1960s
65-774: Operation Trident may refer to: Operation Trident (1963) , a military operation during the Portuguese Colonial War in Guinea in 1964 Operation Trident (1971) , an operation of the Indian Navy that attacked Karachi, Pakistan Operation Trident (Metropolitan Police) , a Metropolitan Police Service unit dealing with gun crime in London See also [ edit ] Operation Green Trident Trident Conference (1943 Allied Conference) Topics referred to by
130-550: A Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde , PAIGC ) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau . Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal , the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was one of the belligerents in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence . Towards the end of the war, the party established a socialist one-party state , which remained intact until multi-party democracy
195-482: A National Assembly. Whilst previous elections held by the Portuguese authorities saw suffrage limited to a few thousand people meeting tax and literacy requirements, these were arguably the first elections held in the territory under universal suffrage . Voters were presented with a list of PAIGC candidates, and had the choice to vote for or against. Around 78,000 people took part in the election, with 97% voting for
260-707: A dissident within the party and associated with Aristides Gomes), and Baciro Dja also contested the leadership election, but attracted comparatively little support. After Kabi dismissed the directors of customs, taxes and the treasury on 25 July 2008 without notifying the party, the PAIGC decided to withdraw from the three-party stability pact that was signed in March 2007. Vieira then dismissed Kabi and appointed Carlos Correia as prime minister on 5 August. Parliamentary elections were subsequently held in November 2008, with
325-428: A good command of the terrain, in such a way as to ensure their protection and to achieve rapid displacements that allow them to reinforce their positions when they were attacked by the Portuguese. This also allowed the guerrillas to isolate and besiege of small nuclei of Portuguese forces that had landed. Thus, in the beginning of the operation the guerrillas were to an extent able defend their positions, but they also took
390-410: A large quantity of material, whilst being forced to withdraw and that As was still a liberated area dominated by the PAIGC. In fact, the Portuguese forces suffered 9 killed and 47 wounded and 193 soldiers were evacuated to the hospital of Bissau due to disease reasons. However, the main consequence of this operation was the strategic change that was carried out in the political and military leadership of
455-429: A new campaign against the guerrillas with the arrival of the new governor of the colony, António de Spínola . Spínola began a massive construction campaign, building schools , hospitals , new housing and improving telecommunications and the road system, in an attempt to gain public favour in Guinea. PAIGC was the first African party to establish a comprehensive cooperative program with Sweden . However, in 1970,
520-516: A party congress in September 1999 for "treasonable offences, support and incitement to warfare, and practices incompatible with the statutes of the party". Francisco Benante , the leader of reformists within the party and the only civilian in the transitional military junta, was elected as the President of PAIGC at the end of the congress on 9 September 1999. Benante's candidacy was supported by
585-721: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Operation Trident (1963) 1970s Operation Trident ( Portuguese : Operação Tridente ) was a combined military operation of the Portuguese Army , Navy and Air Force during the Portuguese Colonial War in Guinea in January 1964. The operation's goal was to eliminate the PAIGC guerrilla and occupy
650-1146: The 1980 coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau, the Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC was converted into a separate party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde . The party was established in Bissau on 19 September 1956 as the African Party of Independence ( Partido Africano da Independência ), and was based on the Movement for the National Independence of Portuguese Guinea ( Movimento para Independência Nacional da Guiné Portuguesa ) founded in 1954 by Henri Labéry and Amílcar Cabral . The party had six founding members; Cabral, his brother Luís , Aristides Pereira , Fernando Fortes, Júlio Almeida and Elisée Turpin. Rafael Paula Barbosa became its first president, whilst Amílcar Cabral
