Dili, Feb. 11, 2026 (Lusa) - The high-level mission team from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to Guinea-Bissau will arrive in Bissau on 18 February, Timorese Foreign Minister Bendito Freitas told Lusa on Wednesday.
"The good offices delegation left today, our national director with the CPLP, Joaquim Fernandes, has already left for Portugal with his legal adviser. There they will carry out technical coordination with the Guinea-Bissau embassy in Lisbon to assess the preparations before moving on to Guinea-Bissau," said the minister.
Bendito Freitas, speaking to Lusa at the end of the Cabinet meeting, said that the departure for Guinea-Bissau was initially scheduled for 17 February, but the trip was rescheduled for the 18th due to the unavailability of flights.
According to a decree signed by the Timorese President on Monday, the mission will be in Guinea-Bissau until 21 February and will be led by Timor-Leste's defence minister, Donaciano do Rosário Gomes.
"Today I also sent a letter to the minister of foreign affairs of Guinea-Bissau, in my capacity as cabinet office minister of the CPLP, requesting support for the meetings," said the Timorese minister.
The high-level CPLP mission is expected to meet with Guinea-Bissau's minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, the military high command, civil society and other entities.
Bendito Freitas acknowledged that coordinating the work has been very difficult, since all communication is done through the Guinea-Bissau embassy in Lisbon and the embassies of the CPLP countries currently represented in Guinea-Bissau, namely Portugal, Brazil, Cabo Verde and Angola.
"These embassies are ready to provide logistical support and coordinate the work when our team arrives, because we have no diplomatic representation in the country," the minister acknowledged.
The delegation is composed of 15 members, including four from Angola, two from São Tomé and Príncipe and the rest from Timor-Leste.
Bendito Freitas added that the mission's objective is to help overcome the institutional crisis, promote a return to democratic normality, respect for the Constitution and ensure the rights and well-being of the population.
In December, Timor-Leste assumed the presidency of the CPLP, which was withdrawn from Guinea-Bissau following a summit of heads of state and government after the coup d'état in that country on 26 November, which deposed the president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló and interrupted the electoral process, preventing the results of the 23 November general elections from being announced.
On 10 December, the Timorese government appointed the Minister of State Administration, Tomás Cabral, and the defence minister, Donaciano do Rosário Gomes, to include them in the Portuguese-speaking organisation's mediation mission to monitor the situation arising from the coup d'état and the interruption of the electoral process.
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