The former president of the Central African Republic (CAR), François Bozizé, is exiled in Bissau at the request of the Community of Central African States (CEMAC), sources in the Guinean government revealed today.
François Bozizé, 76, arrived in Bissau on a special flight from Chad, where he had been since 2021.
According to several analysts, Bozizé, a Christian, was leading, from Chad, a coalition of rebels trying to overthrow the current regime in CAR, led by Félix Archange Touadera.
Bozizé ruled CAR since 2003, when he overthrew Ange Felix Parasse, in a coup d’état, until he was also overthrown in another coup, by rebels led by Michel Diottadi, a Muslim, in 2013.
Since then, CAR, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been plunged into crises and coup attempts, with Bozizé suspected of being one of the main destabilizers.
Portugal and other countries are part of a force of United Nations blue helmets, MINUSCA, which tries to maintain peace in that country.
Guinean government sources explained that several African countries interceded with the president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who agreed to give asylum to Bozizé “for humanitarian reasons”. The same sources indicated that Bozizé is living in a house in the center of Bissau.
Portuguese