715-425: The PAIGC guerrilla group had been established since the beginning of this year in the islands of Caiar, Como and Catunco, which constituted the most important guerrilla base, from which it was difficult to navigate to the southernmost part of the territory, at the same time that it constituted as a fundamental point of support for the replenishments, even because it was an important region in the production of rice and
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#1732782406630780-571: The People's Republic of China , with all three countries helping train guerrilla troops. SFR Yugoslavia sent a small cache of weapons to PAIGC in 1966. The first party congress took place at liberated Cassaca in February 1964, in which both the political and military arms of the PAIGC were assessed and reorganized, with a regular army ( Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People , FARP) to supplement
845-671: The Tricontinental Conference 1966 in Havana and made a great impression on Fidel Castro . As a result of this, Cuba agreed to supply artillery experts, doctors and technicians to assist in the independence struggle. The head of the Cuban Military Mission was Víctor Dreke . In the context of the ongoing Cold War , PAIGC guerrillas also received Kalashnikovs from the USSR and recoilless rifles from
910-540: The CONCP. Armed struggle against the Portuguese began in March 1962 with an abortive attack by PAIGC guerrillas on Praia . Guerrilla warfare was largely concentrated to the mainland Guinea, however, as logistical reasons prevented an armed struggle on the Cape Verde islands. On the Cape Verde islands PAIGC worked in a clandestine manner. After being nearly crippled militarily, Amílcar Cabral ordered that sabotage be
975-505: The Cape Verdean Cabral in November 1980. The Cape Verdean branch of PAIGC was subsequently converted into a separate party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Under Vieira, the party continued to govern the country in the 1980s and 1990s. One-party elections were held in 1984 and 1989 , and Vieira was re-elected as PAIGC Secretary-General at the party's fourth congress in November 1986. Following
1040-452: The Como archipelago which, since 1963, had been occupied by the PAIGC . The operation has been divided into three phases: Operation Trident was launched towards the end of 1963, with the aim of eliminating the guerrilla presence in the southern Como archipelago , where it had been installed. Formed by the islands of Como, Caiar and Catunco, the archipelago was considered by the guerrillas as
1105-643: The FAP began to use similar weapons to those the US was using in the Vietnam War : napalm and defoliants , the former to destroy guerrillas when they could find them, the latter to decrease the number of ambushes that occurred when they could not. Spínola's tenure as governor marked a turning point in the war: Portugal began to win battles, and in the Operation Green Sea , a Portuguese raid on Conakry , in
1170-576: The National People's Assembly after being beaten by the PRS and the Resistance of Guinea-Bissau-Bafatá Movement . The 2004 legislative elections saw the PAIGC regain its position as the largest party, winning 45 of 100 seats. In May 2004 it formed a government with party leader, Carlos Gomes Júnior becoming prime minister. In the 2005 presidential election , PAIGC candidate Malam Bacai Sanhá
1235-622: The Overseas Administration, Silva Cunha, the opinion that the war in Guinea was lost, which had made a very bad impression on some members of the Government. Therefore, Operation Trident also served as a demonstration of military initiative on the part of Louro de Sousa. Despite the planning and effort developed, the truth is that Portuguese forces had not been able to completely eradicate the guerrillas in Como, although they had significantly limited their ability to operate in
1300-764: The PAIGC leadership to resort to armed struggle against the Portuguese, and in September 1959 the party established a new headquarters in Conakry in neighbouring Guinea . In 1961, the PAIGC combined with the Mozambican FRELIMO and Angolan MPLA to establish the Conference of Nationalist Organizations of the Portuguese Colonies (CONCP), a common party to coordinate the struggles for independence of Portuguese colonies across Africa. The three groups were often represented at international events by
1365-541: The PAIGC winning two-thirds of the seats. In presidential elections the following year, Sanhá defeated Kumba Ialá in the run-off. After Sanhá's death in January 2012, early presidential elections were held. Carlos Gomes Júnior was nominated as the PAIGC candidate, and advanced to the runoff alongside Iála, but a military coup in April prevented it taking place. General elections were eventually held in 2014, and saw PAIGC candidate José Mário Vaz elected president, whilst
