Reply #14: Congo History in a Nutshell

[seemslikeadream]

Fierce rioting in 1959 resulted in Belgium abruptly granting independence in 1960. The country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Shortly after independence, the US took over in a bloddy coup. The CIA arranged the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the country's first elected leader. In his place they installed their paid agent Colonel Mubutu Sese Seko. In Mobutu's 37 years as ruler of the Congo (which he renamed Zaire) he managed to amass a huge personal fortune and continued to oppress the general population. Nevertheless, he remained popular with Weatern governments and companies. From 1965 to 1991, Zaire received more than 1.5 billion in US economic and military aid. According to the World Bank (a long time supporter of Mobutu), 64.7% of Zaire's budget was reserved for Mobutu's discretionary spending. Mobutu's greed was ultimately his downfall. When he tried to stop sharing the Congo's wealth with his Western backers, the US prepared for him to be overthrown. In October 1996, the Rwandan army along with Ugandan troops invaded Zaire and and by May 1997 had forced Mobutu to flee to Morocco.The invasion was disguised as a local rebellion. The Tutsi Rwandan forces called themselves the Alliance of Demicratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) and recruited Laurent Kabila, an exiled Congolese Marxist, as a figurehead leader. Kabila was installed as Presidnet and changed the country's name back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In July 1998, Kabila expelled Rwandan and Ugandan forces from the Congo. On 2nd August, Rwanda and Uganda invaded the eastern region of the Congo and set up surrogate 'rebel' armies. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia sent their armies to support Kabila and Burundi joined the Twandans and Angolans. This was the start of the second Congo War. The US backed the Rwandan and Ugandan invasion and pressured Kabila into signing the Lusaka Accord which treated the conflict as a civil war. The result is a partitioned Congo with Rwanda and Uganda still occupying the eastern half and ignoring all deadlines for leaving. On 17th January 2001, on the fortieth anniversay of the assassination of Lumumba, Laurent Kabila was assassinated. Joseph Kabila, Laurent's son, took over as Presidnet.

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/newsletter/issue13/issue13_part3.htm


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