Guinea has had only two presidents since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Lansana Conte came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after the death of the first president, Sekou Toure.

Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when Gen. Conte (head of the military government) was elected president of the civilian government. He was reelected in 1998 and again in 2003, though all the polls have been marred by irregularities. Guinea has maintained its internal stability despite spillover effects from conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia. As those countries have rebuilt, Guinea's own vulnerability to political and economic crisis has increased. Declining economic conditions and popular dissatisfaction with corruption and bad governance prompted two massive strikes in 2006; a third nationwide strike in early 2007 sparked violent protests in many Guinean cities and prompted two weeks of martial law.

To appease the unions and end the unrest, Conte named a new prime minister in March 2007.

Corruption and poverty rates have risen this year according to Human Rights Watch.

When President Conte died in office his successor, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema continued Quinea’s tradition of dictatorship and corruption.

Recently, the official residence was attacked by gunmen and though Nquema wasn’t in the residence at that time, the event threw sub-Sahara’s third biggest oil producer, into even more instability than it has been used to under decades of one man leadership.

Since then, a military junta, led by Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, has taken control of the country, leading to violence and protest. The worst event was on September 28, 2009 when  a peaceful rally was attacked. Soldiers shot and killed dozens of unarmed demonstrators at the main stadium here, where perhaps 50,000 had assembled. Local human rights organizations say at least 157 were killed; the government puts the figure at 56.

Cellphone snapshots, ugly and hard to refute, are circulating now and feeding rage: they show that women were the particular targets of the Guinean soldiers. Victims and witnesses describe rapes, beatings and acts of intentional humiliation.

Even more than the shootings, the attacks on women — horrific anywhere, but viewed with particular revulsion in Muslim countries like this one — appear to have traumatized the citizenry and hardened the opposition’s determination to force out the leader of the military junta,

Diplomats said the violence has irreversibly undermined Mr. Camara’s standing with other countries.