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#17327824066301430-506: The PAIGC would retake the island, as the Portuguese operation to capture it had depleted much of their invasion force, leaving the island vulnerable. However, Como Island ceased to be of strategic importance to Portugal following establishment of new PAIGC positions in the south, especially on the Cantanhez and Quitafine Peninsulas . Large numbers of Portuguese troops on these peninsulas were encircled and besieged by guerrillas. Throughout
1495-577: The PAIGC's main weapon until military strength could be regained. On 23 January 1963 the PAIGC started the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence by attacking a Portuguese garrison in Tite . Frequent attacks in the north also took place. In that same month, attacks on police stations in Fulacunda and Buba were carried out not only by the PAIGC but also by the FLING . In January 1966, Amílcar Cabral attended
1560-399: The Portuguese didn't try to sever the link between the populace and the PAIGC until very late in the war, and as a result, it became very dangerous for Portuguese troops to operate far from their fortresses. By 1967, the PAIGC had carried out 147 attacks on Portuguese barracks and army encampments, and effectively controlled two-thirds of Portuguese Guinea . The following year, Portugal began
1625-559: The Portuguese forces, which was vital if the Portuguese wanted to win the war. On 17 March, the Special Marines Detachment 7 carried out another action in the Cametonco area, because there were indications that some elements of the PAIGC, who had fled from the island of Como, were continued to collaborate with the guerrilla forces. According to these data, it was decided to carry out an operation which consisted, in
1690-441: The aim of eliminating the presence of guerrilla groups and occupy their positions in the region; in the second phase the main objective was to prevent the guerrillas from fleeing abroad from the small theatre of operations installed on those three islands; finally, in the third phase, the purpose was to occupy the island of Como and psychologically recover the population that until then covered the PAIGC. The operation involved all of
1755-510: The air force. These were two advantages that the guerrillas did not have. For the operation the Portuguese Air Force used in addition to helicopters, F-86 Sabre fighters, T-6 Texan light-attack aircraft, Lockheed P-2 Neptune maritime patrol planes, and transport planes. During the operation, one plane was shot down and six others hit (5 T-6 and 1 C-47). The plane in question was a T-6 piloted by Alferes João Santos Pite, and
1820-415: The apprehension of school books, passbooks and two canghangs in poor condition, of which the highlight was the destruction of about fifty tons of rice and the slaughter of cattle. Harming the supplies of the guerrillas, had a serious psychological effect on the way that the locals viewed the guerrillas in their fight against the Portuguese forces. Thereby reducing the possibility of them siding with and aiding
1885-410: The area. Despite the enormous difficulties they faced in confronting Portuguese forces, the guerrillas were able to resist, not abandoning the island and the same can be said of the population. Shortly after the end of the operation, the island was visited by a delegation of the party leadership headed by Luís Cabral, who traveled the island to know how the battle had run and what needs the inhabitants and
1950-466: The armed conflict in Guineas, like Revolutionary War, of Hermes de Araújo Oliveira, published in 1962. In addition, the guerrillas had the support of the population and the terrain was favourable to the guerrilla with several forest areas very closed, surrounded by marshy lands with accesses easy to control by the guerrillas. In this way, the approach to the woods was done in a very exposed way, controlling
2015-500: The cattle raising. Portuguese military leaders believed that the PAIGC had some of its chiefs on the islands, as well as deposits of military equipment, air-raid shelters and a large number of automatic weapons, assumptions that proved to be wrong during the Operation 10. Louro de Sousa was reportedly seeking to carry out an operation "in force on the three islands", divided into three phases: firstly, by landings on those islands, with
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2080-572: The different branches of the Armed Forces, with the Army having the largest share of the shares, with the Air Force and Navy having the task of supporting the forces on the ground, both logistic and fire support, in the case of the means aerial We will be analysing the ground troops, which also involved special detachments of special Marines that would be under the command of the ground forces after
