Following international condemnation and sanctions against leaders of the junta, an agreement was signed that led to the third place candidate in the election, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, being selected as interim president.

Guinea-Bissau's instability is also exacerbated as a transit point for drug shipments from Latin America to Europe[8] and allegations exist that government ministers and military personnel are bribed to keep silent.

Days before the coup, fellow Lusophone country Angola announced its forces would be ending the two-year-old Angolan Military Mission in Guinea Bissau (MISSANG)[2] that followed a similar failed effort by the European Union[1] as part of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).

[14] On 16 April, Guinea-Bissau Defense Minister Jorge Tolentino Araújo was scheduled to arrive in Angola to meet his counterpart Cândido Pereira dos Santos Van-Dúnem and the Army Chief-of-Staff Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda.

[3] The leaders of the junta released an unsigned communique[17] that read they "did not have ambitions of power" and that the coup was a reaction to the alleged agreement with Angola because the 200 military trainers would "annihilate Guinea-Bissau's armed forces.

"[19] The spokesman for the junta that took over after the coup, Lieutenant-Colonel Daha Bana na Walna later said that Gomes Júnior and Pereira were ousted because of "unease" in the armed forces over the election, a sentiment echoed by diplomats.

"[21] There was speculation on Senegal's RFM radio by reporter Noah Mankali[26] that Gomes Júnior had been assassinated by the army during the night by soldiers from the same Balanta ethnic group as Ialá Embaló.

"[28] On 14 April, Lusa journalist Antonio Aly Silva told the outlet that he had been arrested for a short while, but was later released at the same time as singer Dulce Neves and many of Gomes Junior's bodyguards.

[33] Its goals were: the removal of obstacles to reforming the security sector; fighting drug trafficking and consumption; overcoming a culture of impunity; and the continuation of enhancing the democratic process.

[34] Indjai's spokesman Daba Naualna said that Periera and Gomes Júnior were "well and alive" and added that "the [army chief-of-staff] thinks, for the sake of the country, that power cannot fall into the streets and decided to have [the military] play its part in seeking solutions with the political class to resolve this crisis.

[12] The five leading opposition candidates (Mohamed Ialá Embaló, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, Henrique Rosa, Baciro Djá, and Vicente Fernandes) announced at a joint news conference that the boycott of the second round of the election would be in the name of "justice.

[12] At an ECOWAS summit in Ivory Coast convened to discuss the Malian crisis,[17] Foreign Minister Mamadu Saliu Djaló Pires, upon learning of the events unfolding in his country, called for international support as "the situation is serious.

[36] ECOWAS constitutes a contact group, chaired by Nigeria and comprising delegations from Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Senegal and Togo, to coordinate its efforts at resolving the crisis.

[12] The United Nations Security Council (which included the former colonial mother country Portugal) unanimously condemned the coup with a resolution that stated "the forcible seizure of power from the legitimate government of Guinea-Bissau by some elements of its armed forces.

Ambassador Susan Rice, said "the [UN] Secretariat urged the international community to address the cycle of violence and impunity in Guinea-Bissau"[14] and also called for "the immediate restoration of civilian authority[19]...[We] note with profound regret that these events are occurring just prior to the launch of the campaign for the second round of the presidential election".

"[19] The UNSC unanimously voted to "restore constitutional order" in the country and approved Resolution 2048 with sanctions, including issuing travel bans on the diplomatic passports, on five members of the military junta on 18 May.

[17] The meeting was to be attended by the foreign ministers of the member countries: Angola's Georges Rebelo Chicoti, Brazil's Antonio Patriota, Guinea-Bissau's Mamadou Djalo Pires, Mozambique's Oldemiro Julio Marques Baloi and Portugal's Paulo Portas.

The CPLP later issued a statement of condemnation and also called for a UN-authorised military intervention saying that it had "take[n] the initiative of...forming an interposition force in Guinea-Bissau, with a mandate defined by the United Nations Security Council" that would seek to maintain "constitutional order, protect civilians and the country's legitimate institutions."

[47] The African Union Commission's chairperson Jean Ping said that he condemned the "outrageous acts which undermine the efforts to stabilise the situation in Guinea-Bissau and tarnish the image of the country and Africa."

"[32] Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, called the coup a "heinous and unacceptable act", adding that it would hinder security and the democratic process as it had occurred weeks before the runoff.

[49] Meanwhile, on 24 April the African Union Peace and Security Council ministerial meeting met at its headquarters in Addis Ababa to discuss matters pertaining to resolving the crisis in the country.

[12] Angolan Defense Minister Cândido Pereira dos Santos Van-Dúnem said that Angola will "continue to provide full support [to Guinea-Bissau because of] excellent ties," adding that the withdrawal date for the troops was being discussed.

[53] Timor Leste's President José Ramos-Horta said that "the situation in Guinea-Bissau, which I have followed over the years, is extraordinarily complex, dangerous, because it can degrade into more violence, and the country is not in a position to afford that new setback in the peace process and its democratisation."

[59] Canada condemned the coup;[51] while the United States' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "We call for the release of all government leaders and urge all parties to reconcile their differences through the democratic process.

At a daily press briefing, the State Department spokesman Mark Toner called on all sides of the conflict to "put down their weapons, release government leaders immediately and restore legitimate civilian leadership," adding that it "appeared the junta had taken control of media outlets, as they were off-air and the headquarters of PAIGC and were trying to restrict movement"[17] and that "we regret that they have chosen to disrupt the democratic process, which already was challenged by the opposition's call to boycott the second round of elections.

[60] In late August, the Commissioner for Natural resources, Environment and Rural Development Ibraima Dieme announced the Union had approved a loan of 15 billion CFA francs to the country for security system reforms.

The project, which had been inaugurated in July 2011, had previously stalled prior to the coup as a result of concern over political instability and an environmental impact study that had not yet been published despite passing the deadline.

The U.S. State Department's Foreign Service Officer for Guinea-Bissau Russell Hanks, who is not present in the country following the U.S. shutting its embassy during the Bissau-Guinean Civil War in 1998, said: "You will only have an impact on this transition by engagement, not by isolation.

His staff pointed to photographs of newly created stretches of road in a remote rural area near the Senegal border that had space for small planes to land and they suggested was under the supervision of the armed forces.

"[66] In response to the UNSC resolution for the restoration of civilian and constitutional rule, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Timor-Leste's José Ramos-Horta as his special representative to the country on 31 January 2013, replacing Rwanda's Joseph Mutaboba.