Violence could cut short Guinea’s democratic celebration (News Brief)

(HN, November 22, 2010) --  After more than 26 years of autocratic rule, a tumultuous and at times brutally violent post-coup era, and a fraught electoral period, the people of Guinea were entitled to some time to celebrate the fact that a civilian had finally been elected president.

But in an indication of the deep-seated animosity, fears and mistrust that have led the bauxite-rich West African nation to the brink of disaster time and time again, the Nov. 15 announcement that former Prime Minister Alpha Condé had won the second-round run-off election was accompanied by ethnic riots, mass arrests and killings at the hand of security forces, as well as a state of emergency.

Both Condé and his defeated rival, Cellou Dalien Diallo, urged calm after the tight race's official result provoked street protests that left at least 10 dead, according to one West African human-rights group.

Compounding the tensions are the actions of a military at loose ends as it bids what is hoped to be a farewell to its central role in Guinean politics. Soldiers have begun what the International Crisis Group has called "active participation" in the violence: "beating, molesting and shooting defenseless civilians and destroying their property."

Conakry, Guinea - photo courtesy of US Department of State Guinea's international partners are desperate to normalize relations and resume -- or in some cases, begin -- supplying developmental assistance to the impoverished population. Guinea couldn't have done any better at starting out on the wrong foot if it had wanted to.

The European Union, World Bank and United States specifically are keen to rebuild relationships and turn the spigots of assistance back on. Development aid and a plan for a fishing partnership, suspended by Brussels, are foremost on the international agenda. Washington is especially prepared to reward democratic progress by swiftly unblocking aid.

Now, according to some Guinea watchers, efforts to develop infrastructure and public systems might have to wait just a bit longer -- a risk that the population, more than 30 percent of whom are under age 25, can barely afford. - Lauren Gelfand (continue reading @ WorldPoliticsReview)