mr president guinea has had a very troubled past history with european countries being involved in one way or another in its tragic past
it was taken over by the portuguese in the fifteen century and its citizens were subjected to the european slave trade in the sixteen century and beyond
in eighteen ninety it was colonised by france
after independence in nineteen fifty-eight firm ties were formed with the soviet union
its post-colonial period was largely dominated by presidential totalitarianism with its rulers being backed by its admittedly rather primitive army
guinea although blessed with very rich mineral deposits including iron aluminium gold diamonds and uranium is nevertheless one of the poorest countries in the world
these minerals are being exploited by companies from russia ukraine france britain australia and canada
heavy corruption of officials is well known to occur and the governments of the countries to which such companies belong seem to care very little about the welfare of guinea's citizens and only start complaining about the appalling human rights situation in the country when their financial interests are disrupted or threatened
be that as it may presently there is yet another dictator in power in guinea a young junior army officer called captain camara
he heads a junta that has pledged to rid the country of corruption and to improve living standards for its ten million citizens
to this end a thirty-two member national council for democracy and development was set up to govern the country
i have no idea whether captain camara is genuine in his endeavours or whether he will succeed in improving matters in guinea
one thing is certain however things cannot get worse than they have been for the last few decades during which europe and the rest of the world were happy just to sit back watch and enjoy the benefits of the mineral exploitation of guinea
so although i oppose military dictatorships i can only hope that after a short period of time a transition to democracy might occur
