Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
and a member of the
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...
Francisco Fadul
Francisco José Fadul (born 15 December 1953) is a Bissau-Guinean politician who was Prime Minister from 3 December 1998 to 19 February 2000. He led the United Social Democratic Party (PUSD), one of the country's main political parties, from 2 ...
compared Vieira to Antonio de Oliveira Salazar during a visit to Portugal on April 19, 1999, Cassamá criticized Fadul for the use of "purposely offensive, aggressive language". Following the civil war, in which Vieira was ousted, Cassamá was arrested along with Conduto de Pina in early February 2000 for allegedly inciting war and supporting foreign occupation. He was later charged with embezzlement along with a number of others who had served under Vieira, but was acquitted by the Regional Court in
Bissau
Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and ...
in early June 2003. He subsequently served as President of the PAIGC Parliamentary Group. Although PAIGC repudiated Vieira, Cassamá was among those who welcomed Vieira back to Bissau when he returned from exile on April 7, 2005.
On March 17, 2008, Cassamá presented his candidacy to stand for the post of President of PAIGC at the next party congress, saying that he could renew and reunite the party. He was considered a dissident within the party. At PAIGC's Seventh Ordinary Congress, which was held in Gabú,"7ème congrès du PAIGC à 200 km à l’est de Bissau" African Press Agency, June 26, 2008 .
Carlos Correia
Carlos Correia (6 November 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from 17 September 2015 to 12 May 2016. Previously he was Prime Minister from 27 December 1991 to 26 October 1994, from 6 ...
. His appointment as Interior Minister was considered particularly important because of the ministry's responsibility for handling the November 2008 parliamentary election. In that election, PAIGC won a majority of 67 out of 100 seats in the National People's Assembly, and Cassamá was elected to a seat as a PAIGC candidate in the 10th constituency, Safim e Prabis.
Following an alleged attack by "elements of the presidential guard" against the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai, on January 4, 2009, Tagme Na Wai accused Cassamá of ordering the attack. A presidential guard spokesman said that a rifle had accidentally gone off and that no assassination attempt had occurred. Cassamá was not included in the PAIGC government that was appointed on January 7, 2009; Lúcio Soares was appointed to replace him as Interior Minister."Novo governo na Guiné-Bissau" Panapress, January 8, 2009 .
He currently chairs the
CPLP
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and poli ...