Denis Sassou Nguesso is a Congolese politician and former military officer who became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as president, he headed the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) for 12 years. He introduced multiparty politics in 1990, but was stripped of executive powers by the 1991 National Conference, remaining in office as a ceremonial head of state. He stood as a candidate in the 1992 presidential election but placed third.
Sassou Nguesso in 2014
Denis Sassou Nguesso in 1986.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sassou Nguesso in June 2005
Denis Sassou Nguesso and George W. Bush in the Oval Office in 2006.
The Republic of the Congo is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to the northwest by Cameroon, to the northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean.
A pro-constitutional reform rally in Brazzaville during October 2015. The constitution's reforms were subsequently approved in a disputed election which saw demonstrations and violence.
Women learning to sew, Brazzaville
School children in the classroom, Republic of the Congo
Image: Pointe Noire downtown