Peace Without Poison

From 1951 to 1968, when Guinea-Bissau was still a Portuguese colony and was calledPortuguese Guinea, its colonial administrators subjected the people to covert depopulationmeasures. The governors responsible for this program of covert sterilization are as follows:Raimundo António Rodrigues Serrão (1951-1953), Diogo António José Leite Pereira de Melo eAlvim (1954-1956), Álvaro Rodrigues da Silva Tavares (1957-1958), António Augusto PeixotoCorreia (1959-1962), Vasco António Martínez Rodrigues (1962-1965), and Arnaldo Schulz(1965-1968). They succeeded in lowering the total fertility rate of the Guinean people from 7.5to 4.8 children per woman.As soon as Governor António de Spínola took office in 1968 and until the end of his term in1973 he shut down the program of covert depopulation and the fertility went back up to itsnatural rate of 7.5 children per woman.In 1973 the Guinean people declared independence and Luís Cabral became the first President ofGuinea-Bissau. He was in office until 1980 and he reinstated the program of population control318 | P a g e