New Book Reexamines Cape Verde’s Monte Txota Massacre
A decade after a horrific shooting spree at the Monte Txota military post stunned Cape Verde, two journalists who covered the original tragedy have released a new book seeking to fill the gaps in the official narrative.
The book, titled “Monte Txota: A Massacre in Cape Verde” (Monte Txota — Um Massacre em Cabo Verde), is the work of Cristina Fernandes Ferreira and Ricardino Pedro. It investigates the lives of the 11 victims—eight soldiers and three civilians—and the soldier who gunned them down in one of the deadliest incidents in the nation’s history.
Beyond the Official Version
Ferreira, who was serving as the Lusa news agency delegate in Cape Verde at the time of the massacre, says the project was born from a sense of professional restlessness. “I felt that the scale of the tragedy was not consistent with the speed at which everything happened—the trial, the closing of the case,” Ferreira explained. “I always had that uncomfortable feeling that we didn’t delve deep enough; we didn’t get to know who these people were.”
Published by Rosa de Porcelana, the book is the culmination of a two-year investigation involving interviews with approximately 50 people. While the authors state they are not challenging the judicial outcome, they believe the media and the public moved on too quickly from the psychological and social complexities of the case.
Piecing Together the Puzzle
The authors tracked down the families of the victims and the relatives of the killer, along with high-ranking Armed Forces officers, judicial officials, and investigators. “We tried to assemble a puzzle that brings people closer to what might have happened,” Ferreira said.
However, many pieces remain missing. The authors noted that some potential witnesses refused to speak, while others were denied authorization to be interviewed by the authorities. This atmosphere of lingering questions led to various theories about the motive behind the killings.
“We found people who are still not convinced that the crime was exactly as it was reported,” Ferreira noted, though she emphasized that the investigation did not uncover evidence to legally overturn the court’s findings. Instead, the book aims to provide a platform for the different perspectives held by those closest to the tragedy.
A Legacy of Pain
For the families involved, the passage of a decade has done little to dull the trauma. “The pain was still very visible,” Ferreira described. “I conducted interviews where it was very clear that, for them, time had not passed.”
The book was supported by the “Criar Lusofonia” grant from the National Cultural Center and is dedicated to José Correia de Barros, a Lusa employee who assisted the journalists during the 2016 coverage and passed away in 2025.
The perpetrator, Manuel Ribeiro (known as “Entany”), is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence. He was convicted in November 2016 for the April 25 massacre, which reportedly began after a dispute with his commanding officer and being mocked by his fellow soldiers at the remote military communications post on Santiago Island.
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