Military Coup Is Apparently Bloodless
Soldiers seized control of the tiny West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, accusing President Kumba Yalla of violating the constitution. Gen. Verissimo Correia Seabra declared himself interim president after the apparently bloodless dawn putsch.
Guinea-Bissau, about three times the size of Los Angeles County, is one of the poorest nations. Its 1.3 million people scrape by on about $170 a year each. The former Portuguese colony has been gripped by an economic crisis since a 1998-99 army revolt. Yalla, a former philosophy professor, came to power in 2000 after a vote designed to end chronic unrest.
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