Africa's first narco state-Guinee Bisseau.

[panamania79 2]

The political turmoil in Guinea-Bissau cannot be blamed directly or even indirectly on "the west" and its hunger for natural resources. Contrary to some of the comments posted on Norrie MacQueen's recent Cif blog, Guinea-Bissau does not have oil, or anything else of great value to industrial nations. Its biggest export is cashew nuts. Sadly, what lies at the source of Guinea's problems is shared by many countries on the African continent.

Guinea-Bissau has been independent for 34 years and during that time it has had minimal political stability. Civil war and numerous coups have left the economy of this small west African nation in ruin and the country is listed as the fifth poorest in the world by the UN.

It is an old story. Once in power, Guinea's leaders – President João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira and the army chief, General Tagme Na Waie – jostled to shore up what they had and if possible, obtain more. In 1999, Na Waie was one of the soldiers who removed Vieira from office and forced him into exile. But Vieira returned to Guinea and won elections in 2005, and the subsequent divisions between the president and the army kept Guinea-Bissau in a permanent state of instability.

But there now emerges a much more sinister aspect to the #######-for-tat assassinations of Vieira and Na Waie in February. The timed bomb used to blow up the army chief points to outside influences, specifically the Latin American drug cartels who are using Guinea as a transit point to ship cocaine to Europe.

It is always tempting to blame former colonial powers (in Guinea-Bissau's case, Portugal) for the woes of the African countries they occupied, but this acknowledges only part of the problem. Colonisers used ancient tribal feuds and the weakness they cause to their advantage with a divide and rule strategy, and when they left, the divisons and fighting were often on a greater scale than before. Tribalism has been a factor in wars since populations first began to divide themselves into specific groups. Africa is by no means the only place where people associate themselves with their community first and their nationality second: some second- and third-generation Americans still do so, even in a country with a strong sense of collective identity and nationhood. During the colonial period, the violence was suppressed or at least controlled. After independence, few countries – and certainly not Guinea – managed to pacify these antagonisms.

Tribalism certainly played a role in the Vieira-Na Waie feud. Vieira came from the minority Pepel, coastal community. Waie and the majority of fighters in Guinea's war for independance who are now in the army, belong to the majority Balante ethnic group that dominate Guinea's hinterland.

There are growing fears that Guinea-Bissau may become Africa's first narco-state and the arrival of South America's drug barons – who are using the divide and rule tactics to great effect, as seen in February – has been immensely damaging to the country's emerging democratic credentials. These tactics are unfortunately reminiscent of those used by Guinea's European former colonisers.

Hope for Guinea-Bissau's future now lies on the shoulders of Raimundo Pereira, the former speaker of parliament who was sworn in as the country's interim president on 3 March. With international aid and support, he has promised to hold presidential elections within 60 days.

With soldiers ever-present on the streets of Bissau, there is increasing pressure for Pereira to begin reforms in the army, where 3,000 of the 4,500 soldiers are officers. But if Guinea-Bissau is to see any kind of stability in the long term, the real battle will be to put an end to the complicit drug trade.

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Guinea-Bissau · Drugs trade

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About this articleClose Caroline Sourt: Drug cartels in Guinea-Bissau are reminiscent of the country's former colonisers

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 07.00 GMT on Monday 9 March 2009. It was last updated at 07.00 GMT on Monday 9 March 2009. Ads by Google

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[peejay 327]

The USA has it's hands full with the ####### coming out of Mexico. This is somebody elses' ballyhoo. Let the Europeans grow some nuts to deal with it if it effects them.

[HAL 9000 96]

peejay at his best.

[panamania79 2]

The USA has it's hands full with the ####### coming out of Mexico. This is somebody elses' ballyhoo. Let the Europeans grow some nuts to deal with it if it effects them.

Mexico is merely a pit stop for the drugs,just like Guinee Bisseau is.

[HAL 9000 96]

The USA has it's hands full with the ####### coming out of Mexico. This is somebody elses' ballyhoo. Let the Europeans grow some nuts to deal with it if it effects them.

Mexico is merely a pit stop for the drugs,just like Guinee Bisseau is.

The cartels should talk to the Africans about smuggling the cocaine we consume in cashews. Or growing coca cashews. Then the market could expand even more and the peanut, brazil nut, almond, walnut, and hazelnut camps can get in on the protest as well.

[JODO 2]

Another failed state.