Guinea-Bissau expels Portuguese media, alarming expats in Portugal

The sudden order to pull three Portuguese newsrooms out of Guiné-Bissau has sent a jolt through Lisbon’s diplomatic circles and left many Portuguese-speakers wondering what is still safe to say—or even watch—inside the small West African republic. It took less than 24 hours for a routine accreditation renewal to morph into an ultimatum: pack up the cameras, shut down the transmitters and leave the country. For viewers in Portugal who rely on RTP África to follow developments in the wider Lusophone world, the blackout is more than a programming hiccup—it is a stark reminder that the region’s democratic gains remain fragile.

Why foreigners in Portugal should pay attention

With an estimated 50,000 Bissau-Guinean nationals living in Portugal and countless businesses depending on cashew imports from their homeland, political tremors in Bissau routinely ripple across the Tagus. The expulsion of Lusa, RTP and RDP means that residents in Lisbon, Porto or Faro have abruptly lost independent, Portuguese-language reporting from a country whose political volatility can disrupt trade flows, family travel plans and regional security. For newcomers still deciding where to invest or volunteer, the episode underscores how media freedom often functions as an early warning system for broader instability. When that signal goes dark, so does the most reliable barometer of rule-of-law and human-rights conditions that expatriates use to judge personal risk.

What exactly happened in Bissau?

Shortly after lunchtime last Friday, officials from the Ministry of Communication hand-delivered letters to the bureaus of the news agency Lusa and the public broadcasters RTP África and RDP África, informing them that their licenses were “revoked with immediate effect.” Technicians were instructed to disconnect transmitters, and journalists were told they had five days—until 20 August—to leave. No formal justification was offered beyond a terse reference to “national sovereignty.” Within hours, the three newsrooms issued a joint statement accusing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s government of a “deliberate attempt to silence independent voices.” The Portuguese Foreign Ministry echoed that language, calling the measure “highly censurable and unjustifiable” and summoning Bissau’s ambassador in Lisbon for explanations.

A pattern of escalating pressure on the press

This is not an isolated skirmish. Since mid-2023, Guinea-Bissau’s authorities have repeatedly switched off RTP África’s television signal, shuttered critical private stations such as Rádio Capital FM and threatened to create “listening brigades” tasked with arresting anyone who “insults” the presidency. Reporters Without Borders noted a 10-place drop in the country’s global press-freedom ranking this year, citing physical assaults on journalists, raids on newsrooms and online harassment campaigns that disproportionately target women reporters. Diplomats in Bissau fear the expulsions mark a new phase: moving from sporadic signal interference to full-scale removal of foreign correspondents, effectively shrinking the space for scrutiny in a nation already plagued by coups and narco-trafficking allegations.

Lisbon’s balancing act

Portugal finds itself in a delicate spot. Bilateral ties with Guinea-Bissau reach back to colonial times, and Lisbon still provides €20 M annually in development aid. Cutting assistance could jeopardize public-health programmes and military-training missions meant to stabilise the country. Yet doing nothing risks emboldening leaders elsewhere in the region to expel inconvenient media. The government is therefore weighing targeted visa restrictions on senior Bissau officials, a freeze on certain aid tranches and joint démarches with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), according to a senior diplomat familiar with the discussions. Meanwhile, the Portuguese Union of Journalists is urging the European External Action Service to bring the matter before the EU-Africa Partnership Council, arguing that media freedom is a prerequisite for any credible cooperation agenda.

What expats should watch for next

Airlines operating the popular Lisbon-Bissau route have not reported disruptions, but travel insurers are already flagging the risk of sudden protests if public frustration boils over. Investors in cashew processing, fisheries and telecoms should monitor whether the government widens its crackdown to local partners perceived as too close to Portuguese media. The more immediate concern for the diaspora is information itself: with independent newsrooms gone, social-media rumours will likely fill the vacuum. Observers advise cross-checking any viral claims with regional outlets such as Jeune Afrique or DW Africa until, or unless, the Portuguese teams are allowed back. In the meantime, the expulsions serve as a cautionary tale: in countries where a broadcast license can be revoked overnight, the safest plan—whether you run a business or simply want to stay informed—is to keep multiple, trusted sources on speed dial.