In Guinea-Bissau, the Armed Forces (FARP) are focused on external security, but also has some internal security duties; the FARP and the paramilitary National Guard have been influential in the country’s politics since independence and have attempted several coups; FARP members were suspected of coup plotting as recently as 2021, and it put down an attempted coup in 2022, while the National Guard attempted a coup in December 2023; since the 2000s, the FARP has undergone various attempts at defense and security sector reforms under the auspices of the African Union, the EU, the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), and the UN (2025)