2145-450: The end of the eleven-year war. After achieving independence, the PAIGC was instituted as the sole legal political party of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, with Luís Cabral becoming President of Guinea-Bissau. A second set of one-party elections were held in 1976 and 1977. Although the PAIGC strove for a union between Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, the union finally broke down following a military coup led by João Bernardo Vieira against
2210-458: The establishment of authority administrative. After an initial intervention by the Portuguese Air Force , the Portuguese forces landed without meeting any kind of serious resistance in five places of the archipelago, between 15 and 17 of January. The first two intervention groups disembarked on the 15th. Group A disembarked in Caiar , in the south of the island, and then advanced to the tabanca with
2275-442: The first liberated region of Guiné, having the guerrillas founded in the Como, called Independent Republic of the Como , in a clear challenge to the Portuguese authorities. Therefore, the Portuguese military action was mainly aimed at dislodging the guerrilla from the three islands, in order to guarantee Portuguese sovereignty again. At the level of the general strategy of the conflict, the implementation of this broad military action
2340-569: The guerrilla forces (The People's Guerrillas). The party also founded a Pilot School in Conakry in this period, led by Lilica Boal from 1969 onward, with the goal of educating young fighters and war orphans. Como Island was the site of a major battle between PAIGC and Portuguese forces, in which the PAIGC took control of the island and resisted fierce counterattacks by the Portuguese, including airstrikes by FAP (Portuguese: Força Aérea Portuguesa ; Portuguese Air Force) F-86 Sabres . Following
2405-546: The guerrilla's defensive capacity, the Commander-in-Chief, General Louro de Sousa, believed that it should not to oppose the landing and occupation of the islands. On the other hand, there would be too much confidence in the technical and military superiority of the Portuguese Armed Forces . Although the number of guerrillas on the islands was unknown, ground troops had the support of the navy and
2470-414: The guerrillas had. The result of the operation would be used extensively by the PAIGC in its internal and external propaganda. This can see this in an interview that Amílcar Cabral gives in 1969 to Tricontinental magazine in Conakry , where he comments on the battle as a great victory for his movement. Cabral says that the Portuguese troops numbered around 3,000 men and that they had lost 900 soldiers and
2535-406: The guerrillas the accesses, which made it very difficult for the Portuguese troops to penetrate the forest. These factors obviously hindered a large-scale conventional operation, with no guarantee of effective victory over the guerrillas. The Directive establishing and organising the operation was issued on 23 December 1963 by the Commander-in-Chief of Guinea. According to the Portuguese information,
2600-497: The hands of the guerrilla forces, may mean that the hope of regaining these populations would be diminished or assumed to be out of the question by Portuguese forces, thereby attempting to minimise their support for PAIGC. One of the main shortcomings of the operation was the lack of sufficiently credible information on the presence of PAIGC in the region. It was assumed that the guerrillas were in an unfavourable psychological situation and, despite assuming insufficient information about
2665-483: The initiative and launched some offensive actions against the Portuguese. On 10 March the Special Marines Detachment and the Third Combat Group of Cavalry Company 488 made a surprise landing, striking in the areas of Cumule , Caiar , Tabanca Velha and Camuntudu , imprisoning or eliminating any elements of the guerrilla detected. However, the results obtained were much lower than expected, in addition to
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2730-566: The introduction of multi-party politics in May 1991, the first multi-party elections were held in 1994. The general elections also saw the introduction of the direct election of the president. Vieira beat Kumba Ialá of the Party for Social Renewal (PRS) in the run-off, while the PAIGC won 62 out of 100 seats in the National People's Assembly with 46% of the vote. Vieira was re-elected for another four-year term as President of PAIGC in mid-May 1998 at
2795-404: The junta, and he received 174 votes against 133 votes for the only opposing candidate. General elections were held in November 1999, with a presidential runoff on 16 January 2000. The elections saw the PAIGC lose power for the first time as PAIGC candidate Malam Bacai Sanhá lost to PRS leader Ialá in the presidential elections, whilst the PAIGC were reduced to being the third-largest party in
