Killing of Guinea-Bissau rapper sends opposition underground

In the months before opposition activist and rapper Vigario Luis Balanta was beaten to death and his body dumped in a field outside the capital of Guinea-Bissau, his wife begged him to keep a low profile.

Balanta's killing in March sent shockwaves through the political movement he founded in the West African country, which has been under military rule since late November. The new leaders of his movement have gone underground as they seek ways to end the cycle of coups and violence since independence from Portugal in 1974.

"I was constantly asking him to lie low, so it wouldn't reach this point that it reached," his wife Dulce told Reuters during an interview. The couple had two children together, aged 8 and 11.

On the night of his killing, Dulce thought her husband was hiding with friends - as he often did after public events such as the lengthy radio interview he had given days earlier - or that he had been arrested. But the next morning, she grew alarmed after her calls went unanswered.

"I saw them all crying, so I asked 'what's wrong?' I thought they captured him, and beat him a lot," she said, recalling a previous incident in which unknown men came to the house, took him away and beat him.

"But when I entered, I saw a dead body, and I haven't been able to get the traumatic image out of my mind."

Po' di Terra has accused the military-led government of protecting his killers. The government condemned the killing and said that it is investigating and cannot comment further until it has finished.

The government has said it took power to stop drug traffickers seizing a country that has long been a major cocaine transport hub. Opposition presidential contender Fernando Dias, 47, said the takeover derailed an election that he was poised to win.

Balanta, who was 32 at the time of his death, was known for rap music that described the challenges of growing up in a poor country with few opportunities, appealing to young people frustrated with constant political unrest in Guinea-Bissau.

"He was the only person who had the courage and audacity to speak out openly about political and social issues," said Emilio Lima Betungut, a childhood friend and member of the Po' di Terra political movement that Balanta created in 2023.

The name roughly translates to "natives of the land" in Guinean Portuguese.

After military officers seized power last November, just a day before election results were scheduled, authorities tightened control. Nigeria offered Dias protection at its embassy as authorities arrested opposition figures, raided radio stations, briefly closing their offices, and banned public protests, unauthorized press conferences and other forms of dissent.

Balanta spoke out all the same, including to Reuters, during a demonstration in December.

A spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office said it was following the case of his killing and urging the government to bring those responsible to justice.