Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau: The Land of Coups and Gumbe
Guinea-Bissau is the African country with the most coups per capita. This small country of 2 million inhabitants, wedged between Senegal and Guinea, has experienced four successful coups since 1980, several attempts, and chronic instability. Drug trafficking — Colombian cocaine transiting through Bissau to Europe — has corroded the state. But behind this chaos lies a Creole people who dance the gumbe and refuse to despair.
The Narco State
Guinea-Bissau became a drug trafficking hub in the 2000s. Latin American cartels corrupted the army, police and politicians. Planes loaded with cocaine landed on clandestine airstrips. The legal economy — mainly cashew nuts — cannot compete with drug money. The state is ghostly, infrastructure non-existent.
The Ubuntu Strength: Creoleness and Carnival
Guinea-Bissau is a Creole country — Kriol is the lingua franca, a blend of Portuguese and African languages. This Creole identity transcends ethnic groups (Balanta, Fula, Manjack). The Bissau carnival, with its masks and dances, is an explosion of joy. Gumbe — music born in the working-class neighbourhoods — makes the whole country dance. Family solidarity compensates for the absence of the state.
« Fidju di terra ka ta perde si raiz »
The child of the land does not lose his roots
— Proverb kriol
Guinea-Bissau teaches us that joy can survive chaos, and that music is sometimes the only government that works.