October 2, 1958 - Guinea Declares Independence - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Guinea declares total independence from France. When the French colony of Guinea declared independence from France on October 2, 1958, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union eyed it as a place to exert influence in their cold war power struggle. And while the leader of this African country wanted nothing to do with either, he learned to play the two superpowers off one another in an effort to secure financial aid for his country. As Guinea’s first and long-standing ruler, Sékou Touré was both strongly anti-imperialistic and outraged at the number of ties between Western and African governments. This, he surmised correctly, kept intact too many white minority governments exploiting the black majority. Touré, once an advocate of cross-ethnic nationalism, soon turned the country into a one party dictatorship with the usual trappings of no respect for human rights, free expression or political opposition. He became paranoid, with any potential “enemies” being imprisoned where hundreds died. Touré not only drove away more than a million Guinea residents, but his actions isolated him from other African governments. Touré stayed in power until his death in April, 1984. Since then the country has been in a state of military rule and a shallow attempt at democracy which most political observers see as rigged.

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