In the early hours of 22 November 1970, six Portuguese warships
surrounded Conakry, the capital of the Republic of Guinea, on the West
African coast. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, a military
force landed on the northern and southern coasts of the sleeping city.
At the head of these men was a young Portuguese marine officer,
Commander Alpoim Calvão, who had been appointed to command this secret
operation, codenamed Green Sea - Mar Verde in Portuguese. The main
objective of the invasion was to promote a coup d'état in the former
French colony and overthrow the regime of President Sékou Touré, who
supported the guerrillas of the PAIGC (African Party for the
Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde), who were fighting for the
independence of Portuguese Guinea. The invaders also sought to destroy
the naval resources that the guerrillas and the Guinean navy had in the
port of Conakry, capture the leader of the party, Amilcar Cabral, and
rescue a group of Portuguese soldiers held in a PAIGC prison.
The incursion would not have the expected success concerning the coup
d'état, and Portugal would be condemned by international organizations
for the invasion of a sovereign state, but this operation would remain
in the memory of many as the most daring carried out during the colonial
war in Africa, although the Portuguese regime never recognized its
involvement.
