇼
Sounds like they need some US applied democracy.
Sentís que la droga entra potente
The world should legalize/regulate drugs at this point. More small states (and even large ones) will continue turning into narcostates until the large illicit profits keep being generated as a result of prohibition.
The country population has problem of poverty and hunger. The concern for the world is the drugs being exported. Why shouldn't they just export stuff openly
it was ideally situated for the Portuguese slave trade to Brasil and now it's ideally located for the drug trade to Portugal, Europe. Goes around, comes around.
Portugal legalized individual drug consumption
Mexico is another example.
Can you please share your thoughts how the west turned to be the largest consumer of drugs aka narco west . Thank you in advance
My African geopolitical knowledge is a bit hazy. Basically anything post 2010 is a blank. I've watched your videos for a while and realized I wasn't subscribed. Needless to say, I am now.
Thank you so much! Really appreciated. And a warm welcome. :-)
Africa doesn’t get nearly as much international attention as it should.
Why don't they just legalize the whole operation, make it legit?
Where's the profit in that?
Isn't the US the largest consumer of drugs?
Portuguese have lost the war in Guinea Bissau and that pushed the coup in Lisbon not the contrary!
لا الہ الا اللہ و اللہ اکبر
Islam,
Rivals of Islam,
Decisions accepted Islam, to obey to learn crafts, clashes,
Accept, obey, until done.
State human presence.
People accepted Islam will die as accepted Islam
People die,did not accepted Islam.
Written murders
Murder punishment
Sou o único que fala português aqui 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Não 😹
@User 15 No most of us don't speak Portuguese. I can speak Portuguese but not write. Don't disrespect our flag 🇬🇼 by putting it next to the Portuguese one.
@User 15 Most of us speak Creole not Portuguese only 15% - 20% can speak Portuguese fluently
@User 15 The disrespect
Tudo que está a ser dito neste vídeo é pura mentira. Vocês quando não têm o que fazer, inventam histórias mesturados com uma série de mentiras sem nexo. É uma vergonha para esse analista que finge em estar a falar a verdade. Mentirosos 🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥🤥...
I have family in this nation, I can tell that the ones of most dangerous nation in the world. Things are worse than what he said on the video. The nation lacks an effective legal , police and justice system.
Thank you so much. It is a really tragic situation. The country is basically a failed state that has been captured by the drug trade and organised crime.