Vaccinated Against Communism

Sunk in disorder and poverty, many of the newly independent nations of black Africa not long ago seemed ripe ground for Communism. None seemed riper than Guinea, where President Sekou Toure preached a dogmatic Marxist philosophy and a virulent hatred of the West. But in Africa, a local saying holds, "There is no past or future, only the present," and Guinea is a perfect case in point. After years of cozying up to Moscow, Toure has turned against the Reds, and their high hopes of gaining an African foothold in Guinea have all but evaporated.

Floral Paratroopers. Toure's disenchantment with Communism reached its height last December, when he traced demonstrations against his government to the Soviet embassy, which apparently felt that he was not cooperative enough. Moscow's ambassador was sent packing, and Toure began mending his fences with pro-Western neighbors.

During a state visit last week, the Ivory Coast's President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, whom Toure once called a "colonialist puppet." got red-carpet treatment, including an honor guard of paratroopers dressed in improbable raspberry-colored silk uniforms with floral patterns. Before Houphouet-Boigny left for home, a pretty Guinean girl serenaded him with a song in the Malinke dialect that, though it no doubt loses something in translation, told of her yearning for:

Rapprochement with the West,

Especially France and the U.S.

Delighted with Toure's "positive neutralism," President Kennedy last month welcomed him to Washington with elaborate cordiality. In Conakry, a 17-member U.S. aid mission is spending some $20.6 million on food imports, vocational training, and education projects. United Nations technicians, kicked out in 1961, have been invited back.

Overriding Concern. "Don't believe what others say of us or even what we ourselves say, but what we do," says Toure, and by that measure Guinea was beyond reproach during the Cuban crisis. When Toure visited the U.N. in October, he went out of his way to avoid Cuban President Dorticos. When the Russians requested permission to use Conakry's new, 10,663-ft. jet landing strip to service Cuba-bound planes, he turned them down cold, even though the Russians had built the strip themselves for that purpose.

For the moment, Toure's overriding concern is to end his quarrel with France's Charles de Gaulle, who still smarts over the way Guinea rejected membership in the French Community and chose independence in 1958. In retaliation, departing French civil servants yanked phones from the walls, smashed light fixtures, and dumped Guinea's records into the Atlantic. Guinea also quit the franc zone, to its near ruin. Now it hopes to win readmission when a French delegation arrives in Guinea soon for talks. Expected price: indemnification for French-owned banks, insurance companies, trading firms and bauxite mines nationalized after independence.

Snowplows in the Sun. Considering the chaotic state of Guinea's economy, the price is cheap. Unschooled in modern economics, Toure sought overnight industrialization, instead got overnight bankruptcy. Though he had $92 million in Soviet-bloc credits and the help of 1,200 Red advisers, they were totally unfamiliar with Africa and proved to be of little help. On Conakry's docks, Soviet snowplows still glint in the savage tropical sun, monumental reminders of Red ineptitude.

Toure has grandiose dreams of leading a Pan-African movement, an ego to match the dreams, and a deep streak of authoritarianism in his makeup--all standard equipment for the modern African leader. His picture is everywhere--on money, stamps, even women's dresses. He brooks no opposition, requires all but the bedridden to show up for "spontaneous" demonstrations, punishing those who do not with "voluntary labor." Even so, recent visitors describe him as a man who has abandoned his dogmatic Marxism for pragmatism. Western diplomats are hopeful that Toure had enough of a Communist dose, so that he--and perhaps all of Africa--will prove immune in the future. "Guinea received the most massive Communist support anywhere," said one Westerner, "and all Africa has now been vaccinated against Communism."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.