After one round of voting in Guinea-Bissau's presidential election, former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. is poised to become the West African country's next president. Gomes, who won 49 percent of the votes, will compete against former President Kumba Yala, who received 23 percent of the votes, in a runoff March 25. Guinea-Bissau is a notorious hub for the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America to Europe, and Gomes has said he intends to reform the country's security sector and reduce cocaine smuggling on its territory. But segments of the country's military profit from fees charged to facilitate the drug trade, and they will oppose any attempts to increase narcotics-interdiction efforts. Assuming Gomes wins the presidential runoff, he will have to proceed carefully with his reform agenda.
