'In Guinea, We Have Faith'

...Neither the Secretary General nor Pelt underestimated the symbolic importance of Guinea...

...Some young Guineans attended the Communist-influenced Vienna Youth Festival in the summer of 1959, and many went to Communist countries for advanced study, all expenses paid...

...but a more likely explanation is that in its hour of extreme need Guinea looked for aid to both East and West, and only the East responded in any significant way...

...Possibly he is reluctant to go too far with Ghana and with Nkrumah until he can see more clearly the possibilities of future relations with the French Community states—which are showing signs of moving toward independence—and until he can assess the significance of the emergence of other African states, notably Nigeria...

...The French turned a cold shoulder to his request...

...Toure announced his intention of remaining within the franc zone and wrote to French President Rene Coty to ask for a special "association" with France...

...The coolness between Guinea and France made France's Western allies reluctant to deal directly with it in ways which might not only alienate de Gaulle but also gravely embarrass his efforts to resolve some of France's dilemmas at home and abroad...

...The American Embassy was located on the second floor of an eight-story building...

...It was also the view of Adrian Pelt, the distinguished international administrator who has carried out so many trouble-shooting assignments in the past for the League of Nations and the UN...

...Gadsen—seemed to be doing more to develop good relations with Guineans than the entire Embassy staff...

...France canceled its work on a major dam at Konkoure, thus striking a blow at Guinea's hopes for economic development, and began to withdraw its colonial administrators, who had occupied most of the important administrative positions in Guinea...

...The U.S...

...He did not make due allowance for the hauteur of General de Gaulle, the possible reactions in other states of the French Community which had voted to keep their ties with France, if Toure could "have his cake and eat it too," and the extent of French resentment over his past behavior...

...Toure's known left-wing and emotionally tinged economic views raised doubts of whether private enterprise would have a place in the new order in Guinea...

...and we wouldn't mush care if he had a Slavic accent...

...the only flag available had 48 stars, etc...

...Guineans will not soon forget that in the critical early months of their independence, when their need was great and obvious, the West hung back, and the Communist countries stepped in...

...Possibly Toure was disposed to establish such close contacts with the Communists because of his pro-Marxist leanings and his ties with the Communist-dominated French General Confederation of Labor...

...They believe that the Western nations have been unwise in their aloofness, which appears to Guineans as hostility...

...has done so little for Guinea to date and shown so little understanding of its importance...

...Most of the Communist states, led by the Soviet Union, promptly recognized Guinea...

...still seems unaware of the challenge and the symbolic importance of Guinea...

...Moreover, Guinea was almost unknown and other countries had little time to prepare for establishing relations with it...

...Guinea is a one-party state...

...But Guineans, like all emerging peoples, are sensitive to the treatment they receive from others...

...Tax policies were erratic, concessions were difficult to obtain and the danger of expropriation was ever-present...

...If you could give a message to the American people," I asked a young Guinean Foreign Office official as I waited with him for my interview with Toure, "what would you say...

...Very little aid and even less understanding were forthcoming from the West...

...At the personal request of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, Pelt heads a special UN mission to Guinea, with the assistance of one veteran international administrator and a small but able international staff...

...The French also began to take out shiploads of equipment and supplies...

...Even the problem of finding suitable quarters for diplomatic establishments had to be tackled de novo...

...In late September 1958, a constitutional referendum was held in the 13 states of the French Community, to determine whether they wished to continue association with France...

...But he is a complete parvenu in diplomacy, and he is operating in a country where a most astute and skilled professional is needed...

...Within a few weeks four Communist trade missions—from Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland and the USSR—visited Guinea and trade agreements were signed which, in return for needed assistance, committed about 50 per cent of Guinea's exports to the Communist bloc...

...These two reminders of Guinea's larger interests—the map and the monument—sharply delineate the orientation of its leaders and particularly of President Sekou Toure himself, one of the most forceful and influential new leaders of Africa...

...They reflect the sensitivities of these new leaders, and the difficulties in working out relations between the emerging nations of Africa and the older and more developed states of the West, many of which are still labeled with the sin of colonialism or are at least guilty by association...

...They are convinced that Toure wants to establish friendly relations with all nations, Western as well as Eastern, and that he is almost desperately anxious to obtain more Western aid...