2860-417: The landings. As planned by the Commander-in-Chief, three cavalry companies, one of hunters and three detachments of special marines, would participate in the field. The objectives outlined for these units were, landing with the help of the special Marines and occupation of the islands, seeking to recover the populations later, controlling the resources used by the guerrillas, and finally creating conditions for
2925-399: The lists. On 20 January 1973 Amílcar Cabral, was assassinated by naval commander Inocêncio Kani as part of a plan within the PAIGC to overthrow the leadership. However, despite Cabral's death, the plot failed to topple the leadership, and 94 people were subsequently found guilty of involvement, complicity or suspected complicity. Kani and at least ten others were executed in March. Later in
2990-527: The loss of Como Island, the Portuguese army , navy and the air force (FAP) began the Operation Trident , a combined arms operation to retake the island . The PAIGC fought fiercely, and the Portuguese took heavy casualties and gained ground slowly. Finally, after 71 days of fighting and 851 FAP combat sorties, the island was taken back by the Portuguese. However, less than two months later,
3055-451: The neighbouring Republic of Guinea , 400 amphibious troops attacked the city and freed 26 Portuguese prisoners of war kept there by the PAIGC. The USSR and Cuba began to send more weapons to Portuguese Guinea via Nigeria , notably several Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft to use as bombers. Between August and November 1972 the party held elections to regional councils, whose members then elected
3120-553: The next two days the other three Portuguese groups landed without encountering resistance, thereby completing the siege of the guerrillas. The fighting, however, was intensifying in the Cauane area and conditions on the ground were become increasingly adverse for Portuguese forces. The Portuguese also face other problems that logistics were not prepared for. Due to the lack of fresh water on the island, Portuguese troops were forced to dig wells only to obtain poor quality brackish water, and
3185-457: The party's sixth congress, with 438 votes in favor, eight opposed, and four abstaining; the post of Secretary-General was abolished at this congress. An outbreak of civil war in June 1998 eventually led to the ousting of Vieira in May 1999. A few days later, former Prime Minister Manuel Saturnino da Costa was named acting President of the PAIGC on 12 May 1999. Vieira was expelled from PAIGC at
3250-404: The same name. They arrived at the tabanca the next day, after a painful march, but they found that the village had been abandoned. Group B landed in the southern part of the island of Como, and advanced to Cauane, where the soldiers encountered resistance. After the fighting, the guerrillas took refuge in the woods, but they were then dislodged from their position by the marines of Detachment 8. Over
3315-430: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Operation Trident . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Trident&oldid=933286632 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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#17327824066303380-433: The same way as the previous one, of a surprise landing with the purpose of imprisoning or eliminating the enemy elements found, by means of a siege and strike in said tabanca, where the Special Marines Detachment 7, a Parachute Squad, a Special Marines Detachment Section 2, and a fula guide should stay overnight, "to destroy anything that could provide shelter or supplies to the enemy and which can not be recovered." The mission
3445-582: The soldiers also suffered from having poor food and from having to operate in the intense heat under the African Sun. Almost halfway through the operation, on 9 February, the Operation Trident Command presented a situation analysis. This analysed the reaction of the guerrillas to the activity of the Portuguese forces, which led to the presentation of new plans. The guerrillas were characterised as numerous, well armed and educated, with
3510-528: The territory, with the dismissal of Louro de Sousa and Vasco Rodrigues, Commander-in-Chief and Governor, respectively, single person, as had already happened in the time of Peixoto Correia. Arnaldo Schultz was the military man chosen for these functions, having arrived in Bissau on 20 May 1964, about two months after the end of Operation Trident. PAIGC The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( Portuguese : Partido Africano para
