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In the 1958 referendum on the constitution of the Fifth Republic, General de Gaulle asked the French West African territories whether they wanted continued association with France in the Community; if they voted 'No', this meant immediate independence, which was chosen by Guinea alone.There was widespread sentiment, in those territories which voted 'Yes', in favour of some type of federation for the former A.O.F. (L'Afrique occidentale française). Long an advocate of this idea, Leopold Senghor of Senegal presented a constitution for a West African federation to the other A.O.F. leaders in October 1958. Senegal, Dahomey, Upper Volta, and Soudan all empowered their governments to enter into the proposed federation; Niger, Mauretania, and Ivory Coast said nothing. The four territories which responded to the call for unity sent delegations to meetings of federalists, in Bamako in December 1958, and then in Dakar, at which time a constituent assembly met and drafted a constitution. The work was finished and approved without discussion in three days.

Mr. Tad Szulc, a highly perceptive and knowledgeable New York Times correspondent and certainly an "old Latin American hand" wrote very wisely: "One of the first rules a reporter needs to learn in Latin America is that he must never be swayed by reason or logic in trying to gauge future events. This precept should apply as well to the contemporary historian or to the foreign-policy maker observing the Latin American scene, who must realize that neither short- nor long-range predictions are possible and that in all wisdom none should be attempted. The scene is too crowded, the actors move too fast, propelled by visible and invisible forces of formidable magnitude." Having uttered this warning, Mr. Szulc proceeded to violate it and make some sage observations about the "tomorrow" of Latin America.