...The Guinean Minister of Education visited Communist China in late September and early October, ostensibly to participate in ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communist regime...

...Apparently, Toure trusts them which, in the light of his experiences and orientation, is a great compliment indeed...

...While he was in Peking, he announced that Guinea and Communist China had agreed to establish diplomatic relations and exchange Ambassadors...

...The International Cooperation Administration had done almost nothing except to send several people to make surveys...

...No United States information Service office had been opened, though I was told that an acting USIS Officer had been assigned to Guinea...

...Immediately after independence...

...He got out at the Russian Embassy, a building in the center of the city, with the hammer and sickle prominently displayed...

...Then he added, proudly: "In Guinea now we have faith...

...As we approached the hotel—which still bore the name, Hotel de France—we noted the new Hungarian buses on the streets, and in the hotel lobbies and lounges many of the guests were obviously from Russia or other Slavic countries...

...The Sanniquelli Declaration, perhaps the most concrete proposal for African unity yet advanced by major African leaders, suggested a special conference of all independent African states in 1960 to work out a charter for a community of independent African states, in which each member would "maintain its own national identity and constitutional structure...

...did not extend recognition to Guinea until several weeks after independence, after many other countries, including most of the Communist states, had already done so...

...It is dominated by Sekou Toure, 39 years old, who is suspicious of almost everything and everybody and whose political, economic and social views are fuzzy and somewhat suspect...

...Coming in from the airport my wife and I shared a Foreign Office car with a Russian doctor, a specialist in virusology who held a high post in the World Health Organization and who said he just "happened" to stop off in Guinea...

...He has made a good impression, not so much because he is colored but because of his personality and his sincere interest in the country...

...but in Guinea the vote was 97 per cent against...

...Thus, it is clear that while Toure is a genuine apostle of African independence and unity, he is playing a cautious game and waiting until he can get a clearer picture of the rapidly changing African scene...

...he was the chairman of the Department of French in a small Southern college and knew something of Africa...

...Before all the votes were tabulated, the de Gaulle Government notified Toure that Guinea could no longer expect French administrative or financial aid...

...As a result of these agreements," an American reporter wrote in the fall of 1959, "enough shady characters have poured into Conakry to provide the dramatis personae for several grade-D spy movies...

...In such circumstances, the State Department will normally assign a top-notch, experienced career Foreign Service Officer as Deputy Chief of Mission or head of the Political Section of the Embassy...

...The first American Ambassador did not arrive until Summer of 1959...

...but until recently, only the East walked in...

...The American Embassy was not officially opened until February 1959, and for some months was headed by a charge d'affaires—a good man, fortunately—with a very small staff...

...When I visited Conakry shortly after this announcement—and a few days before Toure left for his American visit—the Communist impact on Guinea was apparent...

...Independent Guinea, previously one of the "states" of the French Community and for long a rather unimportant part of French West Africa, was born suddenly, under unfavorable circumstances...

...I was told by an American representative of the Caterpillar Tractor Company that to his knowledge the French had taken at least $10 million worth of equipment provided by his company alone...

...In 12 of the states the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of remaining in the Community, by majorities ranging from 77 to 99 per cent...

...This same thing was repeated by highly placed officials of the Guinean Government, including President Toure himself...

...In fact, the U.S...

...Guineans may have an exaggerated idea of their importance in the world, for independence is a heady brew and the flattering attention of the Communist states has inflated their egos...

...Toure obviously had not expected this kind of treatment...

...Faced with problems of survival, Guinea had to look abroad for economic and financial aid and technical assistance, and for understanding and support in non-material ways...

...Much of this bitterness between France and its former territory remains, although the two countries have entered into some agreements and French individuals and firms have continued to maintain contacts in Guinea...

...In early January 1960, Times reporter Oakes stated flatly: "American help has so far amounted to 5,000 tons of rice, 3,000 tons of flour and one school teacher...

...Well over a million Guineans went to the polling places and voted as Toure told them to do...

...The Soviet Union extended a loan of $35 million...

...But Toure has shown no eagerness to press for a constitution for the new "union," and it remains largely a personal agreement between two African leaders...

...Significantly, the Union of South Africa is not shown as an independent state...

