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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001328 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, INR/AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2019 
TAGS: PRL PBTS PU SG
SUBJECT: BORDER TENSIONS BETWEEN SENEGAL AND GUINEA-BISSAU 
 
REF: AMBASSADOR MARCIA S. BERNICAT FOR REASONS 1.5 B/D. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Tension is growing along the border 
between Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, although both governments 
insist there is no conflict.  Nevertheless, there is a 
dispute over the use of land near the tourist area of Cap 
Skiring in a place called Cap Roxo.  The Senegalese were a 
no-show at a meeting the GOGB had proposed take place on 
October 22, but the two sides are scheduled to meet on 
October 24.  In the interim, the GOGB has sent approximately 
700 soldiers to reinforce its armed forces near the border. 
End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In spite of several public comments from 
Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha, and the personal 
assurances of newly appointed Senegalese Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Madicke Niang to the Ambassador that the border 
dispute between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau is much ado about 
nothing, tension is growing along the border between the two 
countries.  Numerous press reports and Embassy contacts 
confirm that the Bissau-Guinean armed forces have been sent 
to the border area as a result of a dispute involving land 
that belongs to Guinea-Bissau, but has long been cultivated 
by Senegalese peasants.  According to numerous sources, the 
proximate cause of the dispute revolves around plans by 
Belgian investors to build a hotel on a small piece of land 
on the coast near the tourist destination of Cap Skiring in 
Senegal (home to a temporarily closed Club Med resort).  The 
area, known as Cap Roxo (or Cabo Roxo), is more easily 
accessible from the Senegalese side of the border, somewhat 
analogous to the relationship of Baja California to the rest 
of Mexico. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ostensibly, Senegalese cultivation of the land was 
not a problem due to the cross-border family and ethnic ties 
of the people in the area.  In spite of this habitual land 
use, the central government of Senegal agrees that the land 
in question belongs to Guinea-Bissau, according to Foreign 
Minister Niang comments to the Ambassador and PolCouns on 
October 19.  He and his Chief of Staff, Ambassador Mankeur 
Ndiaye, assured the Ambassador that there was no dispute, 
with the Minister going as far as to say, "These Senegalese 
are wrong."  However, local Senegalese (it is not clear who) 
reportedly gave authorization to the Belgian developers to 
build a hotel.  As a result, the local Bissau-Guinean 
provincial governor reportedly went to Cap Roxo to reassert 
his country,s sovereignty.  (Note: Some sources have made 
the conflicting claim the problem is actually that Senegalese 
peasants, who have cultivated the fields in this area for 
generations, object to Bissau-Guinean authorities permitting 
investors from building a hotel on the land in question.  End 
note.) 
 
¶4.  (C) Miguel Sousa, a Portuguese political officer serving 
in the European Union (EU) Security Sector Reform (SSR) 
Mission in Guinea-Bissau, told Political Counselor that he 
had been informed by senior Bissau-Guinean officers that 
their government deployed approximately 700 troops near the 
border.  Sousa said newly confirmed Armed Forces Chief of 
Staff Naval Captain Zamora Induta personally oversaw the 
assembling of troops in the town of Sao Vincente in the north 
of Guinea-Bissau, organized a parade and gave a speech 
explaining to them that their duty as soldiers was to protect 
the motherland.  As a result of this buildup, Bissau-Guineans 
in the area reportedly fled south into their country and 
Senegalese in the area moved north into theirs.  In addition, 
Guinea-Bissau has reportedly begun controlling the border, 
inspecting people's travel documents and, in some cases, 
detaining people. 
 
¶5.  (C) On the Senegalese side of the border, a USAID locally 
employed staff member and his German development cooperation 
counterpart both reported a significant rise in tension in 
the Casamance capital of Ziguinchor.  Underscoring the level 
of concern, both commented that people in Ziguinchor were 
more worried about the emerging border dispute than the 
recent escalation in violence between the Movement of 
Democratic Forces in the Casamance.  However, in spite of 
this tension, Embassy sources report that the GOS has not 
ordered an increase in the number of troops in the Casamance. 
 (Comment: It is worth noting that there is already a 
contingent of 2,500 to 3,000 Senegalese troops in the region 
due to the ongoing conflict with the separatist MFDC 
movement.  Moreover, Senegal's forces are already stretched 
thin due to peacekeeping deployments and the additional 
 
DAKAR 00001328  002 OF 002 
 
 
deployment of forces along the border with Guinea (Conakry). 
End comment.) 
 
Senegalese and Bissau-Guinean Governments in Talks 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Both governments have been at pains to insist that 
there is no dispute over the demarcation.  Bissau-Guinean 
Defense Minister Artur da Silva visited Dakar on October 14 
in an attempt to quickly resolve the matter.  However, the 
governors of the Kolda and Casamance regions of Senegal 
failed to meet their GOGB counterparts on October 22 in the 
town of Sao Domingo in Guinea-Bissau to discuss the issue. 
The Embassy was told the GOS representatives did not attend 
the meeting because the GOGB proposed the date and location 
for the encounter, but did not bother to wait for a 
confirmation.  Consequently, the two sides were scheduled to 
meet in Bissau on October 24. 
 
There's More at Stake than Farms and a Hotel 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) There is another element to the border dispute. 
Guinea-Bissau has sued Senegal twice in the International 
Court of Justice over the demarcation of the maritime 
boundary.  At stake are the rights to oil offshore. 
Apparently the exact demarcation of the border in Cap Roxo 
could have a significant impact on determining the share to 
which either country is entitled. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment: While Senegal heretofore has not appeared to 
take the dispute very seriously, it is clear that the 
Bissau-Guineans do.  While the prospect of armed conflict 
between the two armed forces seems to be low, there is a risk 
nonetheless given the heightened state of alert and ongoing 
operations of the Senegalese armed forces against a recently 
resurgent MFDC.  To wit, on the same day that the two 
countries, governors were supposed to meet in Sao Domingo, 
the Senegalese army engaged MFDC rebels not far away just 
south of Ziguinchor.  Moreover, if it turns out that 
Bissau-Guinean army deserters have taken up arms with MFDC 
rebels as has been alleged (septel), the scope for tensions 
potentially boiling over into something more violent would 
grow. 
BERNICAT