João Bernardo Vieira

President of Guinea-Bissau

27 April 1939 Bissau, Portuguese Guinea

2 March 2009(2009-03-02) (69) Bissau, Guinea-Bissau

1 October 2005 – 2 March 2009

2nd President of Guinea-Bissau (1984-99, 2005-09) In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Bernardo and the second or paternal family name is Vieira. João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira (Portuguese pronunciation:  ; 27 April 1939 – 2 March 2009) was a Bissau-Guinean politician who was the President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1984, for the second time from 1984 to 1999, and for the third time from 2005 to 2009. After seizing power in 1980, Vieira ruled for 19 years, and he won a multiparty presidential election in 1994. He was ousted at the end of the 1998–1999 civil war and went into exile. He made a political comeback in 2005, winning that year's presidential election. Vieira was killed by soldiers on 2 March 2009, apparently in retaliation for a bomb blast that killed Guinea-Bissau's military chief General Batista Tagme Na Waie hours before. The military officially denied these allegations after unidentified Army officials claimed responsibility of Vieira for Na-Waie's death. Vieira described himself as "God's gift" to Guinea-Bissau during his tenure in office.