...She told me with obvious regret that being a Negro was a distinct asset to her, although after talking with her, I thought her personality, character and enthusiasm would have carried her far anywhere...

...There were, of course, obvious and perhaps justifiable reasons for official American hesitation, but they made little sense to Guineans and doubtless to other Africans as well...

...He once told a meeting of his party leaders: "Beware of all the world, even Sekou Toure...

...The school teacher—Dr...

...In July 1959, at a meeting with Nkrumah and President William V. S. Tubman of Liberia at Sanniquelli, Liberia, Toure joined with Tubman in favoring a weaker proposal for African unity than Nkrumah desired...

...By the end of 1959 no further evidence of ICA's interest had been manifest...

...They particularly regret that the U.S...

...It was cataNORMAN D. PALMER, who is chairman of the International Relations Program at the University of Pennsylvania, recently returned from a tour of 25 Asian and African countries...

...The Communists saw a golden opportunity for making inroads in West Africa and moved quickly...

...She was teaching English to civil servants and school teachers—very few people in the country speak English—and seemed to have been accepted to an extraordinary degree by Guinean officials and by people at various levels...

...A delegation from the USSR went to Guinea and several Guinean officials returned the visit...

...Guinea thus provided the Communist world with a made-to-order opportunity for massive penetration of vulnerable West Africa...

...From the first day of independence," Oakes reported, "the door has been as wide open to the West as to the East...

...Aid is essential, but unless we can keep our self-respect, we are lost...

...Western business interests were reluctant to step in where so many things were uncertain...

...The man who held both these posts did not possess such qualifications, although he was a fine and able officer with some African experience...

...France tried, unsuccessfully, to delay Guinea's application for admission to the United Nations—Guinea became the 82nd member of the UN shortly after its independence was proclaimed on October 3, 1958—and did not extend recognition to the only state of the French Community which opted for complete independence until January 1959, after some 60 other nations had recognized Guinea's independence...

...Apparently, he looked forward to a period of negotiations with France, during which new relations would be worked out amicably...

...pulted into independence by the decision of one man, Sekou Toure, and promptly forced to sever most of its links with France by the decision of another strong and stubborn man, General Charles de Gaulle...

...actions were faltering, half-hearted, and wholly inadequate...

...the Embassy was in temporary quarters...

...I would tell them," he replied promptly, "that above all they should respect our dignity...

...In the face of this Communist penetration and impact...

...On a large concrete slab in a main square of the city, flanked by the Foreign Office and one of the largest of the modern "skyscrapers," are engraved these words: La Republique de Guinee a Tons les Martyrs du Colonialisme...

...Czechoslovakia, in particular, sent arms...

...Three shiploads of "gifts"—rifles, tractors, plows, clothing, mobile field kitchens, etc.—arrived from Communist ports...

...He is, nevertheless, a leader of stature, who seems genuinely devoted to developing his country, advancing the claims of emerging Africa and to the cause of African unity, although these represent goals rather than actualities...

...By Norman D. Palmer 'IN GUINEA, WE HAVE FAITH' Despite inadequate assistance from the West, Guineans are building a vital nation ON A WALL of the airport terminal outside Conakry, the capital of Guinea, is a large colored map showing the independent states of Africa as of the end of 1958...

...In November 1958, Toure joined with Kwame Nkrumah, Prime Minister of Ghana, in agreeing to form a "confederacy" or "union"—the synonymous use of terms with different meanings is noteworthy—which was intended to be the "nucleus of a union of West African states...

...Pelt and his associates are working closely with Toure and other Guinean officials in improving administrative, economic and financial structure and policies...

...He was a Class 3 Foreign Service Officer, and there were only two other FSO's in the Embassy, both very junior...

...The rest consisted of one Class 5 Foreign Service Reserve Officer and one Class 8 Foreign Service Staff Officer...

...As a Guinean remarked to John B. Oakes, of the editorial board of the New York Times: "We'd take aid from the devil himself if he offered it to us...

...When I asked why no American flag was displayed—I was acutely conscious of the hammer and sickle so prominent a few blocks away—I was given lame excuses: a proper supporting base for the flag had not been found...

...Thus, Communist China was able to open its first diplomatic mission in West Africa...