Every year on August 3, Guinea-Bissau observes Pidjiguiti Day as a national holiday. The Pidjiguiti Massacre, which took place on this day in 1959, is commemorated today.
On August 3, 1959, sailors and dockworkers who were employed by the powerful Casa Gouveia at the Pinjiguiti port in Bissau revolted and demanded better working conditions and pay increases. The Portuguese colonial authorities responded by violently suppressing them, which led to about 50 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.
Guinea-Bissau has been ruled by the Portuguese since the 1800s. A movement for national independence swept through Africa in the 1950s, and Guinea-Bissau was no exception. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (P.A.I.G.C.) was established by Amilcar Cabral in 1956. The P.A.I.G.C.’s first significant action in favour of peaceful independence was to demand a strike for better pay at the Pidjiguiti Docks in the Port of Bissau. On August 3, 1959, a sizable contingent of dockworkers joined the strike and effectively shut down the port by seizing control.
The International and State Defense Police (PIDE) launched an offensive to retake the port from the strikers after security forces stormed the gate. When they started shooting at the crowd, 50 protesters were killed and numerous others were hurt.
These actions were viewed as a turning point in the organisation of resistance to colonial power by the P.A.I.G.C. and other pro-independence activists. They quickly made the decision to forego the nonviolent strategy in favour of more proactive actions. An armed conflict started in 1963 and culminated in the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde in 1973 and 1975, respectively. A sculpture called Mo de Timba, which roughly translates to “the hand of a crook” or a “person who accrues debt and doesn’t plan to pay it back,” was erected in the port of Pinjiguiti in memory of the massacre victims.
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