Africa Notes: A New Guinea? - June 1986

The unexpected death of President Ahmed Sekou Toure on March 26, 1984 shattered Guinea's frozen political landscape. What had appeared to be one of Africa's strongest and most radical ruling parties, the Parti Démocratique de Guinée (PDG ), was revealed to be a hollow structure maintained not by popular endorsement but by repression and intimidation. Before party stalwarts could decide on a replacement for Toure, an army coup in early April1984 brought to power Colonel (now General) Lansana Conte as president of a mixed military and civilian government, the Comité Militaire de Redressement National (CMRN).