3575-432: The three parties sought to form a new government. This led to a successful no-confidence vote against Aristides Gomes and his resignation late in the month; on 9 April Martinho Ndafa Kabi , the choice of the three parties, was appointed prime minister by Vieira, and on 17 April a new government was named, composed of ministers from the three parties. PAIGC withdrew its backing for Kabi on 29 February 2008, stating that this
3640-476: The war, the Portuguese handled themselves poorly. It took them a long time to finally take the PAIGC seriously, diverting aircraft and troops based in Guinea to the conflicts in Mozambique and Angola, and by the time that the Portuguese government began to realise that the PAIGC was a significant threat to their continued rule over Guinea, it was too late. Very little was done to curtail the guerrilla operations;
3705-498: The year independence was unilaterally declared on 24 September 1973 and was recognized by a 93–7 UN General Assembly vote in November, unprecedented as it denounced the Portuguese colonial rule as aggression and occupation. The UN recognition was prior to Portuguese recognition. The conflict had seen 1,875 Portuguese soldiers (out of 35,000 stationed in Portuguese Guinea) and some 6,000 (out of 10,000) PAIGC troops killed by
3770-419: Was appointed secretary-general. The Pidjiguiti massacre in 1959 saw Portuguese soldiers open fire on protesting dockworkers, killing 50. The massacre caused a large segment of the population to swing towards the PAIGC's push for independence, although the Portuguese authorities still considered the movement to be irrelevant, and took no serious action in trying to suppress it. However, the massacre convinced
3835-467: Was completed around 10 o'clock on the morning of the 18th, but the results obtained can not be considered relevant since, in addition to eliminating an element that tried to escape, only small material was captured: six cartridges of 7.9 mm; two 9 mm shells; three projectiles of 20 mm; three catanas; in addition to the slaughter of about 150 cattle and 300 other livestock animals. The destruction of local people's livelihoods, which are largely in
3900-401: Was completely mismatch from the military point of view and, above all, from the political point of view. In military terms, conventional war operations are not applicable to subversive and irregular warfare, mainly because guerrilla forces do not act as a conventional army, as evidenced in several manuals on the subject, including Portuguese ones, including works written before of the beginning of
3965-512: Was defeated in the second round by Vieira, who had returned from exile and ran as an independent. A few weeks after taking office, Vieira dismissed Carlos Gomes Júnior as prime minister and appointed Aristides Gomes , who had formerly been a high-ranking member of PAIGC but had left the party to support Vieira. In March 2007, the PAIGC formed a three-party alliance with the PRS and the United Social Democratic Party as
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#17327824066304030-451: Was done "to avoid acts of indiscipline threatening cohesion and unity in the party". The PAIGC's seventh Ordinary Congress was held in Gabú in June 2008. Malam Bacai Sanhá, the party's presidential candidate in 2000 and 2005, challenged Gomes for the party leadership, but Gomes was re-elected for a five-year term as President of PAIGC by a vote of 578–355. Kabi, Cipriano Cassama (considered
4095-505: Was introduced in the early 1990s. Although the party won the first multi-party elections in 1994, it was removed from power in the 1999–2000 elections . However, it returned to office after winning parliamentary elections in 2004 and presidential elections in 2005, since which it has remained the largest party in the National People's Assembly . The PAIGC also governed Cape Verde , from its independence in 1975 to 1980. After
4160-524: Was killed in late January in the Cauane area, while participating with another T-6, piloted by Captain Gomes do Amaral. Everything indicates that Pité was directly hit by ground fire, and quickly lost control of the plane. The Portuguese Armed Forces were not yet fully prepared for counterinsurgency warfare, which led the high command to try to fight the war using conventional tactics and methods. The operation
4225-538: Was motivated by political reasons rather than military reasons. The guerrillas declaring the archipelago liberated zone of Portuguese colonial power, a situation that was intolerable for the Portuguese authorities. However, Louro de Sousa was, by that time, in a very weak position in relation to political power in Lisbon . A few months earlier, the Commander-in-Chief of Guinea had told the Undersecretary of State for
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